Playing with stacked branches

[Aaron Bentley]

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Paul Moore wrote:
> On 01/04/2008, Aaron Bentley <aaron at aaronbentley.com> wrote:
>>  The error when a stacked-on branch is missing is not very clear:
>>  $ sbzr log bzr.ab2
>>  bzr: ERROR: Not a branch: "/home/abentley/shallowtest/bzr.ab/".
> 
> This implies that stacked branches do not work in isolation from heir
> "parent" - in the same way that checkouts don't.

In Bazaar, checkouts do work without their parent for readonly
operations.  For write operations, you can commit --local if the parent
is not visible.

Lightweight checkouts are more like you describe-- even readonly
operations like log don't work when the referenced branch is not visible.

> So I can't create a shallow/stacked branch

To me, the current implementation of stacked branches is *not* the same
thing as shallow branches.  This is why I was questioning the use of the
term "shallow".  Martin has said, "it is not called a shallow branch at
the moment.  It is a stacked branch."

> of (say) only the last
> year's worth of revisions of Python, and carry that around with me for
> local use while disconnected? That's a shame, as that's a key use for
> me (well, the only use I have in reality...)

Yes, it's a shame that stacked branches won't support that use case.
However, they are a step along the path toward true shallow branches.

Aaron
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