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wed 2026-10-07 18:05 UTC

Re: [PATCH v3 2/9] builtin/clone: defer setup of the object database

From
Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>
Date
Sep 9, 2026, 05:48 UTC
Message-ID
<aqDzKcce-65R_aRE@pks.im>
In-Reply-To
<aqCI5pfM3AGtfQsJ@denethor>
On Tue, Sep 08, 2026 at 05:20:06PM -0500, Justin Tobler wrote:
Show 46 quoted lines
> On 26/09/07 10:25AM, Patrick Steinhardt wrote:
> > When cloning a repository we defer initialization of the reference
> > database. This is because we don't yet know all details required for us
> > to initialize the refdb in the first place. Most importantly, what we
> > are missing is information about the object hash.
> > 
> > We don't do the same thing for the object database yet, but here we
> > essentially have the same problem. While the "files" database does not
> > need any information about the object format at creation time, alternate
> > backends are likely to require that information so that they can
> > properly set up their data structures.
> > 
> > Besides this forward-looking future proofing though, we also have a
> > second use case for deferring initialization of the object database,
> > namely alternates. When initializing the object database we do not yet
> > know whether we'll need alternates or not because this depends on the
> > repository we're about to clone from. If it is a local repository and
> > the user has passed "--refernce{,-if-able}", then we will end up writing
> > alternates into the object database.
> > 
> > The ugly part though is that we cannot determine where the repository is
> > getting cloned from before it has been initialized. While we of course
> > already have access to the user-provided URI, that URI can be very well
> > rewritten via "url.<base>.insteadOf". We can of course read the global-
> > and system-level configuration to resolve it. But we explicitly resolve
> > the URI a second time after we have initialized the repository because
> > it can happen that we copy a ".git/config" over from our templates, and
> > that file may cause us to rewrite the path.
> > 
> > In a subsequent commit though we'll start to write alternates as part of
> > the repository initialization, so we'll need to have the URI properly
> > resolved before we can initialize the object database. This is ugly, but
> > as mentioned above it makes sense for us to defer its initialization
> > anyway so that we also know about the object hash already.
> > 
> > Defer creation of the object database until after we have resolved the
> > URI.
> > 
> > Note that this also requires us to defer the call to `setup_reference()`
> > until after we have created the object database. While you might think
> > that this function has something to do with references ("refs/*"), it is
> > in fact responsible for setting up alternates. Consequently, we can only
> > call it after we have created the object database already.
> 
> Ah ok, so now that we are deferring ODB creation a bit further, we need
> to also move ref DB creation to afterwards too. Makes sense.

This is not about the reference database, `setup_reference()` sets up out alternates. But I think you just miswrote here, as you do mention alternates further down in your reply.

Patrick
Previous: Patrick SteinhardtNext: Patrick Steinhardt
Message 50 of 85 in “odb: write alternates at creation time”
  1. 0/8 odb: write alternates at creation timePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  2. 1/8 builtin/clone: defer setup of the object databasePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  3. 2/8 builtin/clone: move around `setup_reference()`Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  4. 3/8 builtin/clone: refactor handling of "--reference{,-if-able}"Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  5. 4/8 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  6. 5/8 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for non-shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  7. 6/8 odb/source: support writing alternates when creating the databasePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  8. 7/8 builtin/clone: write alternates via `odb_create_on_disk()`Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  9. 8/8 odb/source: remove the ability to write alternatesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 25, 2026
  10. Toon ClaesAug 28, 2026
  11. Toon ClaesAug 28, 2026
  12. Toon ClaesAug 28, 2026
  13. Toon ClaesAug 28, 2026
  14. Toon ClaesAug 28, 2026
  15. Junio C HamanoAug 28, 2026
  16. Patrick SteinhardtAug 31, 2026
  17. Patrick SteinhardtAug 31, 2026
  18. Patrick SteinhardtAug 31, 2026
  19. Patrick SteinhardtAug 31, 2026
  20. 0/8 odb: write alternates at creation timePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  21. 1/8 builtin/clone: defer setup of the object databasePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  22. 2/8 builtin/clone: move around `setup_reference()`Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  23. 3/8 builtin/clone: refactor handling of "--reference{,-if-able}"Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  24. 4/8 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  25. 5/8 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for non-shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  26. 6/8 odb/source: support writing alternates when creating the databasePatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  27. 7/8 builtin/clone: write alternates via `odb_create_on_disk()`Patrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  28. 8/8 odb/source: remove the ability to write alternatesPatrick Steinhardt, Aug 31, 2026
  29. Toon ClaesSep 1, 2026
  30. Justin ToblerSep 6, 2026
  31. Justin ToblerSep 6, 2026
  32. Justin ToblerSep 6, 2026
  33. Patrick SteinhardtSep 7, 2026
  34. Patrick SteinhardtSep 7, 2026
  35. 0/9 odb: write alternates at creation timePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  36. 1/9 setup: split up concerns of `init_db()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  37. 2/9 builtin/clone: defer setup of the object databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  38. 3/9 builtin/clone: move around `setup_reference()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  39. 4/9 builtin/clone: refactor handling of "--reference{,-if-able}"Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  40. 5/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  41. 6/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for non-shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  42. 7/9 odb/source: support writing alternates when creating the databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  43. 8/9 builtin/clone: write alternates via `odb_create_on_disk()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  44. 9/9 odb/source: remove the ability to write alternatesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 7, 2026
  45. Justin ToblerSep 8, 2026
  46. Justin ToblerSep 8, 2026
  47. Justin ToblerSep 8, 2026
  48. Justin ToblerSep 8, 2026
  49. Patrick SteinhardtSep 9, 2026
  50. Patrick SteinhardtSep 9, 2026
  51. 0/9 odb: write alternates at creation timePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  52. 1/9 setup: split up concerns of `init_db()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  53. 2/9 builtin/clone: defer setup of the object databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  54. 3/9 builtin/clone: move around `setup_reference()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  55. 4/9 builtin/clone: refactor handling of "--reference{,-if-able}"Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  56. 5/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  57. 6/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for non-shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  58. 7/9 odb/source: support writing alternates when creating the databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  59. 8/9 builtin/clone: write alternates via `odb_create_on_disk()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  60. 9/9 odb/source: remove the ability to write alternatesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 9, 2026
  61. Justin ToblerSep 9, 2026
  62. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  63. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  64. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  65. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  66. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  67. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  68. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  69. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  70. Patrick SteinhardtSep 10, 2026
  71. Patrick SteinhardtSep 10, 2026
  72. 0/9 odb: write alternates at creation timePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  73. 1/9 setup: split up concerns of `init_db()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  74. 2/9 builtin/clone: defer setup of the object databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  75. 3/9 builtin/clone: move around `setup_reference()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  76. 4/9 builtin/clone: refactor handling of "--reference{,-if-able}"Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  77. 5/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  78. 6/9 builtin/clone: move setup of alternates for non-shared local clonesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  79. 7/9 odb/source: support writing alternates when creating the databasePatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  80. 8/9 builtin/clone: write alternates via `odb_create_on_disk()`Patrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  81. 9/9 odb/source: remove the ability to write alternatesPatrick Steinhardt, Sep 10, 2026
  82. Karthik NayakSep 10, 2026
  83. Patrick SteinhardtSep 11, 2026
  84. Patrick SteinhardtSep 11, 2026
  85. Karthik NayakSep 14, 2026

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