trying to clarify hg terminology -- working copy vs repository

Robert P. J. Day rpjday at crashcourse.ca
Sat Oct 10 12:02:40 UTC 2009


On Sat, 10 Oct 2009, Adrian Buehlmann wrote:

> On 10.10.2009 13:49, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> > On Sat, 10 Oct 2009, Adrian Buehlmann wrote:
> >
> >> On 10.10.2009 12:09, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> >>>   yup, i've collected those examples so far.  i realize all this
> >>> sounds painfully pedantic but, given my long history of writing and
> >>> teaching technical courses, i've learned that the most common cause of
> >>> misunderstanding is an unclear grasp of the correct terminology.
> >> That's why we tried to explain it in the wiki
> >>
> >> http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/Repository
> >> http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/WorkingDirectory
> >
> >   and just as a data point to demonstrate why it can be confusing to
> > clarify the terminology, we have two different defns of "repository":
> >
> >   http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/Repository
> >
> > "Strictly speaking, the term repository refers to the directory named
> > .hg (dot hg) in the repository root directory. The repository root
> > directory is the parent directory of the .hg directory. Mercurial
> > stores its internal data structures – the metadata – inside that .hg
> > directory."
> >
> > "All of the files and directories that coexist with the .hg directory
> > in the repository root are said to live in the working directory. "
> >
> >   http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/UnderstandingMercurial
> >
> > "Mercurial repositories contain a working directory coupled with a
> > store:"
> >
> >   that first definition suggests that the repository is *distinct*
> > from the working directory, the second suggests that the repo
> > *includes* the working directory.  i know the first defn is the
> > correct one, i'm just pointing out that even the online docs are
> > inconsistent.
>
> No. Read below. You left out important things.
>
> >   i'm not trying to be outrageously anal-retentive, i am merely
> > succeeding. :-)
>
> ...nearly, by selective quoting to prove a wrong point ;)
>
> http://mercurial.selenic.com/wiki/Repository
>
> later on writes:
>
> "Sometimes Mercurial users and developers also use the term
> "repository" when referring to the repository root. But strictly
> speaking, the .hg directory is the "real" repository."
>
> There *is* some dualism of the term "repository".

  yes, quite right, sorry.  perhaps i'll read *all* of those pages
before pontificating further.

rday
--

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Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

        Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.

Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
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