[PATCH] builtin-commit: re-read file index before launching editor

From: Samuel Yvon via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date: Nov 9, 2021, 02:06 UTC
Message-ID: <pull.1127.git.git.1636423586620.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Samuel Yvon <samuelyvon9@gmail.com>

Changes made within a pre-commit hook are not reflected within the editor (for instance, with `git commit --verbose`) because the index is re-read after the editor has been used.

This has the consequence of not displaying the actual changes made by the pre-commit hook, but committing them anyways.

While it is often argued that the hook's purpose is not to automatically write content to the repository, it is acknowledged that using the pre-commit to apply mechanical fixes on top of the existing changes is a supported use case, along with verifying the content.

I think not seeing these mechanical fixes before commiting is incorrect. A developer might expect the commit to look a certain way but if the pre-commit goes wrong the invalid changes will go unnoticed until committed.

Signed-off-by: Samuel Yvon <samuelyvon9@gmail.com>
---
builtin-commit: Re-read file index before launching editor

Changes made within a pre-commit hook are not reflected within the
editor (for instance, with git commit --verbose) because the index is
re-read after the editor has been used.

This has the consequence of not displaying the actual changes made by
the pre-commit hook, but committing them anyways.

While it is often argued that the hook's purpose is not to automatically
write content to the repository, it is acknowledged that using the
pre-commit to apply mechanical fixes on top of the existing changes is a
supported use case, along with verifying the content.

I think not seeing these mechanical fixes before commiting is incorrect.
A developer might expect the commit to look a certain way but if the
pre-commit goes wrong the invalid changes will go unnoticed until
committed.

I had a small exchange in the Google Group before submitting this Pr.
Here is a link for cross-referencing:
https://groups.google.com/g/git-mentoring/c/FsP83I9mN6c

As a side note, I do not know who manages the Github Repo but the
following description threw me off a little bit:

Git Source Code Mirror - This is a publish-only repository and all pull requests are ignored.

since after looking deeper it seems the PRs are not ignored.

Signed-off-by: Samuel Yvon samuelyvon9@gmail.com

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-1127%2FSamuelYvon%2Fmaint-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-1127/SamuelYvon/maint-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/1127

 builtin/commit.c | 21 +++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 7c9b1e7be3a..e75b11d1c60 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -728,8 +728,17 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 	/* This checks and barfs if author is badly specified */
 	determine_author_info(author_ident);
 
-	if (!no_verify && run_commit_hook(use_editor, index_file, "pre-commit", NULL))
-		return 0;
+	if (!no_verify && find_hook("pre-commit")) {
+		if(run_commit_hook(use_editor, index_file, "pre-commit", NULL))
+			return 0;
+
+		/*
+		 * Re-read the index as pre-commit hook could have updated it,
+		 * and write it out as a tree.
+		 */
+		discard_cache();
+		read_cache_from(index_file);
+	}
 
 	if (squash_message) {
 		/*
@@ -1051,14 +1060,6 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	if (!no_verify && find_hook("pre-commit")) {
-		/*
-		 * Re-read the index as pre-commit hook could have updated it,
-		 * and write it out as a tree.  We must do this before we invoke
-		 * the editor and after we invoke run_status above.
-		 */
-		discard_cache();
-	}
 	read_cache_from(index_file);
 
 	if (update_main_cache_tree(0)) {

base-commit: 5fbd2fc5997dfa4d4593a862fe729b1e7a89bcf8

-- 
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