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

[PATCH 2/3] hash-object doc: elaborate on -w and --literally promises

From
Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com>
Date
May 20, 2019, 21:53 UTC
Message-ID
<20190520215312.10363-3-avarab@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<20190520215312.10363-1-avarab@gmail.com>

Clarify the hash-object docs to explicitly note that the --literally option guarantees that a loose object will be written, but that a normal -w ("write") invocation doesn't.

At first I thought talking about "loose object" in the docs was a mistake in 83115ac4a8 ("git-hash-object.txt: document --literally option", 2015-05-04), but as is clear from 5ba9a93b39 ("hash-object: add --literally option", 2014-09-11) this was intended all along.

As seen in 4dd1fbc7b1 ("Bigfile: teach "git add" to send a large file straight to a pack", 2011-05-08) we'll otherwise not guarantee that we write loose objects, so let's explicitly note that, using vague enough language to leave the door open to any arbitrary future storage format, not just loose objects and packs.

While I'm at it remove the mention of "--stdin" from the "--literally" documentation. This wasn't correct, the "--literally" option combines with any other option (e.g. "--stdin-paths"), not just "--stdin".

Signed-off-by: Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com>
---
 Documentation/git-hash-object.txt | 11 +++++++++--
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-hash-object.txt b/Documentation/git-hash-object.txt
index df9e2c58bd..100630d021 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-hash-object.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-hash-object.txt
@@ -28,6 +28,12 @@ OPTIONS
 
 -w::
 	Actually write the object into the object database.
++
+No guarantees are made as to how the object is added to the database
+(e.g. whether as a loose object, or streamed to a pack), except in the
+case of the `--literally` option. How it's written may depend on
+heuristics such as the `core.bigFileThreshold` configuration variable
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 --stdin::
 	Read the object from standard input instead of from a file.
@@ -53,10 +59,11 @@ OPTIONS
 	is always implied, unless the `--path` option is given.
 
 --literally::
-	Allow `--stdin` to hash any garbage into a loose object which might not
+	Allow for hashing arbitrary data which might not
 	otherwise pass standard object parsing or git-fsck checks. Useful for
 	stress-testing Git itself or reproducing characteristics of corrupt or
-	bogus objects encountered in the wild.
+	bogus objects encountered in the wild. When writing objects guarantees
+	that the written object will be a loose object, for ease of debugging.
 
 GIT
 ---
-- 
2.21.0.1020.gf2820cf01a
Previous: Jeff KingNext: Jeff King
Message 4 of 12 in “hash-object doc: small fixes”
  1. 0/3 hash-object doc: small fixesÆvar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, May 20, 2019
  2. 1/3 hash-object doc: stop mentioning git-cvsimportÆvar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, May 20, 2019
  3. Jeff KingMay 22, 2019
  4. 2/3 hash-object doc: elaborate on -w and --literally promisesÆvar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, May 20, 2019
  5. Jeff KingMay 22, 2019
  6. Jakub NarebskiMay 24, 2019
  7. Ævar Arnfjörð BjarmasonMay 24, 2019
  8. Jeff KingMay 28, 2019
  9. Junio C HamanoMay 28, 2019
  10. Junio C HamanoMay 28, 2019
  11. 3/3 hash-object doc: point to ls-files and rev-parseÆvar Arnfjörð Bjarmason, May 20, 2019
  12. Jeff KingMay 22, 2019

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.