Les Tyrrell wrote:
> 
> ...  In the FE,
> classes which have changed substantially since the comment was last updated
> could be shown as having documentation that is perhaps a bit untrustworthy...
> this information is likely to be a bit discouraging at first. ( actually,
> could probably do that from the existing .sources/.changes information ).

This reminds me that I've often been annoyed that you can browse method versions, but you can't browse class comment versions or class definition versions.  Class definition versions especially would be nice... you would be able to find out who added that extra instance variable and when they did it.  (It also seemed odd to me that Envy never supported this.)

It looks like timestamps are already stored in the .sources/.changes file for class comments, so it might not be too hard to add class comment version browsing.  Timestamps could be added for class definitions, too, though.  Maybe I'll work on this one day if no one else gets to it first. :)


Duane Maxwell wrote:
> 
> Also keep in mind that I'm not talking about an automated way to update the
> image - beyond some local caching for efficiency reasons, the documentation
> is fetched from the server whenever the class or method is browsed.  That
> way everyone has more or less the same version for the same image/update at
> the same time.

I see your point... this makes sense for a custom browser which also perhaps allows new types of documentation such as class category comments.  But there is a great need for improving the standard class comments in the base image... maybe your server could also be periodically (manually) "harvested" for new class comments which would make their way back into the base image.  That way people without a constant internet connection (for example) would also benefit.

Anyway, this sounds like a good idea overall.

- Doug Way
  dway at riskmetrics.com