Re: git fetch documentation
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> - A '*' can be used both in src and dest, and it matches any name,
> including subdirectories, but not partial names (i.e. refs/heads/foo*
> is invalid).
> - multiple fetch lines can be given in .git/config, each of them will be
> obeyed
>
> These are probably obvious for most users, but I think documenting them
> would be good for newcomers. (I tried to come up with a patch but I
> can't find a precise yet concise way to explain the role of '*' in
> english.)
Good. Yes, we don't even have examples showing that a rewrite like refs/heads/nr/*:refs/heads/* can be done. The documentation is definitely lacking. However, I'd urge you to get started by submitting an initial draft: we will review it and help you learn and contribute. Some pointers:
- What you are attempting to document is called a refspec. Look at
'struct refspec' in remote.h, and attempt to understand what its
fields mean by looking at how it is used in remote.c.
- Notice that there is a push refspec corresponding to the fetch
refspec. This feature is even more obscure and undocumented.
- See remote.c:get_ref_match(); specifically,
match_name_with_pattern() is doing the pattern matching. As you can
see, match_name_with_pattern() hard-codes a '*' and tries to match
just that: there is no support for anything else. Try to skim through
the code once.
- Read Documentation/SubmittingPatches and submit a first version
quickly. It doesn't have to be perfect at all.
