conflict filenames [was RE: Locking UI comments]

[Ben Sewell <Be...@ricardo.com>]

Travis P <ma...@castle.fastmail.fm> wrote on 15 October 2004 19:42:

> On Oct 15, 2004, at 12:22 PM, Brian Behlendorf wrote:
> 
>> You'd be amazed at the people
>> who.love.to.name.their.files.like.this.tar.gz, and at everyone who
>> wouldn't notice the '.mine.' in the middle of a filename.
> 
> Maybe old ProDOS (Apple II fs) users? :-)  Only alphanumerics and
> periods were allowed, so users tended to use periods as spacers, just
> as many today use _ or - today on Unix systems.  There are
> probably Mac
> and Windows users who are amazed at the (Unix culture) people
> who_love_to_name_their_files_lie_this.tar.gz :-)
> 
> Anyway, I second the notion that trying to second guess anything but
> the last .extension will be fraught with difficulty.
> 

I seem to remember someone mentioning something like the following, but I
can't find it on the list:

1. replace the conflicting file with a directory of the same name
(filename.ext)
2. place the three files in that directory (names for example
mine-filename.ext, rxxxx-filename.ext and merged-filename.ext)
3. run "svn resolve" to bin the old versions and place the new, merged
version (merged-filename.ext) as the working copy.

The key disadvantage of this scheme, as I see it, is that directory listings
that place directory entries first will be in a different order. Also, there
is no backup copy of "mine"; perhaps this could be placed into a client-side
configurable backup directory in case of confusion or rescue required?

The key advantage is a total absence of naming conflicts, and the creation
of a clear working space in which to resolve the lock race or merge. It is
also crystal clear (and easy to describe in a front-end) what has happened
and what is going on.

Ben

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