Re: [PATCH v1 1/2] builtin/grep.c: add --sparse option

>
> On 8/17/2022 3:56 AM, Shaoxuan Yuan wrote:
> > Add a --sparse option to `git-grep`. This option is mainly used to:
> >
> > If searching in the index (using --cached):
> >
> > With --sparse, proceed the action when the current cache_entry is
>
> This phrasing is awkward. It might be better to reframe to describe the
> _why_ before the _what_
>
>   When the '--cached' option is used with the 'git grep' command, the
>   search is limited to the blobs found in the index, not in the worktree.
>   If the user has enabled sparse-checkout, this might present more results
>   than they would like, since the files outside of the sparse-checkout are
>   unlikely to be important to them.
>
>   Change the default behavior of 'git grep' to focus on the files within
>   the sparse-checkout definition. To enable the previous behavior, add a
>   '--sparse' option to 'git grep' that triggers the old behavior that
>   inspects paths outside of the sparse-checkout definition when paired
>   with the '--cached' option.
>
> Or something like that. The documentation updates will also help clarify
> what happens when '--cached' is not included. I assume '--sparse' is
> ignored, but perhaps it _could_ allow looking at the cached files outside
> the sparse-checkout definition, this could make the simpler invocation of
> 'git grep --sparse <pattern>' be the way that users can search after their
> attempt to search the worktree failed.