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[PATCH/RFC] Allow writing loose objects that are corrupted in a pack file

From
Jan Krüger <jk@jk.gs>
Date
Dec 9, 2008, 08:36 UTC
Message-ID
<20081209093627.77039a1f@perceptron>

For fixing a corrupted repository by using backup copies of individual files, allow write_sha1_file() to write loose files even if the object already exists in a pack file, but only if the existing entry is marked as corrupted.

Signed-off-by: Jan Krüger <jk@jk.gs>
---

On IRC I talked to rtyler who had a corrupted pack file and plenty of object backups by way of cloned repositories. We decided to try extracting the corrupted objects from the other object database and injecting them into the broken repo as loose objects, but this failed because sha1_write_file() refuses to write loose objects that are already present in a pack file.

This patch expands the check to see if the pack entry has been marked as corrupted and, if so, allows writing a loose object with the same ID. Unfortunately, when Tyler tried a merge while using this patch, something we didn't manage to track down happened and now git doesn't consider the object corrupted anymore. I'm not sure enough that it wasn't caused by the patch to submit this patch without hesitation.

Apart from that, I think the change is not all too great since it makes write_sha1_file() walk the list of pack entries twice. That's a bit of a waste.

So those are the reasons why I wanted a few opinions first. Another reason is that there might be a way smarter method to fix this kind of problem, in which case I'd love hearing about it for future reference.

 sha1_file.c |    9 +++++----
 1 files changed, 5 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/sha1_file.c b/sha1_file.c
index 6c0e251..17085cc 100644
--- a/sha1_file.c
+++ b/sha1_file.c
@@ -2373,14 +2373,17 @@ int write_sha1_file(void *buf, unsigned long len, const char *type, unsigned cha
 	char hdr[32];
 	int hdrlen;
 
-	/* Normally if we have it in the pack then we do not bother writing
-	 * it out into .git/objects/??/?{38} file.
-	 */
 	write_sha1_file_prepare(buf, len, type, sha1, hdr, &hdrlen);
 	if (returnsha1)
 		hashcpy(returnsha1, sha1);
-	if (has_sha1_file(sha1))
-		return 0;
+	/* Normally if we have it in the pack then we do not bother writing
+	 * it out into .git/objects/??/?{38} file. We do, though, if there
+	 * is no chance that we have an uncorrupted version of the object.
+	 */
+	if (has_sha1_file(sha1)) {
+		if (has_loose_object(sha1) || !has_packed_and_bad(sha1))
+			return 0;
+	}
 	return write_loose_object(sha1, hdr, hdrlen, buf, len, 0);
 }
 
-- 
1.6.0.4.766.g6fc4a
Next: R. Tyler Ballance
Message 1 of 49 in “Allow writing loose objects that are corrupted in a pack file”
  1. Allow writing loose objects that are corrupted in a pack fileJan Krüger, Dec 9, 2008
  2. R. Tyler BallanceDec 9, 2008
  3. Shawn O. PearceDec 9, 2008
  4. R. Tyler BallanceJan 6, 2009
  5. Nicolas PitreJan 7, 2009
  6. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  7. Nicolas PitreJan 7, 2009
  8. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  9. Nicolas PitreJan 7, 2009
  10. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  11. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  12. Junio C HamanoJan 7, 2009
  13. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  14. Junio C HamanoJan 7, 2009
  15. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  16. Nicolas PitreJan 7, 2009
  17. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  18. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  19. R. Tyler BallanceJan 7, 2009
  20. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  21. Public repro case! Re: [PATCH/RFC] Allow writing loose objects that are corrupted in a pack fileR. Tyler Ballance, Jan 8, 2009
  22. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  23. R. Tyler BallanceJan 8, 2009
  24. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  25. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  26. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  27. James PickensJan 8, 2009
  28. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  29. Junio C HamanoJan 8, 2009
  30. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  31. Boyd Stephen Smith Jr.Jan 8, 2009
  32. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  33. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  34. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  35. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  36. Wrap inflateInit to retry allocation after releasing pack memoryShawn O. Pearce, Jan 8, 2009
  37. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  38. Junio C HamanoJan 8, 2009
  39. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  40. Shawn O. PearceJan 8, 2009
  41. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  42. R. Tyler BallanceJan 8, 2009
  43. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  44. R. Tyler BallanceJan 8, 2009
  45. Junio C HamanoJan 9, 2009
  46. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  47. R. Tyler BallanceJan 8, 2009
  48. Linus TorvaldsJan 8, 2009
  49. R. Tyler BallanceJan 8, 2009

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