[Feature] Extend Diff-and-Patch Support to NetworkX & Introduce Provider-Agnostic Versioning

[seb-esser]

Background

ConMan2 currently implements a diff-and-patch strategy exclusively for Neo4j-backed graphs. With the recent experimental addition of NetworkX as a graph provider, the versioning pipeline needs to be extended to support NetworkX natively — while laying the groundwork for a provider-agnostic architecture where increments computed on one backend can be applied to another.

Tasks

• Audit the existing Neo4j diff-and-patch implementation: Review the current diffing logic, increment format, and patch application flow to establish a baseline before extending to NetworkX. Relevant entry point: IfcGraphInterface and the graph_provider parameter.
• Propagate graph_provider awareness through the versioning pipeline: Refine the codebase so that the selected graph provider (Neo4j or NetworkX) is respected consistently across all diff, commit, and patch operations rather than defaulting silently to Neo4j behavior.
• Implement version increment calculation for NetworkX graphs: Port or adapt the diff logic to operate on NetworkX graph structures. This includes detecting topological changes (node/edge additions, deletions) and attribute-level alterations.
• Persist NetworkX increments in a unified format: Store computed NetworkX increments using the same serialization schema as Neo4j increments, ensuring interoperability of the version history regardless of which backend produced it.
• Extend the increment loader to support patching on both backends: Update the patch/apply mechanism so that a stored increment — regardless of its origin — can be loaded and applied to either a Neo4j or a NetworkX graph.

Long-Term Vision

The graph providers should become fully interchangeable. A user should be able to:

• Compute a diff locally using NetworkX (no database connection required)
• Transmit the resulting increment to a Neo4j collaboration hub for sharing (and vice versa)

This decoupling of diff computation from persistence backend is a key step toward a more flexible, offline-capable versioning workflow.

[seb-esser]

Assigned to @https://github.com/helenshz