# HG changeset patch
# User wenzelm
# Date 1235907462 -3600
# Node ID db768c888dfa3be380fcd40a2c8fa1608721fda0
# Parent  c703c9368c127381f4e813c08b78d4c385361b5b
minor update of Mercurial HOWTO;

diff -r c703c9368c12 -r db768c888dfa README_REPOSITORY
--- a/README_REPOSITORY	Sat Feb 28 21:34:33 2009 +0100
+++ b/README_REPOSITORY	Sun Mar 01 12:37:42 2009 +0100
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@
 Initial configuration
 ---------------------
 
-Always use Mercurial version 1.0 or later, such as 1.0.1 or 1.0.2.
+Always use Mercurial versions from the 1.0 or 1.1 branch, or later.
 The old 0.9.x versions do not work in a multi-user environment with
-shared file spaces.
+shared file spaces!
 
 
 The official Isabelle repository can be cloned like this:
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@
 
 In principle, user names can be chosen freely, but for longterm
 committers of the Isabelle repository the obvious choice is to keep
-with the old CVS naming scheme.
+with the old CVS naming scheme.  Others should use their regular "full
+name"; including an email address is optional.
 
 
 There are other useful configuration to go into $HOME/.hgrc,
@@ -135,6 +136,29 @@
   hg clone ssh://wenzelm@atbroy100//home/isabelle-repository/repos/isabelle
 
 
+Simplified merges
+-----------------
+
+The main idea of Mercurial is to let individual users produce
+independent branches of development first, but merge with others
+frequently.  The basic hg merge operation is more general than
+required for the mode of operation with a shared pull/push area.  The
+hg fetch extension accommodates this case nicely, automating trivial
+merges and requiring manual intervention for actual conflicts only.
+
+The fetch extension can be configured via the user's ~/.hgrc like
+this:
+
+  [extensions]
+  hgext.fetch =
+
+  [defaults]
+  fetch = -m "merged"
+
+Note that the potential for merge conflicts can be greatly reduced by
+doing "hg fetch" before any starting local changes!
+
+
 Content discipline
 ------------------
 
@@ -172,7 +196,9 @@
     Mercurial provides nice web presentation of incoming changes with
     a digest of log entries; this also includes RSS/Atom news feeds.
     Users should be aware that others will actually read what is
-    written into log messages.
+    written into log messages.  There are also add-on browsers,
+    notably hgtk that is part of the TortoiseHg distribution and works
+    for generic Python/GTk platforms.
 
     The usual changelog presentation style for the Isabelle repository
     admits log entries that consist of several lines, but without the
@@ -194,6 +220,3 @@
 
 Needless to say, the results from the build process must not be added
 to the repository!
-
-
-Makarius 30-Nov-2008