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[PATCH v2 1/2] merge-ort: add a new mergeability_only option

From
Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date
May 12, 2025, 23:42 UTC
Message-ID
<4757c4810d3421b6c41723da837cab14824239e2.1747093322.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<pull.1920.v2.git.1747093322.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Git Forges may be interested in whether two branches can be merged while
not being interested in what the resulting merge tree is nor which files
conflicted.  For such cases, add a new mergeability_only option.  This
option allows the merge machinery to, in the "outer layer" of the merge:
  * exit upon first[-ish] conflict
  * avoid (not prevent) writing merged blobs/trees to the object store
I have a number of qualifiers there, so let me explain each:
"outer layer":

Note that since the recursive merge of merge bases (corresponding to call_depth > 0) can conflict without the outer final merge (corresponding to call_depth == 0) conflicting, we can't short-circuit nor avoid writing merged blobs/trees to the object store during those inner merges.

"first-ish conflict":
The current patch only exits early from process_entries() on the first
conflict it detects, but conflicts could have been detected in a
previous function call, namely detect_and_process_renames().  However:
  * conflicts detected by detect_and_process_renames() are quite rare
    conflict types
  * the detection would still come after regular rename detection
    (which is the expensive part of detect_and_process_renames()), so
    it is not saving us much in computation time given that
    process_entries() directly follows detect_and_process_renames()
  * [this overlaps with the next bullet point] process_entries() is the
    place where virtually all object writing occurs (object writing is
    sometimes more of a concern for Forges than computation time), so
    exiting early here isn't saving us much in object writes either
  * the code changes needed to handle an earlier exit are slightly
    more invasive in detect_and_process_renames() than for
    process_entries().
Given the rareness of the even earlier conflicts, the limited savings
we'd get from exiting even earlier, and in an attempt to keep this
patch simpler, we don't guarantee that we actually exit on the first
conflict detected.  We can always revisit this decision later if we
decide that a further micro-optimization to exit slightly earlier in
rare cases is worthwhile.
"avoid (not prevent) writing objects":

The detect_and_process_renames() call can also write objects to the object store, when rename/rename conflicts involve one (or more) files that have also been modified on both sides. Because of this alternate call path leading to handle_content_merges(), our "early exit" does not prevent writing objects entirely, even within the "outer layer" (i.e. even within call_depth == 0). I figure that's fine though, since we're already writing objects for the inner merges (i.e. for call_depth

> 0), which are likely going to represent vastly more objects than files

involved in rename/rename+modify/modify cases in the outer merge, on average.

Signed-off-by: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
---
 merge-ort.c | 38 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------
 merge-ort.h |  1 +
 2 files changed, 32 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)
diff --git a/merge-ort.c b/merge-ort.c
index 77310a4a52c9..47b3d1730ece 100644
--- a/merge-ort.c
+++ b/merge-ort.c
@@ -2127,6 +2127,7 @@ static int handle_content_merge(struct merge_options *opt,
 				const struct version_info *b,
 				const char *pathnames[3],
 				const int extra_marker_size,
+				const int record_object,
 				struct version_info *result)
 {
 	/*
@@ -2214,7 +2215,7 @@ static int handle_content_merge(struct merge_options *opt,
 			ret = -1;
 		}
 
-		if (!ret &&
+		if (!ret && record_object &&
 		    write_object_file(result_buf.ptr, result_buf.size,
 				      OBJ_BLOB, &result->oid)) {
 			path_msg(opt, ERROR_OBJECT_WRITE_FAILED, 0,
@@ -2897,6 +2898,7 @@ static int process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 			struct version_info merged;
 			struct conflict_info *base, *side1, *side2;
 			unsigned was_binary_blob = 0;
+			const int record_object = true;
 
 			pathnames[0] = oldpath;
 			pathnames[1] = newpath;
@@ -2947,6 +2949,7 @@ static int process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 							   &side2->stages[2],
 							   pathnames,
 							   1 + 2 * opt->priv->call_depth,
+							   record_object,
 							   &merged);
 			if (clean_merge < 0)
 				return -1;
@@ -3061,6 +3064,7 @@ static int process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 
 			struct conflict_info *base, *side1, *side2;
 			int clean;
+			const int record_object = true;
 
 			pathnames[0] = oldpath;
 			pathnames[other_source_index] = oldpath;
@@ -3080,6 +3084,7 @@ static int process_renames(struct merge_options *opt,
 						     &side2->stages[2],
 						     pathnames,
 						     1 + 2 * opt->priv->call_depth,
+						     record_object,
 						     &merged);
 			if (clean < 0)
 				return -1;
@@ -3931,9 +3936,12 @@ static int write_completed_directory(struct merge_options *opt,
 		 * Write out the tree to the git object directory, and also
 		 * record the mode and oid in dir_info->result.
 		 */
+		int record_tree = (!opt->mergeability_only ||
+				   opt->priv->call_depth);
 		dir_info->is_null = 0;
 		dir_info->result.mode = S_IFDIR;
-		if (write_tree(&dir_info->result.oid, &info->versions, offset,
+		if (record_tree &&
+		    write_tree(&dir_info->result.oid, &info->versions, offset,
 			       opt->repo->hash_algo->rawsz) < 0)
 			ret = -1;
 	}
@@ -4231,10 +4239,13 @@ static int process_entry(struct merge_options *opt,
 		struct version_info *o = &ci->stages[0];
 		struct version_info *a = &ci->stages[1];
 		struct version_info *b = &ci->stages[2];
+		int record_object = (!opt->mergeability_only ||
+				     opt->priv->call_depth);
 
