Re: [BUG] git config --unset is not idempotent

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Aug 25, 2022, 09:40 UTC
Message-ID: <YwdDo0yMAaJsCquk@coredump.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <CAHckPJS6ibtxbU+VKwDaU6pFMtJ5SMcWnBi6D2pY+ekqpWsqXg@mail.gmail.com>

On Thu, Aug 25, 2022 at 10:52:16AM +0200, Arturo Seijas Fernandez wrote:

Show 7 quoted lines

> The command "git config --unset [option]" is not idempotent. It is
> currently returning a success  code when the property had already been
> set and a 5 error code otherwise.
> 
> I would expect the error code to be set according to the current state
> when compared to the target state, regardless of the previous state of
> the option.

You can get what you want in the shell with:

  # passes "set -e", but could also be used in an "if"
  git config --unset ... || test $? = 5

That's obviously not as convenient. The flip side is that returning 0 would make it very hard for callers to tell if they removed something (if they care).

If we were designing the tool now, I could definitely see an argument for returning 0 in this case. But we have over a decade with the "5" exit code documented for a plumbing tool. We won't change it now without a good reason and without a deprecation schedule, and IMHO this doesn't rise to that level.

-Peff