Re: [PATCH 2/2 (v3)] reset: make the output more user-friendly.

From: Reece Dunn <msclrhd@googlemail.com>
Date: Aug 23, 2009, 11:45 UTC
Message-ID: <3f4fd2640908230445m427175f6v209d695e7e31b303@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <vpqiqgevmju.fsf@bauges.imag.fr>

2009/8/23 Matthieu Moy <Matthieu.Moy@imag.fr>:

Show 5 quoted lines

> For example, the output of 'git status' is very nice to newbies:
>
>  # On branch master
>  # Changed but not updated:
>  #   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)

Shouldn't this be something like: (use "git add <file>..." to add new and modified files to be committed) -- I am saying this as "update" can also refer to removing files, or discarding changes.

Show 8 quoted lines

>  #   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
>  #
>  #       modified:   git.c
>  #
>  no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
>
> But out of these 8 lines, only two contain real informations, and the
> (use "git bla") are just noise to expert users.

Yes and no. Using git for quite a while now, the day-to-day operations are second nature, but other slightly obscure commands (how exactly do I remove a staged file?) are useful to have.

> I've been thinking of a configuration option, like "core.expertuser"
> or "ui.expertuser" that would let users disable these informative
> messages on demand. I'm not sure how good the idea is.

The "core.expertuser" option does not really say what this is doing (should the expertuser option list the sha1's for the commits, trees and objects it is adding?).

I would call it something like "core.interactive-help", "core.inplace-help" or "core.inline-help", as that is what the (use ...) lines are.

- Reece