Re: [PATCH 16/20] sparse-checkout: toggle sparse index from builtin

From: Martin Ågren <martin.agren@gmail.com>
Date: Feb 24, 2021, 19:11 UTC
Message-ID: <CAN0heSqPTASn61KKGvWEA3ronaWEPWGP23LUg36JiMxxHEd0zQ@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <6d6b230e3318007150aebefebc16dfb8b9b6c401.1614111270.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

On Wed, 24 Feb 2021 at 00:57, Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:

> +that is not completely understood by other tools. Enabling sparse index
> +enables the `extensions.spareseIndex` config value, which might cause

s/sparese/sparse

> +other tools to stop working with your repository. If you have trouble with
> +this compatibility, then run `git sparse-checkout sparse-index disable` to
> +remove this config and rewrite your index to not be sparse.

While I'm commenting on this..:

There are several "layers" here, for lack of a better term. "Enabling foo enables bar which may cause baz. If you fail due to baz, try dropping bar by dropping foo." If I remove any mention of the config variable from your text, I get the following.

 Enabling sparse index might cause other tools to stop working with your
 repository. If you have trouble with this compatibility, then run `git
 sparse-checkout sparse-index disable` to rewrite your index to not be
 sparse.

I'm tempted to suggest such a rewrite to relieve readers of knowing of the middle step, which you could say is more of an implementation detail. But if we think that the symptoms / error messages might involve "extensions.sparseIndex" or, as would be the case with an older Git installation,

  fatal: unknown repository extensions found:
          sparseindex

maybe there is some value in mentioning the config item by name. Just thinking out loud, really, and I don't have any strong opinion. I only came here to point out the typo in the docs.

Martin