Multiple file versions -- FLAME off!!

[Ron Christian]

()
Well, I'm not a unix wizard exactly, but for a user's point
of view:

I implemented a 'miltiple files' gimmic on 4.2 BSD with a couple aliases.
Not hard to do, you can append sequential numbers (or even the date)
to new files one each during the edit/compile/run cycle.  Or push
them up a queue (foo.old foo.reallyold foo.reallyreallyold, etc)
automagically.  Had an alias 'backup' that would do this, then nested
it into 'cc' alias.  (You could put it in the makefile, too.)  Anyway,
I soon abandoned the practice after I discovered that when something
DID barf, often as not I knew right away where I bungled, or, the
error was so deeply embedded that I'd have to give up several nifty
(working) features I had added to go far enough back to not have the
bug.  I still have the 'backup' command, but it only creates ONE backup,
and I have to initiate it.  (To guard against serious fumbles while
in 'vi'.)  New hacks to code are always marked (/*TEST TEST TEST*/ or
some such) and I can almost always remove a couple generations of
changes successfully.  What more do you need?
-- 

	"Trivia is important."		Ron Christian
	    (syntax bug)		Watkins-Johnson Co.
					San Jose, Calif.
					(...ios!wjvax!ron)