git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH v2 11/23] fetch --prune: prune only based on explicit refspecs

From
Michael Haggerty <mhagger@alum.mit.edu>
Date
Oct 30, 2013, 05:33 UTC
Message-ID
<1383111192-23780-12-git-send-email-mhagger@alum.mit.edu>
In-Reply-To
<1383111192-23780-1-git-send-email-mhagger@alum.mit.edu>

The old behavior of "fetch --prune" was to prune whatever was being fetched. In particular, "fetch --prune --tags" caused tags not only to be fetched, but also to be pruned. This is inappropriate because there is only one tags namespace that is shared among the local repository and all remotes. Therefore, if the user defines a local tag and then runs "git fetch --prune --tags", then the local tag is deleted. Moreover, "--prune" and "--tags" can also be configured via fetch.prune / remote.<name>.prune and remote.<name>.tagopt, making it even less obvious that an invocation of "git fetch" could result in tag lossage.

Since the command "git remote update" invokes "git fetch", it had the same problem.

The command "git remote prune", on the other hand, disregarded the setting of remote.<name>.tagopt, and so its behavior was inconsistent with that of the other commands.

So the old behavior made it too easy to lose tags. To fix this problem, change "fetch --prune" to prune references based only on refspecs specified explicitly by the user, either on the command line or via remote.<name>.fetch. Thus, tags are no longer made subject to pruning by the --tags option or the remote.<name>.tagopt setting.

However, tags *are* still subject to pruning if they are fetched as part of a refspec, and that is good. For example:

* On the command line,
      git fetch --prune 'refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*'
  causes tags, and only tags, to be fetched and pruned, and is
  therefore a simple way for the user to get the equivalent of the old
  behavior of "--prune --tag".
* For a remote that was configured with the "--mirror" option, the
  configuration is set to include
      [remote "name"]
              fetch = +refs/*:refs/*
  , which causes tags to be subject to pruning along with all other
  references.  This is the behavior that will typically be desired for
  a mirror.
Signed-off-by: Michael Haggerty <mhagger@alum.mit.edu>
---
 Documentation/config.txt        |  4 ++--
 Documentation/fetch-options.txt | 19 ++++++++++++++-----
 builtin/fetch.c                 | 39 +++++++++------------------------------
 t/t5510-fetch.sh                | 10 +++++-----
 4 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 42 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index ab26963..a405806 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -2087,8 +2087,8 @@ remote.<name>.vcs::
 
 remote.<name>.prune::
 	When set to true, fetching from this remote by default will also
-	remove any remote-tracking branches which no longer exist on the
-	remote (as if the `--prune` option was give on the command line).
+	remove any remote-tracking references that no longer exist on the
+	remote (as if the `--prune` option was given on the command line).
 	Overrides `fetch.prune` settings, if any.
 
 remotes.<group>::
diff --git a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
index 921f6be..12b1d92 100644
--- a/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/fetch-options.txt
@@ -41,8 +41,14 @@ ifndef::git-pull[]
 
 -p::
 --prune::
-	After fetching, remove any remote-tracking branches which
-	no longer exist	on the remote.
+	After fetching, remove any remote-tracking references that no
+	longer exist on the remote.  Tags are not subject to pruning
+	if they are fetched only because of the default tag
+	auto-following or due to a --tags option.  However, if tags
+	are fetched due to an explicit refspec (either on the command
+	line or in the remote configuration, for example if the remote
+	was cloned with the --mirror option), then they are also
+	subject to pruning.
 endif::git-pull[]
 
 ifdef::git-pull[]
@@ -61,9 +67,12 @@ endif::git-pull[]
 ifndef::git-pull[]
 -t::
 --tags::
-	Request that all tags be fetched from the remote in addition
-	to whatever else is being fetched.  Its effect is similar to
-	that of the refspec `refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*`.
+	Fetch all tags from the remote (i.e., fetch remote tags
+	`refs/tags/*` into local tags with the same name), in addition
+	to whatever else would otherwise be fetched.  Using this
+	option alone does not subject tags to pruning, even if --prune
+	is used (though tags may be pruned anyway if they are also the
+	destination of an explicit refspec; see '--prune').
 