 		clean_merge = handle_content_merge(opt, path, o, a, b,
 						   ci->pathnames,
 						   opt->priv->call_depth * 2,
+						   record_object,
 						   &merged_file);
 		if (clean_merge < 0)
 			return -1;
@@ -4395,6 +4406,8 @@ static int process_entries(struct merge_options *opt,
 						   STRING_LIST_INIT_NODUP,
 						   NULL, 0 };
 	int ret = 0;
+	const int record_tree = (!opt->mergeability_only ||
+				 opt->priv->call_depth);
 
 	trace2_region_enter("merge", "process_entries setup", opt->repo);
 	if (strmap_empty(&opt->priv->paths)) {
@@ -4454,6 +4467,12 @@ static int process_entries(struct merge_options *opt,
 				ret = -1;
 				goto cleanup;
 			};
+			if (!ci->merged.clean && opt->mergeability_only &&
+			    !opt->priv->call_depth) {
+				ret = 0;
+				goto cleanup;
+			}
+
 		}
 	}
 	trace2_region_leave("merge", "processing", opt->repo);
@@ -4468,7 +4487,8 @@ static int process_entries(struct merge_options *opt,
 		fflush(stdout);
 		BUG("dir_metadata accounting completely off; shouldn't happen");
 	}
-	if (write_tree(result_oid, &dir_metadata.versions, 0,
+	if (record_tree &&
+	    write_tree(result_oid, &dir_metadata.versions, 0,
 		       opt->repo->hash_algo->rawsz) < 0)
 		ret = -1;
 cleanup:
@@ -4715,6 +4735,8 @@ void merge_display_update_messages(struct merge_options *opt,
 
 	if (opt->record_conflict_msgs_as_headers)
 		BUG("Either display conflict messages or record them as headers, not both");
+	if (opt->mergeability_only)
+		BUG("Displaying conflict messages incompatible with mergeability-only checks");
 
 	trace2_region_enter("merge", "display messages", opt->repo);
 
@@ -5171,10 +5193,12 @@ redo:
 	result->path_messages = &opt->priv->conflicts;
 
 	if (result->clean >= 0) {
-		result->tree = parse_tree_indirect(&working_tree_oid);
-		if (!result->tree)
-			die(_("unable to read tree (%s)"),
-			    oid_to_hex(&working_tree_oid));
+		if (!opt->mergeability_only) {
+			result->tree = parse_tree_indirect(&working_tree_oid);
+			if (!result->tree)
+				die(_("unable to read tree (%s)"),
+				    oid_to_hex(&working_tree_oid));
+		}
 		/* existence of conflicted entries implies unclean */
 		result->clean &= strmap_empty(&opt->priv->conflicted);
 	}
diff --git a/merge-ort.h b/merge-ort.h
index 30750c03962f..6045579825da 100644
--- a/merge-ort.h
+++ b/merge-ort.h
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ struct merge_options {
 	/* miscellaneous control options */
 	const char *subtree_shift;
 	unsigned renormalize : 1;
+	unsigned mergeability_only : 1; /* exit early, write fewer objects */
 	unsigned record_conflict_msgs_as_headers : 1;
 	const char *msg_header_prefix;
 
-- 
gitgitgadget
Previous: Elijah Newren via GitGitGadgetNext: Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget
Message 9 of 29 in “merge-tree: add new --mergeability-only option”
  1. 0/2 merge-tree: add new --mergeability-only optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 10, 2025
  2. 1/2 merge-ort: add a new mergeability_only optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 10, 2025
  3. 2/2 merge-tree: add a new --mergeability-only flagElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 10, 2025
  4. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  5. Elijah NewrenMay 12, 2025
  6. Junio C HamanoMay 12, 2025
  7. Elijah NewrenMay 12, 2025
  8. 0/2 merge-tree: add new --dry-run optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 12, 2025
  9. 1/2 merge-ort: add a new mergeability_only optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 12, 2025
  10. 2/2 merge-tree: add a new --dry-run flagElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 12, 2025
  11. Kristoffer HaugsbakkMay 13, 2025
  12. Elijah NewrenMay 13, 2025
  13. Junio C HamanoMay 13, 2025
  14. Elijah NewrenMay 13, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoMay 14, 2025
  16. 0/2 merge-tree: add new --dry-run optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 14, 2025
  17. 1/2 merge-ort: add a new mergeability_only optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 14, 2025
  18. 2/2 merge-tree: add a new --dry-run flagElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 14, 2025
  19. Junio C HamanoMay 15, 2025
  20. Phillip WoodMay 16, 2025
  21. Elijah NewrenMay 16, 2025
  22. Kristoffer HaugsbakkMay 14, 2025
  23. 0/2 merge-tree: add new --quiet optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 16, 2025
  24. 1/2 merge-ort: add a new mergeability_only optionElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 16, 2025
  25. 2/2 merge-tree: add a new --quiet flagElijah Newren via GitGitGadget, May 16, 2025
  26. Kristoffer HaugsbakkMay 17, 2025
  27. Kristoffer HaugsbakkMay 17, 2025
  28. Phillip WoodMay 19, 2025
  29. Junio C HamanoMay 19, 2025

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