Re: [PATCH] Support ent:relative_path

On 5/4/07, Alex Riesen <raa.lkml@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh blechh. get_sha1_oneline uses prefixcmp(), not strstr(). Are there are any commits in git or the kernel starting with "/" ?

Whoa! I'm stuck using perforce too; I'm not holding it up as a *big* example. I originally saw // meaning root in the Apollo DOMAIN system, so for that reason it makes sense to me. I think it also means network root in Windoze (well, \\ does ;-) )..

Let's summarize so far: I think everyone's convinced me we need to be careful, so this email will be more tedious than I'd like.

(a) :./relpath clearly inidicates relative path. [Also take :../relpath .]
(b) I'd like a more natural way to do :./relpath (e.g. :relpath),
     or at least a future path to such.
(c) We would like to avoid new special characters beyond ":".
     This means everything has to be done with "." and "/".
(d) We are left with the following patterns:
     1. :string
     2. :/string
     3. ://string

[ We need a clear way to say relative, a clear way to say absolute, and the current :string can change from absolute to relative some time in the future if we so decide. ]

Ideas for (d) 2&3:
I. Make :/string actually match the RE ^[/]*string,  and ://string a full path.
   The leading [/]* is a very small change to get_sha1_oneline().
   [Or change prefixcmp() to strstr() in get_sha1_oneline().]
   How often do commit messages start with / ?
II. Make :/string a full path, and ://string match ^string .
   Is changing the current :/string to ://string less painful/dangerous?
III. Make :/string match ^string when string has no slashes,
    :/string a full path when string does have slashes,
    and ://string match ^string . Hmm,  seems confusing.
Do you use :/string now?  Since it's a case-sensitive exact match,
I don't think I'd even use it.
I find idea (II) most natural: absolute paths have one /,
and string matches have 2 suggesting an RE.

Concerning the current :string , perhaps we could do the following. There would be 2 internal fixed mode variables (NOT config variables) which do the following. The first controls whether this means an absolute or relative path. The second controls whether a warning message is printed whenever the first is consulted to make a decision. The interpretation of :string is left as-is, but motivated janitors (like me in this case) can use the second mode variable to change all :string patterns to :/string or ://string in scripts, letting us switch over later by changing one mode variable.

Someone mentioned DWIM for :string -- check both absolute and relative, in that order for compatibility probably. This seems a messy definition to me. Comments?

Anyway, this is more involved than I'd hoped, but it's good to think about consequences.

Thanks,