However, I'm claiming a token is defined by the file's language, and
that a replace patch on anything but a token as per those language
standards is a silly thing.
Please recall the context of this discussion: getting Darcs to grok
git repositories.
You are arguing that it should be possible to design a set of
heuristics that Do The Right Thing often enough. And you are probably
right.
But the point is immaterial as nobody has stepped up to implement in
Darcs the sort of heuristics you have in mind. Partly because nobody
has time, but mostly because we don't like heuristics, we prefer Darcs
to remain deterministic.
So while yes, it might be possible to get about using heuristics, it
seems rather unlikely that that's what we'll do.
Juliusz