Re: [PATCH] submodule : Add --no-separate-git-dir option to add and update command.

From: Henri GEIST <geist.henri@laposte.net>
Date: Mar 6, 2014, 01:25 UTC
Message-ID: <1394069128.7891.29.camel@Naugrim>
In-Reply-To: <53176951.7000201@web.de>

Le mercredi 05 mars 2014 à 19:13 +0100, Jens Lehmann a écrit :

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> Am 03.03.2014 21:34, schrieb Henri GEIST:
> > Le lundi 03 mars 2014 à 17:45 +0000, Jens Lehmann a écrit :
> >> Am 03.03.2014 14:47, schrieb Henri GEIST:
> >>> This new option prevent git submodule <add|update> to clone the missing
> >>> submodules with the --separate-git-dir option.
> >>> Then the submodule will be regular repository and their gitdir will not
> >>> be placed in the superproject gitdir/modules directory.
> >>
> >> And what is your motivation for this? After all submodules containing
> >> a .git directory are second class citizens (because they can never be
> >> safely removed by regular git commands).
> >>
> > 
> > I recognize most people will prefer to have the .git directory separate.
> > And I do not intend to make this option the default.
> > 
> > My reasons are:
> > 
> >   - As it is not clearly stated in the doc that the gitdir is separate.
> >     The first time I have copied one module to an USB key I had a big
> >     surprise.
> 
> Oops! Could you please help us by hinting how the documentation
> could be improved here?
>

Of course. There is nothing in Documentation/git-submodule.txt to inform that submodules clones are different from regular clones. I will write and propose a patch for the documentation. But maybe in a new thread.

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> >   - This will not change anything for people not using it.
> 
> I do not agree, as they'll be seeing a new option and might use
> it to "go backward" as Junio explained in his answer.
> 
> >   - I use an other patch which I plane to send later which enable multiple
> >     level of superproject to add a gitlink to the same submodule.
> >     And in this case the superproject containing the separate gitdir will be
> >     arbitrary and depend on the processing order of the
> >     'git submodule update --recursive' command.
> 
> I don't understand that. How is that different from using different
> names (and thus different separate gitdirs) for that duplicated
> submodule? After all, the .git directory is just moved somewhere
> else in the superproject's work tree, and as the name defaults to
> the path of the submodule ...
>

I think I should give an example. If I have a hierarchy like this :

superproject/submodule/subsubmodule

What I often do is:

superproject --> submodule --> subsubmodule
             |                 ^
             '-----------------'

Where '-->' is a gitlink.

That mean .gitmodules and index of the superproject contain both submodule and
submodule/subsubmodule.
And also mean (and that is the point) subsubmodule is a direct 'child' of both
superproject and submodule.
In this case where should the separate gitdir of subsubmodule be placed ?
  - In superproject/modules/submodule/subsubmodule ?
  - In superproject/submodule/modules/subsubmodule ?
  - Depending on the 'git submodule update' command order ?
  - Or both ?

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> >   - I have written this for myself and have using it since 2012 and send it in
> >     the hope it could be useful for someone else even if it is only a few
> >     people. But if its not the case no problem I will keep using it for myself.
> 
> Thanks.