[cvsnt] cvsnt for word doc version control

[Glen Starrett]

Tim Chippington Derrick wrote:
> I do 
> know that CVSNT can do diffs on binary files too - it's just that I 
> never yet found them to be very much use. 

Just to clarify for those who might get confused reading this thread, I 
sense some conflicting uses of the term 'diff':

The diffs on binary files that the server does using -kB (binary deltas) 
is not the same as a "cvs diff" operation.

You can _not_ do a "cvs diff" against binary files to see the 
differences (but see below...).

You _can_ use the -kB keyword to store the binary files more 
efficiently, and therefore reduce the size of your RCS files (binary 
ones anyway) within your repository.

> I am really only interested in the text itself and what it means, 
> and the format and layout are almost irrelevant other than to make it 
> easier for humans to read. But the doc formats are such that the text 
> changes often get swamped and hidden by the foggy mush of binary 
> formatting stuff, fonts, images etc. that is mixed in and around it.

With CVS Suite, you _can_ view the textual differences between two 
version of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files.

CVS Suite contains WinMerge, which also has some add-in diff DLLs to do 
just that -- it shows the textual differences between Word, Excel, and 
Powerpoint documents.  This is what I was describing above.


>> > file formats that effectively cripple virtually any serious attempt 
>> to do
>> > proper version management.
>>
>> Again, not true. It's a proprietary format, that's true, and complex 
>> enough
>> to allow for merging without its own editor. You would not be able to 
>> merge
>> a complex document even if it was in a open XML standard, without 
>> something
>> that can understand the format. Source code is far easier to manage.
> 

For merging, you absolutely do need to use the native Word merge 
functions.  The XML MS outputs is .... ummm .... "undesirable" for merging.

Regards,

-- 
Glen Starrett
Technical Account Manager, North America
March Hare Software, LLC

http://march-hare.com/cvspro/