Re: [PATCH 5/6] config docs: Provide for config to specify tags not to abbreviate

From: Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Date: Nov 8, 2016, 10:51 UTC
Message-ID: <22561.44597.59852.574831@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
In-Reply-To: <CA+P7+xoQFsN1tPvKCA6+aRMChFwpMs73D=2kwvVRcxALWK0mZQ@mail.gmail.com>

Jacob Keller writes ("Re: [PATCH 5/6] config docs: Provide for config to specify tags not to abbreviate"):

Show 17 quoted lines

> On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 4:52 PM, Ian Jackson
> <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> > +log.noAbbrevTags::
> > +       Each value is a glob pattern, specifying tag nammes which
> > +       should always be displayed in full, even when other tags may
> > +       be omitted or abbreviated (for example, by linkgit:gitk[1]).
> > +       Values starting with `^` specify tags which should be
> > +       abbreviated.  The order is important: the last match, in the
> > +       most-local configuration, wins.
> > +
> 
> It seems weird that this description implies some sort of behavior
> change in core git itself, but in fact is only used as a reference for
> other tools that may or may not honor it. I guess the reasoning here
> is to try to get other external tools that abbreviate tags to also
> honor this? But it still seems pretty weird to have a documented
> config that has no code in core git to honor it...

Thanks for your attention.

Yes, I agree that it does seem weird. But the alternatives seem worse. I think it's probably best if options like this (currently only honoured by out-of-core tools but of general usefulness) are collected together here.

There is a precedent: `git config gui.encoding' is, according to the documentation, honoured only by git-gui and gitk.

Calling the config option `gitk.noAbbrevTags' would be possible but that would invite everyone else to invent their own, which would be quite annoying. (Also, gitk does not have any gitk-specific git config options right now, AIUI. It does honour `git config gui.encoding'.)

Would it help to add a sentence to the documentation saying that this is currently only honoured by gitk ? (The paragraph for gui.encoding says something similar.) Of course I don't know who else abbreviates tags, but as they gain support they could be added to the docs.

Thanks, Ian.

-- 
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