Re: [PATCH] rev-parse: Allow @{U} as a synonym for @{u}

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Aug 17, 2011, 22:53 UTC
Message-ID: <7vhb5fd4zy.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <1313287071-7851-1-git-send-email-conrad.irwin@gmail.com>

Conrad Irwin <conrad.irwin@gmail.com> writes:

> This facilitates specifying the upstream of a branch if you have
> difficulty synchronising your shift-key and other characters, if you
> just want to SHOUT at git, or if you're expecting consistency with
> @{1DAY}.

Show 11 quoted lines

> +test_expect_success '@{U} resolves to correct full name' '
> +	test refs/remotes/origin/master = "$(full_name @{U})"
> +'
> +
> +test_expect_success '@{Upstream} resolves to correct full name' '
> +	test refs/remotes/origin/master = "$(full_name @{Upstream})"
> +'
> +
>  test_expect_success 'my-side@{upstream} resolves to correct full name' '
>  	test refs/remotes/origin/side = "$(full_name my-side@{u})"
>  '

Even though I sometimes use @{upstream} these days to keep track of origins of various topic branches (some are fixes and fork from maint while others are features and fork from master), I never felt a need for @{U} or @{uPStreAM} myself, so as a new feature, this change is a "Meh" for me personally.

Currently, we use @{...} for:

 - Negative integers are "-N branch-switching ago" (only without any ref
   on the left);
 - Non-negative integers "The tip of the named ref before it was changed N
   times";
 - An approxidate that is case insensitive; or
 - "u" and "upstream".

Letting u/upstream spelled case-insensitively does improve consistency among the above, but at the same time if we ever wanted to enhance @{...} notation even further in the future, we are restricted to a payload that is case insensitive to retain the consistency.

The only remotely semi-plausible enhancement I could think of is perhaps to allow @{/regexp} to find a reflog entry that matches the given pattern, and in such a use case we would certainly want to take the pattern in a case sensitive way. This change closes the door to that, and that is the only downside I can think of right now.

I hate to declare that we will never support such a feature with this change, but at the same time, I do not think I would need such a feature that often. But for that matter, I do not think I would miss @{UpStREAM}, either, and that takes me back to "Meh" for this change.

What do people think?