From: Karthik Nayak <karthik.188@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2026 09:24:14 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH v4 1/9] setup: split up concerns of `init_db()`
Message-ID: <CAOLa=ZQy1G9ZH0abH1uJZ0t1H5B7b3ym_s_gUAs03FiAend9Lw@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20260909-pks-odb-write-alternates-at-creation-time-v4-1-d8a78ffc32e4@pks.im>

Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im> writes:

> The function `init_db()` is responsible for creating the on-disk
> directory structure required for a Git repository. It is used by both
> git-init(1) and git-clone(1), and because their expected behaviour is
> different we support a couple of flags:
>
>   - The `QUIET` flag controls whether the command is quiet or not. For
>     git-init(1) this is user-controllable, whereas for git-clone(1)
>     we're always quiet.
>
>   - The `EXIST_OK` flag controls whether a preexisting repository is
>     okay or not. For git-init(1) it is, for git-clone(1) it's not.
>
>   - The `SKIP_REFDB` flag controls whether the reference database should
>     already be created or not. For git-init(1) we do, but for
>     git-clone(1) we don't because it does not yet know about the default
>     branch and about the remote object hash.
>
> Furthermore, we're about to add another divergence in behaviour, where
> we have to also skip creation of the object database in git-clone(1).
> This is becoming quite cumbersome though.
>
> Instead of introducing another flag, start to split up concerns of the
> function so that we never create the reference or object database. This
> becomes the responsibility of the caller, which is thus free to defer
> their creation to a later point in time. This lets us get rid of most of
> the divergent behaviour:
>
>   - We don't need the `SKIP_REFDB` and a potential `SKIP_ODB` flags
>     anymore.
>
>   - We don't need the `QUIET` flag anymore, as nothing prints output
>     except for the final status message that tells the user that the
>     repository has been (re)initialized. But as this message is specific
>     to git-init(1), we can easily move it there.
>
> The only piece of information we still have to convey is whether or not
> reinitialization of a preexisting repository is okay. This is handled by
> a new `reinit_ok` pointer that, if non-`NULL`, indicates that it is okay
> to reinitialize the repository. Furthermore, the pointer will be written
> to to indicate whether the repository was reinitialized or not, which we
> need in git-init(1) to print the correct initialization message.
>
> With these refactorings, `init_db()` is named quite misleadingly though,
> as we don't create any of the reference or object databases anymore.
> Rename it to `create_repository()`.
>
> Signed-off-by: Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
> ---
>  builtin/clone.c   |  9 +++++----
>  builtin/init-db.c | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++--------
>  setup.c           | 54 +++++++++++++++++-------------------------------------
>  setup.h           | 45 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------
>  4 files changed, 79 insertions(+), 61 deletions(-)
>

[snip]

> @@ -2877,8 +2877,10 @@ int init_db(struct repository *repo,
>
>  	safe_create_dir(repo, git_dir, 0);
>
> -	reinit = create_default_files(repo, template_dir, original_git_dir,
> -				      &repo_fmt, init_shared_repository);
> +	if (!reinit_ok)
> +		reinit_ok = &reinit_ignored;
> +	*reinit_ok = create_default_files(repo, template_dir, original_git_dir,
> +					  &repo_fmt, init_shared_repository);
>
>  	if (repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo)) {
>  		char buf[10];
> @@ -2901,29 +2903,7 @@ int init_db(struct repository *repo,
>  		repo_config_set(repo, "receive.denyNonFastforwards", "true");
>  	}
>
> -	if (!(flags & INIT_DB_SKIP_REFDB))
> -		create_reference_database(repo, initial_branch, flags & INIT_DB_QUIET);
> -	create_object_database(repo);
> -
> -	startup_info->have_repository = 1;
> -
> -	if (!(flags & INIT_DB_QUIET)) {
> -		int len = strlen(git_dir);
> -
> -		if (reinit)
> -			printf(repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo)
> -			       ? _("Reinitialized existing shared Git repository in %s%s\n")
> -			       : _("Reinitialized existing Git repository in %s%s\n"),
> -			       git_dir, len && git_dir[len-1] != '/' ? "/" : "");
> -		else
> -			printf(repo_settings_get_shared_repository(repo)
> -			       ? _("Initialized empty shared Git repository in %s%s\n")
> -			       : _("Initialized empty Git repository in %s%s\n"),
> -			       git_dir, len && git_dir[len-1] != '/' ? "/" : "");
> -	}
> -

I was wondering if the order of initialization changes with the move,
but it stays the same. So all the changes look good.

[snip]