Re: [PATCH v2 2/2] ls-files: add %(skipworktree) atom to format option

>
> Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com> writes:
>
> > On Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 9:34 AM ZheNing Hu via GitGitGadget
> > <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> From: ZheNing Hu <adlternative@gmail.com>
> >>
> >> Because sometimes we want to check if the files in the
> >> index match the sparse specification, so introduce
> >> "%(skipworktree)" atom to git ls-files `--format` option.
> >> When we use this option, if the file match the sparse
> >> specification, it will output "1", otherwise, output
> >> empty string "".
> >
> > Why is that output format useful?  It seems like it'll just lead to
> > bugs, or someone re-implementing the same field with a different name
> > to make it useful in the future.  In particular, if there are multiple
> > boolean fields and someone specifies e.g.
> >    git ls-files --format="%(path) %(skipworktree) %(intentToAdd)"
> > and both boolean fields are displayed the same way (either a "1" or a
> > blank string), and we see something like:
> >    foo.c 1
> >    bar.c 1
> > Then how do we know if foo.c and bar.c are SKIP_WORKTREE or
> > INTENT_TO_ADD?  The "1" could have come from either field.
>
> Perhaps it becomes useful in conjunction with %(if) and friends,
> when they become avaiable?
>
> Until then, I agree that the output format looks pretty klunky.
> The calling scripts still can do
>
>         --format='%(path) A=%(A) B=%(B) C=%(C)'
>
> and take an empty value as false, though.