From: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 09:23:42 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH] git-completion: Add git help completion for aliases
Message-ID: <4D886A9E.6050405@drmicha.warpmail.net>
In-Reply-To: <7vhbawno11.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

Junio C Hamano venit, vidit, dixit 21.03.2011 22:48:
> Jakob Pfender <jpfender@elegosoft.com> writes:
> 
>> Enable bash completion for "git help <alias>", analogous to "git
>> <alias>", which was already implemented.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Jakob Pfender <jpfender@elegosoft.com>
>> ---
>>  contrib/completion/git-completion.bash |    2 +-
>>  1 files changed, 1 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
>> b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
>> index 893b771..f9a74d3 100755
>> --- a/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
>> +++ b/contrib/completion/git-completion.bash
>> @@ -1506,7 +1506,7 @@ _git_help ()
>>  		;;
>>  	esac
>>  	__git_compute_all_commands
>> -	__gitcomp "$__git_all_commands
>> +	__gitcomp "$__git_all_commands $(__git_aliases)
>>  		attributes cli core-tutorial cvs-migration
>>  		diffcore gitk glossary hooks ignore modules
>>  		repository-layout tutorial tutorial-2
> 
> This patch may not be _wrong_ per-se, but it it useful in practice?
> 
> I dunno.
> 
> Don't people usually use aliases so that they do not have to type long
> command names that would need completion?

I'd say this would be a perfect argument for "do not suggest aliases for
'git <cmd>'"; independent of that, we could still suggest aliases for
'git help <cmd>' since, presumably, you use commands more often than you
look up help...

But currently, we do it the other way round, and even worse:

git for<TAB>
for-each-ref-do   format-patch

git help for<TAB>
for-each-ref   format-patch

That is, git command completion lists aliases (for-each-ref-do) and
common commands, and git help completion lists no aliases and all commands.

The patch makes it so that the suggestions for git command are a subset
of those for git help command, which is a good thing. (Not completing
aliases for 'git <cmd>' would be good also, on top of that.)

And yes, I use git help <alias> a lot, because I don't like git config
--get alias.<alias>, and our config files tend to grow in ugliness over
time. (We need git config --broomstick or git config --vacuum.)

Michael