[RFC] Viewing differences and changes in the log dialog

Hi folks,

Following the "Log Messages window: Inconsistent diff/compare" thread
and r9182, Tobias and I have been discussing this issue offline. We have
a long standing inconsistency between the top and bottom panes of the
log dialog which may not need to be changed, but which we should make
more obvious. This will take a while so bear with me.

Subversion uses revision numbers to mean 2 different things. A revision
generally represents the state of the repository at a point in time, but
it can also be used to represent the changeset which created that
revision, eg. "Done in r1234" means the changes committed in r1234
implement feature X.

In the top pane of the log dialog we use *both* senses. When a single
revision is selected, the unified diff and the list of changes in that
revision correspond to the diff N to N-1.

When two revisions are selected, the unified diff and change list
corresponds to the diff N to M, the 2 revisions selected.

In the bottom pane, we get a list of "files changed in these revisions",
so whether we select one rev or many in the top pane, the diffs shown in
the bottom pane are always N to N-1 or N to M-1.

Two questions:
1. Is this the behaviour we want?
2. How does the user know what diff he is seeing?

The answer to (1) is probably yes. It has been this way since forever
and changing it now would probably lead to even more confusion.

The solution I am proposing to (2) is to make a small change to the
wording of the context menu:

When we are looking at the diff between rev N and rev M, we refer to a
"difference".

When we are considering the changeset in rev N (diff N to N-1) or all
changes made in Rev N to M (diff N to M-1) we refer to a "change". The
word "change" implies an automatic -1 in the diffs to show the changes
made in the selected revision(s).

In the top pane, when one rev is selected the context menu would contain
"Show changes as unified diff". When two revs are selected the context
menu would contain "Show differences as unified diff".

In the bottom pane we are always considering changes, so the menu has
"Show changes", "Blame changes", "Show changes as unified diff".

Is this a worthwhile change, or will it just add to the confusion?

Simon

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