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Re: [PATCH 2/4] glossary: define committish (a.k.a. commit-ish)

From
RHRichard Hansen <rhansen@bbn.com>
Date
Jun 19, 2013, 23:37 UTC
Message-ID
<51C2409F.1070801@bbn.com>
In-Reply-To
<7vwqppwwwj.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
On 2013-06-19 18:36, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> Ahh.  If you had quoted [...] a few exchanges ago I would have
> immediately understood what you were trying to say.
Sorry about that, my bad.
Show 10 quoted lines
> In today's world (after packed-refs was introduced), probably
> 
> 	A name that begins with refs/ (e.g. refs/heads/master) that
> 	can point at an object name.
> 
>         The namespace of refs is hierarchical and different
>         subhierarchy is used for different purposes (e.g. the
>         refs/heads/ hierarchy is used to represent local branches).
> 
> is an appropriate rewrite of the above.
Some thoughts about the above definition:
  * Aren't HEAD, FETCH_HEAD, ORIG_HEAD also refs?
  * That definition excludes symrefs.
  * It may be worthwhile to mention that refs are part of the
    repository.
  * Is a ref a name?  Or is it the binding of a name to an object/ref?
How about:
    ref
        A binding of a name to an object or other ref (in which case it
        is a symref).  Refs are stored in the repository.
        The ref namespace is hierarchical.  Different subhierarchies
        are used for different purposes (e.g. the refs/heads/ hierarchy
        is used to represent local branches).
Show 9 quoted lines
> 
> If we also want to explain the implementation details of refs, then
> additionally at the end of the first paragraph, add:
> 
> 	... at an object name, by storing its 40-byte hex
> 	representation.  They are implemented as either a file in
> 	$GIT_DIR/refs/ directory (called "loose refs") or an entry
> 	in $GIT_DIR/packed-refs file (called "packed refs"); when a
> 	loose ref exists, a packed ref of the same name is ignored.

It would be good to document this somewhere, but I'm not sure the glossary is the right place for it. Maybe gitrepository-layout(5)?

-Richard
Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 19 of 24 in “documentation cleanups for <rev>^{<type>}”
  1. 0/4 documentation cleanups for <rev>^{<type>}Richard Hansen, Jun 19, 2013
  2. 1/4 glossary: add 'treeish' as a synonym for 'tree-ish'Richard Hansen, Jun 19, 2013
  3. Junio C HamanoJun 19, 2013
  4. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  5. Junio C HamanoJun 19, 2013
  6. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  7. 2/4 glossary: define committish (a.k.a. commit-ish)Richard Hansen, Jun 19, 2013
  8. Ramkumar RamachandraJun 19, 2013
  9. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  10. Ramkumar RamachandraJun 19, 2013
  11. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  12. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  13. Jonathan NiederJun 19, 2013
  14. Junio C HamanoJun 19, 2013
  15. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  16. Junio C HamanoJun 19, 2013
  17. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  18. Junio C HamanoJun 19, 2013
  19. Richard HansenJun 19, 2013
  20. Junio C HamanoJun 20, 2013
  21. Ramkumar RamachandraJun 20, 2013
  22. Ramkumar RamachandraJun 20, 2013
  23. 3/4 glossary: more precise definition of tree-ish (a.k.a. treeish)Richard Hansen, Jun 19, 2013
  24. 4/4 revisions.txt: fix and clarify <rev>^{<type>}Richard Hansen, Jun 19, 2013

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