Re: [PATCH 2/2] sha1_name: fix error message for @{<N>}, @{<date>}

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: May 24, 2013, 16:52 UTC
Message-ID: <7vd2sgb9r8.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <1369381324-10206-3-git-send-email-artagnon@gmail.com>

Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com> writes:

Show 20 quoted lines

> Currently, when we try to resolve @{<N>} or @{<date>} when the reflog
> doesn't go back far enough, we get errors like:
>
>   # on branch master
>   $ git show @{10000}
>   fatal: Log for '' only has 7 entries.
>
>   $ git show @{10000.days.ago}
>   warning: Log for '' only goes back to Tue, 21 May 2013 14:14:45 +0530.
>   ...
>
>   # detached HEAD case
>   $ git show @{10000}
>   fatal: Log for '' only has 2005 entries.
>
>   $ git show master@{10000}
>   fatal: Log for 'master' only has 7 entries.
>
> The empty string '' is ugly, inconsistent, and fails to convey
> information about whose logs we are inspecting.  Change this so that we

What is this meant to update? I recall rewriting this part on purpose.

Even though it appears unusual and invites confusion, it is very consistent to say '' when the user asks for @... as we say 'master' when the user asks for master@...; "inconsistent" is a very bad label for it.