Re: [RFC/PATCH] runstatus: restructure visual appearance

From: Lars Hjemli <hjemli@gmail.com>
Date: Dec 13, 2006, 09:27 UTC
Message-ID: <8c5c35580612130127y1b094dbbq34c06376704b0506@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <7v3b7koc6b.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net>

On 12/13/06, Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> wrote:

Show 6 quoted lines

> "Lars Hjemli" <hjemli@gmail.com> writes:
> > Just wondering if this patch got dropped or simply overlooked...
>
> I looked at the patch, and I was neutral to slightly negative
> (but only slightly.  I thought M vs M+ was too subtle and
> cryptic until the user gets used to them).

Hmm, yes, I agree it's a bit subtle. But whenever the '+' or '-' is added to a state symbol, the big warning that is printed should make it less so (the warning should also mention git-rm, btw).

And of course the man-page for git-status should be updated to describe the different state symbols, the meaning of +/-, and how to 'resolve' them.

> I however did not see overwhelming support from the list, so I
> did not further think about it.

The silence was earth shattering

Show 13 quoted lines

> One thing that was mentioned in the past on the list about the
> output from git-status was that we do not make mode changes
> stand out, and people can mistakenly do something silly to
> change the -x bit and the current git-status would only say:
>
>      modified:       git-foobar.sh
>
> which would not help them notice the mistake, as a result,
> accidental mode change can get committed.
>
>If we are designing a new format to make git-status output more
>compact and easier to understand, I think it should also attempt
>to address this problem as well.

Excellent point, I'll use it as an excuse to refine and resend the patch.