revisionsidentifierare

Revisionsidentifierare is a term used to denote the unique identifier assigned to a specific revision of a digital artifact, such as a document, source code, dataset, or configuration. The identifier serves as an address in the revision history and enables precise reference, auditing, and reproducibility. The concept appears in many domains, including version control systems, document management platforms, and data governance frameworks.

Identifiers are typically immutable and globally unique within the relevant scope. They may be generated automatically by the system when a new revision is saved, often using cryptographic hashes, sequential numbers, timestamps, or a combination of these. In distributed version control systems, a revision identifier is a commit hash that uniquely encodes the content of the revision. In other contexts, revisions may have human-readable numbers or UUIDs. The exact format depends on the design of the hosting system and its needs for human readability versus content-based integrity.

Uses include precise rollback to a known state, side-by-side comparison of changes, and tracing the provenance of artifacts through audit trails. Revision identifiers also support reproducibility by allowing others to fetch or reconstruct a specific version from the history. Challenges may include managing long or complex identifiers, ensuring integrity of the revision history, and handling merged or branched histories in collaborative environments.

Related concepts include version control, revision history, metadata, and data provenance. Revisions identifiers are distinct from, but often related to, tags or branch names, which provide labels rather than unique content addresses.