Re: *** empty log message *** is a no-no

[Denys Duchier <Denys.Duchier@ps.uni-sb.de>]

Jan Vroonhof <vroonhof@math.ethz.ch> writes:

> The advantage of Changelogs is that you can write them at the time the
> change is made, not at the time of commit.

Yes, that's a nice feature.  However, the ChangeLog idea is not really
appropriate for concurrent development (the record of changes only
becomes meaningful when it is synchronized with the repository,
i.e. at commit points).  I like the idea of being able to take notes
between commits, and it would be nice if appropriate default log
messages could be automatically computed from these notes.  Any
takers?

> What do typically do when using CVS to document changes? use free
> format?

`C-x v =' to diff with the committed version.  Then I document the
changes in fairly free format.  Typically, I have also added comments
in the file documenting the new stuff, or making clear the invariants
that should not be violated, etc... I also include these comments in
the log entry.

> Is the resolution on the time stamps that important?

I find it quite convenient, especially when you need to track down why
something no longer works which used to work fine before (maybe just
minutes ago).  I use `C-x v l' to get the log history, and, on the
basis of that information I use `C-x v ~' to compare with an earlier
version.  When you have lots of developers all concurrently modifying
the same files, timestamp precision can really help.  Of course, you
still have that precision in the cvs anyway, but the log messages help
you decide what to look at.

Cheers,

-- 
Dr. Denys Duchier			Denys.Duchier@ps.uni-sb.de
Forschungsbereich Programmiersysteme	(Programming Systems Lab)
Universitaet des Saarlandes, Geb. 45	http://www.ps.uni-sb.de/~duchier
Postfach 15 11 50			Phone: +49 681 302 5618
66041 Saarbruecken, Germany		Fax:   +49 681 302 5615