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Re: [PATCH RESEND] branch: allow deleting dangling branches with --force

From
Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason <avarab@gmail.com>
Date
Aug 25, 2021, 23:30 UTC
Message-ID
<87eeahcd7f.fsf@evledraar.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<7894f736-4681-7656-e2d4-5945d2c71d31@web.de>
On Wed, Aug 25 2021, René Scharfe wrote:
Show 57 quoted lines
> git branch only allows deleting branches that point to valid commits.
> Skip that check if --force is given, as the caller is indicating with
> it that they know what they are doing and accept the consequences.
> This allows deleting dangling branches, which previously had to be
> reset to a valid start-point using --force first.
>
> Signed-off-by: René Scharfe <l.s.r@web.de>
> ---
> Original submission:
> http://public-inbox.org/git/52847a99-db7c-9634-b3b1-fd9b1342bc32@web.de/
>
>  Documentation/git-branch.txt | 3 ++-
>  builtin/branch.c             | 2 +-
>  t/t3200-branch.sh            | 7 +++++++
>  3 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/git-branch.txt b/Documentation/git-branch.txt
> index 94dc9a54f2..5449767121 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-branch.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/git-branch.txt
> @@ -118,7 +118,8 @@ OPTIONS
>  	Reset <branchname> to <startpoint>, even if <branchname> exists
>  	already. Without `-f`, 'git branch' refuses to change an existing branch.
>  	In combination with `-d` (or `--delete`), allow deleting the
> -	branch irrespective of its merged status. In combination with
> +	branch irrespective of its merged status, or whether it even
> +	points to a valid commit. In combination with
>  	`-m` (or `--move`), allow renaming the branch even if the new
>  	branch name already exists, the same applies for `-c` (or `--copy`).
>
> diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
> index b23b1d1752..03c7b7253a 100644
> --- a/builtin/branch.c
> +++ b/builtin/branch.c
> @@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ static int check_branch_commit(const char *branchname, const char *refname,
>  			       int kinds, int force)
>  {
>  	struct commit *rev = lookup_commit_reference(the_repository, oid);
> -	if (!rev) {
> +	if (!force && !rev) {
>  		error(_("Couldn't look up commit object for '%s'"), refname);
>  		return -1;
>  	}
> diff --git a/t/t3200-branch.sh b/t/t3200-branch.sh
> index cc4b10236e..ec61a10c29 100755
> --- a/t/t3200-branch.sh
> +++ b/t/t3200-branch.sh
> @@ -1272,6 +1272,13 @@ test_expect_success 'attempt to delete a branch merged to its base' '
>  	test_must_fail git branch -d my10
>  '
>
> +test_expect_success 'branch --delete --force removes dangling branch' '
> +	test_when_finished "rm -f .git/refs/heads/dangling" &&
> +	echo $ZERO_OID >.git/refs/heads/dangling &&
> +	git branch --delete --force dangling &&
> +	test_path_is_missing .git/refs/heads/dangling
> +'

Isn't a more meaningful test here to use a "real" SHA, instead of the $ZERO_OID? You can use $(test_oid deadbeef) to get one of those.

That way we know that this this test & logic is really testing that we can delete a branch that's been racily GC'd away or whatever, and not one in the already-broken state of referring to the $ZERO_OID.

Also: How does "git tag -d" handle this scenario if the same sort of
data were added to .git/refs/tags/* ?
Previous: René ScharfeNext: René Scharfe
Message 11 of 17 in “branch: allow deleting dangling branches with --force”
  1. branch: allow deleting dangling branches with --forceRené Scharfe, Aug 25, 2021
  2. Junio C HamanoAug 25, 2021
  3. Ævar Arnfjörð BjarmasonAug 25, 2021
  4. René ScharfeAug 26, 2021
  5. Han-Wen NienhuysAug 26, 2021
  6. Junio C HamanoAug 26, 2021
  7. Junio C HamanoAug 26, 2021
  8. Antw: [EXT] Re: [PATCH RESEND] branch: allow deleting dangling branches with ‑‑forceUlrich Windl, Aug 27, 2021
  9. Ævar Arnfjörð BjarmasonAug 27, 2021
  10. René ScharfeAug 26, 2021
  11. Ævar Arnfjörð BjarmasonAug 25, 2021
  12. René ScharfeAug 26, 2021
  13. branch: allow deleting dangling branches with --forceRené Scharfe, Aug 26, 2021
  14. Junio C HamanoAug 26, 2021
  15. René ScharfeAug 26, 2021
  16. Ævar Arnfjörð BjarmasonAug 26, 2021
  17. branch: allow deleting dangling branches with --forceRené Scharfe, Aug 27, 2021

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