 --recurse-submodules[=yes|on-demand|no]::
 	This option controls if and under what conditions new commits of
diff --git a/builtin/fetch.c b/builtin/fetch.c
index 887fa3e..1514b90 100644
--- a/builtin/fetch.c
+++ b/builtin/fetch.c
@@ -850,38 +850,17 @@ static int do_fetch(struct transport *transport,
 		goto cleanup;
 	}
 	if (prune) {
-		struct refspec *prune_refspecs;
-		int prune_refspec_count;
-
+		/*
+		 * We only prune based on refspecs specified
+		 * explicitly (via command line or configuration); we
+		 * don't care whether --tags was specified.
+		 */
 		if (ref_count) {
-			prune_refspecs = refs;
-			prune_refspec_count = ref_count;
-		} else {
-			prune_refspecs = transport->remote->fetch;
-			prune_refspec_count = transport->remote->fetch_refspec_nr;
-		}
-
-		if (tags == TAGS_SET) {
-			/*
-			 * --tags was specified.  Pretend that the user also
-			 * gave us the canonical tags refspec
-			 */
-			const char *tags_str = "refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*";
-			struct refspec *tags_refspec, *refspec;
-
-			/* Copy the refspec and add the tags to it */
-			refspec = xcalloc(prune_refspec_count + 1, sizeof(*refspec));
-			tags_refspec = parse_fetch_refspec(1, &tags_str);
-			memcpy(refspec, prune_refspecs, prune_refspec_count * sizeof(*refspec));
-			memcpy(&refspec[prune_refspec_count], tags_refspec, sizeof(*refspec));
-
-			prune_refs(refspec, prune_refspec_count + 1, ref_map);
-
-			/* The rest of the strings belong to fetch_one */
-			free_refspec(1, tags_refspec);
-			free(refspec);
+			prune_refs(refs, ref_count, ref_map);
 		} else {
-			prune_refs(prune_refspecs, prune_refspec_count, ref_map);
+			prune_refs(transport->remote->fetch,
+				   transport->remote->fetch_refspec_nr,
+				   ref_map);
 		}
 	}
 	free_refs(ref_map);
diff --git a/t/t5510-fetch.sh b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
index 02e5901..5d4581d 100755
--- a/t/t5510-fetch.sh
+++ b/t/t5510-fetch.sh
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch --prune with a namespace keeps other namespaces' '
 	git rev-parse origin/master
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags prunes tags and branches' '
+test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags prunes branches but not tags' '
 	cd "$D" &&
 	git clone . prune-tags &&
 	cd prune-tags &&
@@ -125,10 +125,10 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags prunes tags and branches' '
 	git fetch --prune --tags origin &&
 	git rev-parse origin/master &&
 	test_must_fail git rev-parse origin/fake-remote &&
-	test_must_fail git rev-parse sometag
+	git rev-parse sometag
 '
 
-test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags with branch does not delete other remote-tracking branches' '
+test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags with branch does not prune other things' '
 	cd "$D" &&
 	git clone . prune-tags-branch &&
 	cd prune-tags-branch &&
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags with branch does not delete other remo
 
 	git fetch --prune --tags origin master &&
 	git rev-parse origin/extrabranch &&
-	test_must_fail git rev-parse sometag
+	git rev-parse sometag
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags with refspec prunes based on refspec' '
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ test_expect_success 'fetch --prune --tags with refspec prunes based on refspec'
 	git fetch --prune --tags origin refs/heads/foo/*:refs/remotes/origin/foo/* &&
 	test_must_fail git rev-parse refs/remotes/origin/foo/otherbranch &&
 	git rev-parse origin/extrabranch &&
-	test_must_fail git rev-parse sometag
+	git rev-parse sometag
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'fetch tags when there is no tags' '
-- 
1.8.4.1
Previous: Michael HaggertyNext: Michael Haggerty
Message 14 of 28 in “Change semantics of "fetch --tags"”
  1. 00/23 Change semantics of "fetch --tags"Michael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  2. 01/23 t5510: use the correct tag name in testMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  3. 02/23 t5510: prepare test refs more straightforwardlyMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  4. Ramkumar RamachandraOct 30, 2013
  5. Michael HaggertyOct 30, 2013
  6. 03/23 t5510: check that "git fetch --prune --tags" does not prune branchesMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  7. 04/23 api-remote.txt: correct section "struct refspec"Michael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  8. 05/23 get_ref_map(): rename local variablesMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  9. 06/23 builtin/fetch.c: reorder function definitionsMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  10. 07/23 get_expanded_map(): add docstringMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  11. 08/23 get_expanded_map(): avoid memory leakMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  12. 09/23 fetch: only opportunistically update references based on command lineMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  13. 10/23 fetch --tags: fetch tags *in addition to* other stuffMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  14. 11/23 fetch --prune: prune only based on explicit refspecsMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  15. 12/23 query_refspecs(): move some constants out of the loopMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  16. Ramkumar RamachandraOct 30, 2013
  17. Michael HaggertyOct 30, 2013
  18. 13/23 builtin/remote.c: reorder function definitionsMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  19. 14/23 builtin/remote.c:update(): use struct argv_arrayMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  20. 15/23 fetch, remote: properly convey --no-prune options to subprocessesMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  21. 16/23 fetch-options.txt: simplify ifdef/ifndef/endif usageMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  22. 17/23 git-fetch.txt: improve description of tag auto-followingMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  23. 18/23 ref_remove_duplicates(): avoid redundant bisectionMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  24. 19/23 t5536: new test of refspec conflicts when fetchingMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  25. 20/23 ref_remove_duplicates(): simplify loop logicMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  26. 21/23 ref_remote_duplicates(): extract a function handle_duplicate()Michael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  27. 22/23 handle_duplicate(): mark error message for translationMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013
  28. 23/23 fetch: improve the error messages emitted for conflicting refspecsMichael Haggerty, Oct 30, 2013

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.