Re: [RFC/PATCH 0/9] commit: more focused advice in the no-changes-staged case

> Hi,
>
> When last seen[1], this series was a single patch in very rough form,
> but there have been almost no functional changes since then.
>
> The patches suppress most output when “git commit” is run without
> stages changed.  So instead of
>
>        $ git commit
>        # On branch master
>        # Changed but not updated:
>        #   (use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
>        #   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
>        #
>        #       modified:   dir1/modified
>        #
>        # Untracked files:
>        #   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
>        #
>        #       actual
>        #       dir1/untracked
>        #       dir2/modified
>        #       dir2/untracked
>        #       expect
>        #       output
>        #       untracked
>        no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
>
> which may cause a newcomer to panic, you get
>
>        $ git commit
>        no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")
>
> which would just cause her to scratch her head or say “oh, right!”
> instead.  Hopefully these patches will at least provide a reminder to
> improve the various "no changes" advice messages.
>
> Ideas for future work:
>
>  - add some tests
>  - give the full traditional output if -a or any paths were passed on
>   the command line.
>
> Most of the patches are code clarity improvements which is not
> strictly related to this topic.
>
> Patch 6 cleans up the most obvious script to add tests for this in,
> though I have not added any tests to it.
>
> Patch 8 changes commit --dry-run output in a more modest way, to
> print the same advice Jeff added to commit proper last month.  I
> suspect this is a good change, but input from people who script
> around commit --dry-run would be welcome.
>
> Patch 9 is the advertised patch.  It should be self-explanatory.
>
> Thoughts?