[Monotone-devel] Re: current multiple heads (was Re: write access to my public server)

[graydon hoare]

Derek Scherger wrote:

> I've been wondering how one might achieve a "floating" branch in a clean 
> and easy way. What I mean by floating is that any files that have been 
> changed on the branch would supercede their ancestors, which is 
> essentially how things work now. Changes that are made on some other 
> branch (like the trunk in cvs terms) where the floating branch is 
> "rooted" would appear on (or be carried forward to) the floating branch 
> "automatically".  Maybe another way to describe this is that unless a 
> file is changed on the branch I don't really want it to be branched.
>
> Where I'm going with this is ... the current branch certs get created 
> (as I understand it) because the branch is named in MT/options and every 
> change in a working copy gets a cert with this branch name. If there was 
> another type of cert that, once present on some version, would be 
> carried forward to all derived versions until something else (another 
> cert or cert removal?) stops it, a floating branch would seem possible. 
> It also seems that a disapproval might be described with this type of 
> "carry me forward" cert.

if I read correctly, I think you are addressing two notions here:

 - "floating branches"
 - "carry-forward certs"

I think each is possible, and may have a use-case, but we have no 
mechanism for either. I don't think it's necessary for the former to be 
implemented in terms of the latter, either.

there is currently no real relationship between branches in monotone; 
for example there is no sense in which one branch is a "trunk" relative 
to another; branches are just named subsets of the ancestry graph.

in theory I suppose you could achieve what you're looking for by 
defining a merge operator which resolved conflicts during propagation by 
considering branch names. we currently don't do that, but I'd be willing 
to look at code.

-graydon