Re: [QUESTION] about .git/info/grafts file

From: Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
Date: Jan 19, 2006, 18:24 UTC
Message-ID: <7v3bjkf54k.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net>
In-Reply-To: <cda58cb80601190251v5251c8bdh@mail.gmail.com>

Franck <vagabon.xyz@gmail.com> writes:

> I don't see why it is so bad to create a "grafted" repository ? I want
> it to be small but still want to merge by using git-resolve with XX
> repository.

Franck, and people on the list,

I have a bad habit of responding to a "call for help" request by stating how things are currently done and why, sometimes with an outline of how the limitation in the current way can be (or at least I think it could be, without testing that solution myself) worked around, but without making it explicit if the limitation is something that should not be there or if it is something fundamental. This often makes it sound as if I am saying I think the original request is unreasonable, and/or the current state of affairs is perfect. This is one of such cases.

I agree it would be nice to support "strictly speaking, the repository is incomplete but has everything necessary as long as you operate near the tip of the development" mode of operation.

It only has never been a high priority.

Show 6 quoted lines

> Well in my graft file I did:
>
>                     $ cat > .git/info/grafts
>                     <shaid> <shaid>
>
>                     $

The trailing empty line at the end is discarded as a comment, I think, so that should be fine. "terminated by a newline" in the documentation talks about each line being terminated by a LF, not about terminating the file itself with an extra newline.

I think you spotted a bug in a documentation and another in the code. I presume these two <shaid> are the same in what you did; you are saying "this commit has itself as its parent", but that can never be the case and the graft parser should reject such line and complain but I do not think the current code does so.

The documentation says "a commit and its fake parents ... separated by a space and terminated by a newline". We should at least say "zero or more fake parents", or make it ever clearer by giving a couple of examples.