Emacs: introduction to VC (version control framework)

Demo of the main features of VC, the version control framework that is built into Emacs. /// My dotemacs: protesilaos.co...

[@ireneuszgabrys]

There is a nice feature in log buffer. You can see diff in range of commits in selected region. For example open logs for project with "C-x v L". Then select region that takes up to three lines (three commits) and then press "d". You should see diff buffer with diff that covers changes from three commits. Also in Emacs 27 you can visit file from the old revision. Move cursor over change in diff mode from some old commit and press "C-u RET". This works only if you want to visit file that still exists. Magit do it better but VC still have something. I actually don't have Magit installed those days. VC is all that I need. Thanks for the video. Because of Magit great success (which is great) many new users don't know about VC.

[@protesilaos]

@Irek Thanks for highlighting these features! I am pinning this comment for visibility. In general, the docs have lots tips and tricks. In addition to the entry points I mentioned, there is also `C-h f`, `C-h v` and the excellent official manual.

[@ireneuszgabrys]

@@protesilaos Always happy to add a little tip to your already awesome content. I also recommend to read NEWS files ("C-h n" and "C-x C-f" to see all of them). It's a great way to discover new features and changes that came with different versions.

[@protesilaos]

@Irek Exactly! And for maximum effect, follow the commits upstream, such as this pertinent set of changes by Juri Linkov (I follow these via Gnus): git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/emacs.git/commit/?id=7a6f5a5167037cdc3a0e9e312393781daedec085

[@ireneuszgabrys]

@@protesilaos WOW that's rly maximum effect :D

[@devnull9002]

You are a really good pedagogue. You explain everything clearly and I never got confused. Also I like that you are digging the native features of Emacs (which are often unknown or underestimated) instead of third parties (as good as they are). Keep up the great work and thank you! edit: forgot to mention that your dotemacs is also very well redacted, thanks again.

[@protesilaos]

@dev null Thanks for the kind words! Yes, I generally like the built-in tools. I think they have a couple of characteristics that cater to my type of user: (1) they cover the most common cases well enough, and (2) they keep their presentation simple and effective.

[@alexanderchaplinbraz1113]

This is really appreciated, since I was putting off learning magit due to it looking much too complicated for what I needed and was still using the terminal. This does everything I need for day to day git work. Thank you very much.

[@protesilaos]

@Alexander Chaplin Braz I think Magit truly shines when you need the advanced features of Git. VC is great for common tasks. To be fair though, you can use Magit for simpler workflows as well.

[@MichaelCampbell01]

@@protesilaos +1 to this. Magit is the bomb for things like staging PIECES of a changed file.

[@TuxmanXP]

Emacs‘s VC mode is currently the only way to use Schily‘s awesome SCCS implementation from inside a text editor. I hope they’ll keep it in.

[@protesilaos]

@TuxmanXP I noticed SCCS among the list of possible backends. Not familiar with it. Do you have any recommendation on reading material that compares it to Git?

[@TuxmanXP]

Protesilaos Stavrou It is (at least until Schily releases his SCCSv6) a file-based VCS with no concurrency - great for managing single files. See my blog entry about it for details: dev.to/tux0r/tired-of-jira-here-s-a-pure-posix-to-do-environment-versioned-and-awesome-or-a-case-for-sccs-3pfa (and of course sccs.sf.net for a feature list). In conclusion, SCCS fills a very different niche than Git which too many people use for too many things.

[@protesilaos]

@TuxmanXP Thank you!

[@TuxmanXP]

Always glad to help people find the right tool for a job. :-)

[@Argletrough]

I find magit a little slow to open on my laptop, and for day-to-day tasks, I often find VC quite sufficient.

[@c4llv07e]

VC is a little strange (next-action is still kinda weird to understand for me), but also very powerful feature of Emacs. I found magit very bloated, so I wanted to replace with something more lightweight. VC looks like what I needed.

[@wikiaudio956]

you explain things very nice, if you want to make a video about remote file editing (tramp) or executing bash commands on remote machines that would be super helpful, just in case you are looking for new topics :)

[@protesilaos]

@WikiAudio Thanks for the feedback! I like the idea and have already read part of TRAMP's info pages. A proper demo would, however, require setting up an environment where I can test things. Right now it is practically impossible given the prevailing conditions…

[@NicolasCavigneaux]

@@protesilaos I'd be happy to provide an account on one of my remote hosts if you will. If it can help you to test out things then make a video I'd be happy. Feel free to contact me if you're interested.

[@protesilaos]

@Nicolas Cavigneaux Thank you! Where can I find your contact information? I still need to research things further. And there are other priorities, so this might take a while.

[@NicolasCavigneaux]

@@protesilaos I dropped you an email so you have my contact info and some other info regarding how to get your remote access. There's no hurry ;)

[@protesilaos]

@@NicolasCavigneaux Thanks!