--- Lee Sau Dan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Noel> I'm assuming you mean a straight-edge, not > a ruler? > > Isn't a ruler for drawing rules, i.e. straing lines?
Funny, the dictionary definition for "ruler" agrees with you (although it did add the measuring part as well), but the thesaurus entry for "rule" mentions only measuring, not drawing. I think the dictionary definition has given in to instrument usage pressure instead of keeping the intended meaning. In any case, this is still a good analogy since, according to some, if you're not using the measuring capabilities, you should be using a straght-edge. > Noel> Actually, this brings up an even better > analogy: A ruler is > Noel> meant to measure things, not as a > straight-edge. > > I've never seen any "ruler" that does not provide a > straight edge. When used often enough as a straight-edge, some rulers (eg wooden ones) lose their straightness. These aren't meant to be used as straight-edges. > Noel> There are text formats that aren't easily > mergable (eg XML) > > It depends on what tools you use to edit the XML > files. IOW, it depends on the layout of the text file. > Noel> and binary formats that can be mergable > (eg Word). > > B'cos the data encoded inside is just text in > nature. I think you're missing the point here. Let me explain in more detail. CVS cannot diff/merge Word documents even though there exists a well-defined diff/merge algorithm for them. CVS may or may not be able to diff/merge (in any meaningful way) text files depending on how they're laid out. IOW, the text or binary attribute of a file has nothing to do with its diff or merge attribute. The two attributes should not be confused. > Noel> Or, more likely, well enough for your > needs. Since XML > Noel> isn't the typical linear text format (ie > it's hierarchical), > Noel> diff3 isn't the ideal three-way diff tool > to use. > > Why not? Pascal programs, for instance, are highly > hierarchical. But > they should (I've never tried) work well with CVS. You're right, my example isn't ideal. But if you think about it, a "correct" diff/merge for XML, Pascal, etc would be a tree diff/merge, not a linear one. In the end, diff3 works because humans break the files into human-readable lines, not because of anything inherent in the file formats. Noel __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Try FREE Yahoo! Mail - the world's greatest free email! http://mail.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ Info-cvs mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-cvs