Re: [BUG] Highly inconsistent diff UI

From: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 29, 2013, 18:21 UTC
Message-ID: <CALkWK0npQwFnFNpEzT5mgh5HvGUKf=Jz7v4Mn62BDBzb+qjY_A@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <7vhaipl2ks.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

Junio C Hamano wrote:

> Please don't.  All of these clayoven, LICENSE, foom, loom are mere
> distraction.
>
>         ... goes and draws the diagram himself ...

Sorry, I'm finding it hard to draw this thing. I'm only becoming comfortable with reading it now.

Show 8 quoted lines

>> $ git log rebase.autostash ^master
>
> That is range "F..H", which lists "H G D".
>
>> $ git log rebase.autostash --not $(git merge-base --all rebase.autostash master)
>
> The merge bases between F and H are B and C, so that is
> range "^B ^C H", which again lists "H G D".

Correct.  Equivalent.

Show 9 quoted lines

>> $ git log rebase.autostash ^$(git merge-base rebase.autostash master)
>
> Depending on which one of B or C is chosen it is either one of these:
>
>  - range "^B H" which lists "H G D C"
>  - range "^C H" which lists "H G D B"
>
> neither of which is more useful than "H G D", as it shows irrelevant
> "other merge base" you did not pick.

Correction:

Range "^B H" lists "H G D A..C" while range "^C H" lists "H G D A..B".

In reality, it shows A..B, which is what I want and what am claiming is "useful".

I want to what all happened since rebase.autostash forked off from master (at D) all the way until its current tip (at H). With master..rebase.autostash, I'm only informed about a mysterious G (but am clueless about the commits it introduced). I don't _want_ to know the "difference" between rebase.autostash and master (master includes the A..B commits, which is why master..rebase.autostash is refusing to show them to me).

>> $ git diff rebase.autostash ^$(git merge-base rebase.autostash master)
>
> This will show either "diff B H", which is work done by G and H, or
> "diff C H", which is work done by D thru H.

In reality, it shows "diff C H", which is what I wanted to know. In other words, it tells me "what happened since rebase.autostash forked off from master". Which is what I want to know.

In the previous email you said you didn't understand the topology, so I explained it subsequently. In this email, your claims have varied from:

- It is Wrong or Not Useful to ask "tell me everything that happened
since my branch forked off from master"

- The question I'm asking is ill-formed (?)

- A..B is "sufficient" (for what?  it's answering an entirely
different question)

Now, I'm not claiming that it is _definitely_ useful. I'm saying that it gives an answer to what seems to be a valid question to me.

> You did not give anything new that hints that it might be worth
> spending time listening to you in this message. Should I do a "kill
> file for a few days" thing again?

I might be saying nonsense, but I don't appreciate this kind of response at all. Realize that I'm spending 3x the amount of time in crafting this. I'm the one proposing something new, and you're the one defending what exists. If anyone has the right to complain, it's me. Not you.