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diff --git a/doc/about_rcs_backends.mdwn b/doc/about_rcs_backends.mdwn new file mode 100644 index 000000000..547f973e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/about_rcs_backends.mdwn @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ +## A few bits about the RCS backends + +### Terminology + +``web-edit'' means that a page is edited by using the web (CGI) interface +as opposed to using a editor and the RCS interface. + + +### [[Subversion]] + +Subversion was that first RCS to be supported by ikiwiki. + +#### How does it work internally? + +Master repository M. + +RCS commits from the outside are installed into M. + +There is a working copy of M (a checkout of M): W. + +HTML is generated from W. rcs_update() will update from M to W. + +CGI operates on W. rcs_commit() will commit from W to M. + +You browse and web-edit the wiki on W. + + +### [darcs](http://darcs.net/) (not yet included) + +Support for using darcs as a backend is being worked on by [Thomas +Schwinge](mailto:tschwinge@gnu.org). + +#### How will it work internally? + +``Master'' repository R1. + +RCS commits from the outside are installed into R1. + +HTML is generated from R1. HTML is automatically generated (by using a +``post-hook'') each time a new change is installed into R1. It follows +that rcs_update() is not needed. + +There is a working copy of R1: R2. + +CGI operates on R2. rcs_commit() will push from R2 to R1. + +You browse the wiki on R1 and web-edit it on R2. This means for example +that R2 needs to be updated from R1 if you are going the web-edit a page, +as the user otherwise might be irritated otherwise... + +How do changes get from R1 to R2? Currently only internally in +rcs_commit(). Is rcs_prepedit() suitable? + +It follows that the HTML rendering and the CGI handling can be completely +separated parts in ikiwiki. + +##### Rationale for doing it differently than in the Subversion case + +darcs is a distributed RCS, which means that every checkout of a +repository is equal to the repository it was checked-out from. There is +no forced hierarchy. + +R1 is the nevertheless called the master repository. It's used for +collecting all the changes and publishing them: on the one hand via the +rendered HTML and on the other via the standard darcs RCS interface. + +R2, the repository where CGI operates on, is just a checkout of R1 and +doesn't really differ from the other checkouts that people will branch +off from R1. + +(To be continued.) |