TLA semi-tutorial

| emacs

I used to really like CVS, but I found it hard to make my CVS stuff
available to other people. I didn’t want to have to rely on an
external CVS server. For a while I used vc’s double-backend support to
do RCS locally and CVS on savannah, but I found it hard to switch back
and forth.

Damien Elmes introduced me to tla. I really
like the way I can publish my repository online, over HTTP – no need
for special server support. I also liked how I could easily pull in
patches from other people. It was a bit hard to learn, but I
eventually got a repository up and running. I like how the metadata is
kept locally, so I can develop even when I’m disconnected, and yet I
can synchronize it with my webserver so that other people can pull
updates.

Are you sure you don’t want to give it a try? =) Here’s how to do it.
(Don’t worry, I won’t feel bad if you don’t use this.)

# Set up your own archive

     tla my-id "Your Name "
     tla make-archive -l you@example.com--04 ~/arch
     tla my-default-archive you@example.com--04
     tla archive-setup emacs-wiki--you--1.0

# Register my archive

     tla register-archive sacha@free.net.ph--main http://sacha.free.net.ph/notebook/arch

# Mark this revision as the starting point for your own

     tla tag sacha@free.net.ph--main/emacs-wiki--sacha--1.0 emacs-wiki--you--1.0
     tla get emacs-wiki--you--1.0 emacs-wiki
     cd emacs-wiki
     tla cacherev

# To see my changelog

     tla changelog sacha@free.net.ph--main/emacs-wiki--sacha--1.0

# To prepare a log for changes: this will create a ++ file in your
# directory. I usually use M-x add-change-log-entry, and then
# copy-and-paste the changelog entries into the log file with
# a short summary.

     tla make-log

# To see changes

     tla changes --diffs

# To commit

     tla commit

     (or tla commit -- file1 file2...)

# To get any revision, like, say, patch-81

     tla get sacha@free.net.ph--main/emacs-wiki--sacha--1.0--patch-81

# To merge in changes from my tree

     tla star-merge sacha@free.net.ph--main/emacs-wiki--sacha--1.0

../../News/drafts/drafts/217

You can comment with Disqus or you can e-mail me at sacha@sachachua.com.