# Left-over COMMIT_EDITMSG file in gitdir

2 messages from 2018-02-08 to 2018-02-08. Participants: Linus Torvalds, Junio C Hamano.
Thread: https://gitlist.dev/t/47793

## Linus Torvalds, 2018-02-08 22:09

Subject: Left-over COMMIT_EDITMSG file in gitdir
Message-ID: <CA+55aFzaxTrki92C8ih3M3BtYHU3BG8P2SWwvdWiTXZWFDH=1Q@mail.gmail.com>
URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/CA%2B55aFzaxTrki92C8ih3M3BtYHU3BG8P2SWwvdWiTXZWFDH%3D1Q%40mail.gmail.com

```
This may be intentional, but if so, it's not obvious..

Back long long ago, the original "git commit" shell script got rewritten in C.

In that rewrite, removing some temporary files seems to have been left
out. At least one: .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG.

In the original commit.sh shell script, we can find this:

  rm -f "$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_MSG" "$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG" "$GIT_DIR/SQUASH_MSG"

after creating the commit.  In the C implementation, we do have a
number of "unlink(...)" calls:

        unlink(git_path_cherry_pick_head());
        unlink(git_path_revert_head());
        unlink(git_path_merge_head());
        unlink(git_path_merge_msg());
        unlink(git_path_merge_mode());
        unlink(git_path_squash_msg());

but no

        unlink(git_path_commit_editmsg());

and that *seems* to be an oversight.

Similarly, builtin/tag,c leaves a stale TAG_EDITMSG file behind.
Again, that actually did exist in the original shell script, which
used to do

  trap 'rm -f "$GIT_DIR"/TAG_TMP* "$GIT_DIR"/TAG_FINALMSG
"$GIT_DIR"/TAG_EDITMSG' 0

which caused that file to be removed at exit.

I guess I really don't care much, but those two files struck me when I
was doing a "git gc --prune=now" and looked at what was still left in
the .git directory..

If this is all intentional, never mind.

               Linus

```

## Junio C Hamano, 2018-02-08 22:18

Subject: Re: Left-over COMMIT_EDITMSG file in gitdir
Message-ID: <xmqqpo5fp1l1.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>
URL: https://gitlist.dev/e/xmqqpo5fp1l1.fsf%40gitster-ct.c.googlers.com
In-Reply-To: <CA+55aFzaxTrki92C8ih3M3BtYHU3BG8P2SWwvdWiTXZWFDH=1Q@mail.gmail.com>

```
Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org> writes:

> In that rewrite, removing some temporary files seems to have been left
> out. At least one: .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG.
>
> In the original commit.sh shell script, we can find this:
>
>   rm -f "$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_MSG" "$GIT_DIR/COMMIT_EDITMSG" "$GIT_DIR/SQUASH_MSG"
>
> after creating the commit.  In the C implementation, we do have a
> number of "unlink(...)" calls:
> ...
>
> but no
>
>         unlink(git_path_commit_editmsg());
>
> and that *seems* to be an oversight.
>
> Similarly, builtin/tag,c leaves a stale TAG_EDITMSG file behind.
> Again, that actually did exist in the original shell script, which
> used to do
>
>   trap 'rm -f "$GIT_DIR"/TAG_TMP* "$GIT_DIR"/TAG_FINALMSG
> "$GIT_DIR"/TAG_EDITMSG' 0
>
> which caused that file to be removed at exit.

I do not think it was intentional---just a bug in the rewrite.


```