[RFC] Configurable name(s) for .gitmodules

> I have a super project with many submodules. Each kind of role may
> check out different set of submodules. There are some common modules
> which are almost checked out by every role.
>
> Here comes my question: how to implement this elegantly? If all
> submodules are put in the same .gitmodules, every role has to in the
> command line manually designate all submodules to be checked out.
> However, it's hard to remember which submodules is required by which
> role, not to mention the so huge .gitmodules. Maybe a script for each
> role can help, but it's a little ugly.
>
> If the name for '.gitmodules' is configurable, we can check in
> modules.roleA and modules.roleB, etc. Then role A can designate the
> corresponding modules.roleA as .gitmodules. Furtherly, if mutiple
> names are allowed,  for common modules, we can have modules.common and
> then submodule.defaultnames="modules.common, modules.roleA"  to avoid
> duplicated module name entires in both modules.roleA and
> modules.roleB.
>
> I have gone deeply into git-submodule.sh and see
> "GIT_CONFIG=.gitmodules" is used. However, configuable multiple names
> can't be implemented in this way.
>
> Recap:
> 1. configurable name for '.gitmodules'
> 2. better to allow mutiple names
> 3. the implementation issue for mutiple names
>

> I have a super project with many submodules. Each kind of role may
> check out different set of submodules. There are some common modules
> which are almost checked out by every role.
> 
> Here comes my question: how to implement this elegantly? If all
> submodules are put in the same .gitmodules, every role has to in the
> command line manually designate all submodules to be checked out.

> On Sat, Dec 08, 2007 at 12:00:12AM +0800, Ping Yin wrote:
> > I have a super project with many submodules. Each kind of role may
> > check out different set of submodules. There are some common modules
> > which are almost checked out by every role.
> >
> > Here comes my question: how to implement this elegantly? If all
> > submodules are put in the same .gitmodules, every role has to in the
> > command line manually designate all submodules to be checked out.
>
> You could have submodules (roles in your case) containing
> other submodules, as proposed in the thread that ends in
> http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/48643/focus=48939
>
> skimo
>

> The reason I wanted to use
>
> [path "lib"]
>   submodule=xyzzylib
>   url=git://xyzzy/lib-1.2.3
>
> is that the git-submodule command always starts out with the submodule
> path, trying to map that to an url or a submodule name. My proposal
> allows
>
>   $ name=$(GIT_CONFIG=.gitmodules git-config path."$path".submodule)
>   $ url=$(GIT_CONFIG=.gitmodules git-config path."$path".url)
>

>
>
> --
> Ping Yin
>