[Gnu-arch-users] Re: File-tpye plug-in architecture for Arch?

[michael josenhans]

Andrew Suffield wrote:
> A generic XML diff tool will probably not perform sufficiently better
> than diff(1) to be worthwhile. A good domain-specific diff actually
> understands the file it's operating on.

I think this applies to manually changed files. However not to files red 
completely by e.g. an XML DOM parser, modifed sub in some areas and 
saved again. The file content may stay indentially in most areas, while 
the layout might have been changed everywhere as there are many placed 
in XML, where space and carriage retrun have no relevance.

The XML file I took out off OO, did not contain any single carriage 
retrun. Such a file will not work with any traditional line based diff 
tool.

The XML diff-tool was indeed be able to create useful patches.

Michael