Re: [PATCH 04/10] sparse-checkout: allow in-tree definitions

>
> On 5/7/2020 6:58 PM, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> > "Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> writes:
> >
> >> One of the difficulties of using the sparse-checkout feature is not
> >> knowing which directories are absolutely needed for working in a portion
> >> of the repository. Some of this can be documented in README files or
> >> included in a bootstrapping tool along with the repository. This is done
> >> in an ad-hoc way by every project that wants to use it.
> >>
> >> Let's make this process easier for users by creating a way to define a
> >> useful sparse-checkout definition inside the Git tree data. This has
> >> several benefits. In particular, the data is available to anyone who has
> >> a copy of the repository without needing a different data source.
> >> Second, the needs of the repository can change over time and Git can
> >> present a way to automatically update the working directory as these
> >> sparse-checkout definitions change over time.
> >
> > And two lines of development can merge them together?
> >
> > Any time a new "feature" pops up that would eventually affect how
> > "git clone" and "git checkout" work based on untrusted user data, we
> > need to make sure there is no negative security implications.
> >
> > If it only boils down to "we have files that can record list of
> > leading directory names and without offering extra 'flexibility'", I
> > guess there aren't all that much that a malicious sparse definition
> > can do and we would be safe, though.
>
> Yes. I hope that we can be extremely careful with this feature.
> The RFC status of this series implicitly includes the question
> "Should we do this at all?" I think the benefits outweigh the
> risks, but we can minimize those risks with very careful design
> and implementation.
>
> >> To use this feature, add the "--in-tree" option when setting or adding
> >> directories to the sparse-checkout definition. For example:
> >>
> >>   $ git sparse-checkout set --in-tree .sparse/base
> >>   $ git sparse-checkout add --in-tree .sparse/extra
> >>
> >> These commands add values to the multi-valued config setting
> >> "sparse.inTree". When updating the sparse-checkout definition, these
> >> values describe paths in the repository to find the sparse-checkout
> >> data. After the commands listed earlier, we expect to see the following
> >> in .git/config.worktree:
> >>
> >>      [sparse]
> >>              intree = .sparse/base
> >>              intree = .sparse/extra
> >
> > What does this say in human words?  "These two tracked files specify
> > which paths should be in the working tree"?  Spelling it out here
> > would help readers of this commit.
>
> You got it. Sounds good.
>
> >> When applying the sparse-checkout definitions from this config, the
> >> blobs at HEAD:.sparse/base and HEAD:.sparse/extra are loaded.
> >
> > OK, so end-user edit to the working tree copy or what is added to
> > the index does not count and only the committed version gets used.
> >
> > That makes it simple---I was wondering how we would operate when
> > merging a branch with different contents in the .sparse/* files
> > until the conflicts are resolved.
>
> It's worth testing this case so we can be sure what happens.