[darcs-users] DARCS pushable repository security question

[David Roundy]

On Mon, Oct 20, 2003 at 10:45:28PM -0400, Sean E. Russell wrote:
> I'm trying to wrap my head around not having explicit versions in DARCS.

If and when you do want an explicit version, definitely use the tag
command.  It's cheap, and using it regularly actually makes darcs more
efficient (since dependencies of tags are easier to calculate than those of
normal patches).  Also tags allow darcs to break up the inventory, which
speeds up remote pulls (since you only need the inventory up until you get
to a tag you already have).

> I don't see any mechanism for specifying a patch by date, which appears
> to be the only handle on an unnamed, untagged patch.
> 
> Am I missing something obvious?

Every patch has a name as well as a date--that is, every patch you record.
The primitive patches that make them up have neither names nor dates, but
with each date goes a name.  I imagine this misconception comes from
reading the appendix on patch theory, which is in need of a rewrite
(planned for some time before the January 31--when I'll be giving a talk on
darcs [which is also my Mom's birthday, but she'll be in Ethiopia at the
time...]).

Every patch you record is given a name, author and date and possibly a long
comment.  Specifying a patch by name is the "normal" method, if you want to
specify a given patch.  On the other hand, most commands that accept a
patch name (get being the notable exception) allow you to choose the patch
interactively, which is often the best way to go (for example, if you want
to do an unpull).
-- 
David Roundy
http://www.abridgegame.org