Non-standard usage of rsync

[jarausch at igpm.rwth-aachen.de]

Hi,
I am thinking about a non-standard usage of rsync (at least not
mentioned in the man file)

I want to synchronized my collegues home directories(trees) each night
AND store rsync's internal updating commands (reversed) to be able
to restore the state of a directory the day before.
This would require
- saving the internal updating commands in a separate directory
- reversing these commands if not stored in reverse
- an option to rsync to apply these commands to a given
  directory.

Is this already possible?

Is it probably difficult to patch rsync to do so?

If yes, can the backup option be told to record new/deleted
files as well. In that case my aims can be achieved at (much)
higher disk space.

Thanks for any hints,

Helmut Jarausch

Lehrstuhl fuer Numerische Mathematik
Institute of Technology, RWTH Aachen
D 52056 Aachen, Germany