[darcs-users] darcs show contents -- why not --to-patch?

[Trent W. Buck]

The `darcs show contents' command currently accepts --patch and --match,
but my understanding is that this doesn't make sense; the command is
showing the content that would result from applying ALL patches up to
and including the matching patch to an empty repository -- NOT just the
results of applying a single matching patch.

I raise this issue because --to-[pm]atch is susceptible to optimize
--reorder:

    Note that when specifying --to-patch or --to-match, you may get a
    version of your code that has never before been seen, if the patches
    have gotten themselves reordered. If you ever want to be able to
    precisely reproduce a given version, you need either to tag it or
    create a context file.

    (or the pending version,)

    You can also make a copy of an untagged state using the --to-patch
    or --to-match options, which exclude patches `after' the first
    matching patch.  Because these options treat the set of patches as
    an ordered sequence, you may get different results after reordering
    with `darcs optimize', so tagging is preferred.

But the --patch and --match options have no such caveat.