Re: Smart fetch via HTTP?

From: Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
Date: May 15, 2007, 23:29 UTC
Message-ID: <20070515232946.GR3141@spearce.org>
In-Reply-To: <20070515201006.GD3653@efreet.light.src>

Jan Hudec <bulb@ucw.cz> wrote:

> Did anyone already think about fetching over HTTP working similarly to the
> native git protocol?

No work has been done on this (that I know of) but I've discussed it to some extent with Simon 'corecode' Schubert on #git, and I think he also brought it up on the mailing list not too long after.

I've certainly thought about adding some sort of pack-objects
frontend into gitweb.cgi for this exact purpose.  It is really
quite easy, except for the negotation of what the client has.  ;-)

Show 8 quoted lines

> Than a question is how to implement it. The current protocol is stateful on
> both sides, but the stateless nature of HTTP more or less requires the
> protocol to be stateless on the server.
> 
> I think it would be possible to use basically the same protocol as now, but
> make it stateless for server. That is server first sends it's heads and than
> client repeatedly sends all it's wants and some haves until the server acks
> all of them and sends the pack.

I think Simon was talking about doubling the number of haves the client sends in each request. So the client POSTs initially all of its current refs; then current refs and their parents; then 4 commits back, then 8, etc. The server replies to each POST request with either a "send more please" or the packfile.

-- 
Shawn.