Not exactly: a .st file is not the state of a package it is just a file 
containing commands to add methods, remove methods, etc.  DVS generates 
a fileout to see what commands would create the state that is in the 
image and then compares that to the file you want to load.  It can then 
notice if a method is in one file and not the other.

But that only happens if you load the file with DVS.  And the method 
removal will only take place if the method is actually defined as part 
of the package in your image and not in the file (which is why you 
cannot have a DVS package that removes a method from some unrelated class)

Julian

Derek Brans wrote:
> I want absent methods to be removed.  Isn't a file-out the de-facto 
> state of a package?  When I do a fileout, I synchronize my file with my 
> image.  When I filein, I want my image to synchronize with a file.
> 
> Instead you're saying that in a filein my image and my file merge.  I've 
> upgraded Seaside from SM but there are a whole bunch of old methods 
> hanging around that are confusing.
> 
> I have a couple questions:
> 1. Could you describe a situation where you would want the behaviour 
> where absent methods are not removed?
> 2. If I want the behaviour that absent methods are removed (as in the 
> case of updating someone else's package eg. Seaside), how is this best 
> done?
> 
> Thank you,
> Derek
> 
> On Friday, January 31, 2003, at 08:37 PM, Julian Fitzell wrote:
> 
>> Of course.  If the .st doesn't explicitly remove the method it won't be
>> removed.  If it were a DVS package and someMethod was defined as part of
>> the package (in your image, but not in the fileIn) then it would get
>> removed.
>>
>> That's one of the reasons we came up with DVS.
>>
>> Julian
>>
>> Derek Brans wrote:
>>
>>> I think I remember seeing something about this on the list earlier.
>>> In my image I have SomeClass>>someMethod
>>> On SM there is newer version that doesn't have SomeClass>>someMethod
>>> I filein the .st file and the method is still there.
>>> I'm running the newest version of DVS.
>>> Thanks,
>>> Derek
>>> Nerd on a Wire: Web and Information Solutions
>>> Website Design - Database Systems - Site Hosting
>>> 604.874.6463
>>> mailto:info at nerdonawire.com
>>> For more information, visit http://nerdonawire.com
>>
>>
>>
>> -- julian at beta4.com
>> Beta4 Productions (http://www.beta4.com)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Nerd on a Wire: Web and Information Solutions
> Website Design - Database Systems - Site Hosting
> 604.874.6463
> mailto:info at nerdonawire.com
> For more information, visit http://nerdonawire.com
> 
> 


-- 
julian at beta4.com
Beta4 Productions (http://www.beta4.com)