http://qs1969.pair.com?node_id=491323


in reply to Thoughts on designing a file format.

Would you consider it worthwhile to add a field (or set of fields) for an update/edit history, incorporating both date of the (edit/update) and the author of same?

An impractical (but in some ways desireable) addition would be a field or set of fields to hold sequential difs for each edit. Notion is that it would amount to an internal cv repository, which would afford a subsequent editor/reader some hints about whether (for example) writer B's remark was in the same thread of changes as writer A's (if not, it might be merely similar or tangential, whereas if in same_thread, might be a child of A's).

Update: I view including dif's as "impractical" because doing so could bloat a file worse than M$ does (mucho header/file info, very little unique content) ...to say nothing of complexities (what do you do about the reader/revisor who's not running on a compatible OS or using a compliant editor?)