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Re: [PATCH 2/5] describe: error if blob not found

From
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date
Aug 18, 2025, 21:12 UTC
Message-ID
<xmqqbjocibbk.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To
<20250818210125.GB1024556@coredump.intra.peff.net>
Jeff King <peff@peff.net> writes:
Show 6 quoted lines
> If describe_blob() does not find the blob in question, it returns an
> empty strbuf, and we print an empty line. This differs from
> describe_commit(), which always either returns an answer or calls die()
> itself. As the blob function was bolted onto the command afterwards, I
> think its behavior is not intentional, and it is just a bug that it does
> not report an error.

Yes, let's do so. Silently succeeding without returning anything useful is not what we usually do in this system.

Show 8 quoted lines
> This one is perhaps the most controversial, as it is a change in
> behavior. But the current behavior just really seems like a bug to me.
>
> Unlike what René posted earlier, I didn't record the dst strbuf's
> original size and compare against that. This is a static function with
> only one caller that passes in an empty strbuf, so being overly
> defensive didn't seem worth it (arguably these functions should just
> return an allocated buffer anyway).
Sounds sensible.
Thanks.
Show 31 quoted lines
> diff --git a/builtin/describe.c b/builtin/describe.c
> index 383d3e6b9a..06e413d937 100644
> --- a/builtin/describe.c
> +++ b/builtin/describe.c
> @@ -535,6 +535,9 @@ static void describe_blob(const struct object_id *oid, struct strbuf *dst)
>  	reset_revision_walk();
>  	release_revisions(&revs);
>  	strvec_clear(&args);
> +
> +	if (!dst->len)
> +		die(_("blob '%s' not reachable from HEAD"), oid_to_hex(oid));
>  }
>  
>  static void describe(const char *arg, int last_one)
> diff --git a/t/t6120-describe.sh b/t/t6120-describe.sh
> index 256ccaefb7..470631d17d 100755
> --- a/t/t6120-describe.sh
> +++ b/t/t6120-describe.sh
> @@ -409,6 +409,12 @@ test_expect_success 'describe tag object' '
>  	test_grep "fatal: test-blob-1 is neither a commit nor blob" actual
>  '
>  
> +test_expect_success 'describe an unreachable blob' '
> +	blob=$(echo not-found-anywhere | git hash-object -w --stdin) &&
> +	test_must_fail git describe $blob 2>actual &&
> +	test_grep "blob .$blob. not reachable from HEAD" actual
> +'
> +
>  test_expect_success ULIMIT_STACK_SIZE 'name-rev works in a deep repo' '
>  	i=1 &&
>  	while test $i -lt 8000
Previous: Jeff KingNext: Patrick Steinhardt
Message 15 of 28 in “Potential Null Pointer Dereference detected by static analysis tool”
  1. ChengAug 13, 2025
  2. Phillip WoodAug 13, 2025
  3. Jeff KingAug 14, 2025
  4. Phillip WoodAug 15, 2025
  5. René ScharfeAug 17, 2025
  6. Jeff KingAug 18, 2025
  7. Jeff KingAug 18, 2025
  8. René ScharfeAug 18, 2025
  9. Jeff KingAug 18, 2025
  10. Jeff KingAug 18, 2025
  11. 0/5 fix segfault and other oddities describing blobsJeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  12. 1/5 describe: pass oid struct by const pointerJeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  13. Junio C HamanoAug 18, 2025
  14. 2/5 describe: error if blob not foundJeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  15. Junio C HamanoAug 18, 2025
  16. Patrick SteinhardtAug 19, 2025
  17. René ScharfeAug 19, 2025
  18. 3/5 describe: catch unborn branch in describe_blob()Jeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  19. Junio C HamanoAug 18, 2025
  20. Jeff KingAug 18, 2025
  21. 4/5 describe: handle blob traversal with no commitsJeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  22. Patrick SteinhardtAug 19, 2025
  23. Jeff KingAug 19, 2025
  24. Patrick SteinhardtAug 20, 2025
  25. 4/5 describe: handle blob traversal with no commitsJeff King, Aug 20, 2025
  26. 5/5 describe: pass commit to describe_commit()Jeff King, Aug 18, 2025
  27. Patrick SteinhardtAug 19, 2025
  28. Jeff KingAug 19, 2025

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