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[PATCH v5 5/8] fast-import: improve documentation for path quoting

From
Thalia Archibald <thalia@archibald.dev>
Date
Apr 14, 2024, 01:12 UTC
Message-ID
<e1a1b0395d0679f386b07c6dfeec4f481ccc7420.1713056559.git.thalia@archibald.dev>
In-Reply-To
<cover.1713056559.git.thalia@archibald.dev>

It describes what characters cannot be in an unquoted path, but not their semantics. Reframe it as a definition of unquoted paths. From the perspective of the parser, whether it starts with `"` is what defines whether it will parse it as quoted or unquoted.

The restrictions on characters in unquoted paths (with starting-", LF, and spaces) are explained in the quoted paragraph. Move it to the unquoted paragraph and reword.

The restriction that the source paths of filecopy and filerename cannot contain SP is only stated in their respective sections. Restate it in the <path> section.

Signed-off-by: Thalia Archibald <thalia@archibald.dev>
---
 Documentation/git-fast-import.txt | 26 ++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 16 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
index b2607366b9..1882758b8a 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-fast-import.txt
@@ -630,18 +630,24 @@ in octal.  Git only supports the following modes:
 In both formats `<path>` is the complete path of the file to be added
 (if not already existing) or modified (if already existing).
 
-A `<path>` string must use UNIX-style directory separators (forward
-slash `/`), may contain any byte other than `LF`, and must not
-start with double quote (`"`).
+A `<path>` can be written as unquoted bytes or a C-style quoted string.
 
-A path can use C-style string quoting; this is accepted in all cases
-and mandatory if the filename starts with double quote or contains
-`LF`. In C-style quoting, the complete name should be surrounded with
-double quotes, and any `LF`, backslash, or double quote characters
-must be escaped by preceding them with a backslash (e.g.,
-`"path/with\n, \\ and \" in it"`).
+When a `<path>` does not start with a double quote (`"`), it is an
+unquoted string and is parsed as literal bytes without any escape
+sequences. However, if the filename contains `LF` or starts with double
+quote, it cannot be represented as an unquoted string and must be
+quoted. Additionally, the source `<path>` in `filecopy` or `filerename`
+must be quoted if it contains SP.
 
-The value of `<path>` must be in canonical form. That is it must not:
+When a `<path>` starts with a double quote (`"`), it is a C-style quoted
+string, where the complete filename is enclosed in a pair of double
+quotes and escape sequences are used. Certain characters must be escaped
+by preceding them with a backslash: `LF` is written as `\n`, backslash
+as `\\`, and double quote as `\"`. All filenames can be represented as
+quoted strings.
+
+A `<path>` must use UNIX-style directory separators (forward slash `/`)
+and its value must be in canonical form. That is it must not:
 
 * contain an empty directory component (e.g. `foo//bar` is invalid),
 * end with a directory separator (e.g. `foo/` is invalid),
-- 
2.44.0
Previous: Thalia ArchibaldNext: Thalia Archibald
Message 78 of 84 in “fast-import: tighten parsing of paths”
  1. 0/6 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  2. 1/6 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  3. Thalia ArchibaldMar 22, 2024
  4. Patrick SteinhardtMar 28, 2024
  5. 3/6 fast-import: release unfreed strbufsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  6. Patrick SteinhardtMar 28, 2024
  7. Thalia ArchibaldApr 1, 2024
  8. 2/6 fast-import: directly use strbufs for pathsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  9. Patrick SteinhardtMar 28, 2024
  10. 4/6 fast-import: remove dead strbufThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  11. Patrick SteinhardtMar 28, 2024
  12. 6/6 fast-import: forbid escaped NUL in pathsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  13. 5/6 fast-import: document C-style escapes for pathsThalia Archibald, Mar 22, 2024
  14. Patrick SteinhardtMar 28, 2024
  15. Thalia ArchibaldApr 1, 2024
  16. 0/8 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  17. 1/8 fast-import: tighten path unquotingThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  18. Patrick SteinhardtApr 10, 2024
  19. Chris TorekApr 10, 2024
  20. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  21. Chris TorekApr 10, 2024
  22. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  23. Patrick SteinhardtApr 10, 2024
  24. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  25. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  26. 2/8 fast-import: directly use strbufs for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  27. Patrick SteinhardtApr 10, 2024
  28. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  29. Patrick SteinhardtApr 10, 2024
  30. 3/8 fast-import: allow unquoted empty path for rootThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  31. Patrick SteinhardtApr 10, 2024
  32. 4/8 fast-import: remove dead strbufThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  33. 5/8 fast-import: improve documentation for unquoted pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  34. 6/8 fast-import: document C-style escapes for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  35. 7/8 fast-import: forbid escaped NUL in pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  36. 8/8 fast-import: make comments more preciseThalia Archibald, Apr 1, 2024
  37. Thalia ArchibaldApr 7, 2024
  38. Eric SunshineApr 7, 2024
  39. Patrick SteinhardtApr 8, 2024
  40. Thalia ArchibaldApr 8, 2024
  41. Patrick SteinhardtApr 8, 2024
  42. Junio C HamanoApr 8, 2024
  43. 0/8 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  44. 1/8 fast-import: tighten path unquotingThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  45. 2/8 fast-import: directly use strbufs for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  46. 3/8 fast-import: allow unquoted empty path for rootThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  47. Junio C HamanoApr 11, 2024
  48. 5/8 fast-import: improve documentation for unquoted pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  49. Junio C HamanoApr 11, 2024
  50. 6/8 fast-import: document C-style escapes for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  51. Junio C HamanoApr 10, 2024
  52. Thalia ArchibaldApr 10, 2024
  53. Junio C HamanoApr 11, 2024
  54. Patrick SteinhardtApr 11, 2024
  55. 7/8 fast-import: forbid escaped NUL in pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  56. Junio C HamanoApr 10, 2024
  57. 8/8 fast-import: make comments more preciseThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  58. Junio C HamanoApr 10, 2024
  59. 4/8 fast-import: remove dead strbufThalia Archibald, Apr 10, 2024
  60. Junio C HamanoApr 11, 2024
  61. 0/8 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  62. 2/8 fast-import: directly use strbufs for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  63. 3/8 fast-import: allow unquoted empty path for rootThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  64. 4/8 fast-import: remove dead strbufThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  65. 5/8 fast-import: improve documentation for path quotingThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  66. 6/8 fast-import: document C-style escapes for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  67. 7/8 fast-import: forbid escaped NUL in pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  68. 8/8 fast-import: make comments more preciseThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  69. 1/8 fast-import: tighten path unquotingThalia Archibald, Apr 12, 2024
  70. Junio C HamanoApr 12, 2024
  71. Thalia ArchibaldApr 13, 2024
  72. Junio C HamanoApr 13, 2024
  73. 0/8 fast-import: tighten parsing of pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  74. 2/8 fast-import: directly use strbufs for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  75. 1/8 fast-import: tighten path unquotingThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  76. 3/8 fast-import: allow unquoted empty path for rootThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  77. 4/8 fast-import: remove dead strbufThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  78. 5/8 fast-import: improve documentation for path quotingThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  79. 6/8 fast-import: document C-style escapes for pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  80. 7/8 fast-import: forbid escaped NUL in pathsThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  81. 8/8 fast-import: make comments more preciseThalia Archibald, Apr 14, 2024
  82. Patrick SteinhardtApr 15, 2024
  83. Junio C HamanoApr 15, 2024
  84. Thalia ArchibaldApr 1, 2024

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