[PATCH 0/2] git diff -q option removal

From: Stefan Beller <stefanbeller@googlemail.com>
Date: Jul 16, 2013, 10:28 UTC
Message-ID: <1373970487-32595-1-git-send-email-stefanbeller@googlemail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20130714220739.GC13444@google.com>

On 07/15/2013 12:07 AM, Jonathan Nieder wrote:

Show 21 quoted lines

> This feature was obviously never tested with --no-index, so I agree it
> makes sense to remove it.  Probably the commit message and a comment
> should say so, though.  E.g.:
>
>       diff --no-index: remove nonfunctional "-q" handling
>
>       Before v1.5.6-rc1~41^2~2, the option parsing for diff --no-index
>       and "git diff-files" shared code.  In "git diff-files", "-q" means
>       to be silent about removed files.  In "git diff --no-index", in
>       various versions it has been an error, an infinite loop, or a no-op.
> 
>       Simplify the code to clarify that it is now a no-op, continuing to
>       accept and ignore the -q option in "git diff --no-index" to avoid
>       breaking scripts.
>
> I wouldn't mind removing support for "-q" altogether, by the way (as a
> separate change).
>
> Hope that helps,
> Jonathan
>

I am resending the commit with a different wording, thanks to Jonathan.

However I tried to remove support for -q in a separate commit, and I have some questions about the structure of the files. (I am sure it's documented, but I cannot find it, so please hint me where to read.)

The changes in the following patch are in diff_no_index.c, but the diff_no_index(...) is called from cmd_diff, which is in builtin/diff.c That cmd_diff is actually called from git.c having the { "diff", cmd_diff }, entry in handle_internal_command.

My question now is this: Why is the builtin/diff.c relying on stuff outside of builtin/ ? Wouldn't it be better to move all these files (such as diff_no_index.c) into the builtin folder as well?

Regarding the removal of the -q option, I tried it in the second patch. Is it as easy as that, or am I missing the point?

The first patch doesn't change the behavior, so I'd assume it's safe to apply it to origin/sb/misc-fixes, whereas the second patch will make git diff complain about the -q option, so I'd assume it would wait for the next major release?

Before:
	touch actual_file
	git diff -q  actual_file no_file
	error: Could not access 'no_file'
	echo $?
	1

After:
	touch actual_file
	git diff -q  actual_file no_file
	fatal: invalid diff option/value: -q
	echo $?
	128

Thanks, Stefan

Stefan Beller (2):
  diff --no-index: remove nonfunctional "-q" handling
  git diff: Remove -q option to stay silent on missing files.

 Documentation/git-diff-files.txt | 6 +-----
 diff-no-index.c                  | 5 -----
 2 files changed, 1 insertion(+), 10 deletions(-)

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1.8.2.3.10.g2733812