Re: [PATCH v2 3/3] submodule: document default behavior

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Feb 13, 2019, 18:39 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqzhqzbki3.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>
In-Reply-To: <d8785cdd01503f2a7b9a6fbc19105c41a9a04046.1549965172.git.liu.denton@gmail.com>

Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com> writes:

> This patch documents the default behavior of submodule if no subcommands
> are given, similar to how remote documents it in both git-remote.txt and
> in its usage output.

Let's stop saying "This patch does this, this patch does that".

Instead (1) state what you think is wrong with the status quo in the present tense, (2) describe what the right approach to make it better is and why, and (3) order the codebase to "be like so" to make that happen. Often (1) or (2) can be omitted when they are obvious from (3), but be mindful to others---the "obviousness" you may feel may come from your staring the problem longer and thinking about it deeper than the readers of your patch. When in doubt, err on the side of over-clarity.

    The SYNOPSIS section for 'git submodule' does not say what the
    command does when given no subcommand.  Document it.

does (1)+(3), which I think is sufficient.

Show 24 quoted lines

> Signed-off-by: Denton Liu <liu.denton@gmail.com>
> ---
>  Documentation/git-submodule.txt | 4 ++++
>  git-submodule.sh                | 3 ++-
>  2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
> index 65a952fb96..2fdf9f4cf3 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
> @@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ git-submodule - Initialize, update or inspect submodules
>  SYNOPSIS
>  --------
>  [verse]
> +'git submodule' [--quiet] [--cached]
>  'git submodule' [--quiet] 'add' [<options>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
>  'git submodule' [--quiet] 'status' [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
>  'git submodule' [--quiet] 'init' [--] [<path>...]
> @@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ For more information about submodules, see linkgit:gitsubmodules[7].
>  
>  COMMANDS
>  --------
> +With no arguments, the default command is 'status'.  Several subcommands are
> +available to perform operations on the submodules.

I am not sure if "default is status" is really true.

   $ git submodule status --recursive
   $ git submodule --recursive
   usage: git submodule [--quiet] ...
      or: ...
   $ git submodule -- sha1collisiondetection
   usage: git submodule [--quiet] ...
      or: ...

If 'status' were truly the default, wouldn't the form without any subcommand take any option and parameter the 'status' subcommand would accept?

Show 14 quoted lines

> diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
> index 5e608f8bad..1ccc758e79 100755
> --- a/git-submodule.sh
> +++ b/git-submodule.sh
> @@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
>  # Copyright (c) 2007 Lars Hjemli
>  
>  dashless=$(basename "$0" | sed -e 's/-/ /')
> -USAGE="[--quiet] add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference <repository>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
> +USAGE="[--quiet] [--cached]
> +   or: $dashless [--quiet] add [-b <branch>] [-f|--force] [--name <name>] [--reference <repository>] [--] <repository> [<path>]
>     or: $dashless [--quiet] status [--cached] [--recursive] [--] [<path>...]
>     or: $dashless [--quiet] init [--] [<path>...]
>     or: $dashless [--quiet] deinit [-f|--force] (--all| [--] <path>...)