Re: [PATCH v2 3/5] git-submodule.sh: Add Custom argument input support to git submodule recurse subcommand

imyousuf@gmail.com writes:

From: Imran M Yousuf <redacted>

There is a scenario which has been put forward several times in
discussion over the recurse subcommand and it is that commands chould have
different arguments for different modules.

For example, one module could want to checkout 'master', while another might want
to checkout 'work'. The [-a|--customized-argument] argument provides platform
just for that. Consider the following command and its followup for further info:

	git submodule recurse -a checkout

	Submodule b is not initialized and skipped
	git submodule recurse a checkout
	Please provide an argument: master
	Press y to provide another arg...
	git checkout master
	Already on branch "master"
	Submodule d is not initialized and skipped
	git submodule recurse . checkout
	Please provide an argument: master
	Press y to provide another arg...
	git checkout master
	Already on branch "master"

Is it only me who finds this UI (and the one 4/5 further introduces)
somewhat clumsy and extremely ugly?

I am almost tempted to suggest going to the extreme and spawn interactive
shell in each repository directory, like this:

    toplevel$ git submodule recurse -a
    (info) Submodule b is not initialized and skipped
    (info) git submodule recurse 'a'
    (info) we now give you a shell in that directory.  Do whatever you
    (info) like and type cntl-D (or "exit") once you are done.
    toplevel/a$ git checkout
    toplevel/a$ exit
    (info) Submodule d is not initialized and skipped
    (info) git submodule recurse '.'
    (info) we now give you a shell in that directory.  Do whatever you
    (info) like and type cntl-D (or "exit") once you are done.
    toplevel/.$ git checkout
    toplevel/.$ exit
    (info) git submodule recurse recursion ended.
    toplevel$

so that the users can do whatever they want there.

If we want a useful and flexible "recurse", perhaps the only thing we need
to do is a command that lists a submodule directory path, one path at a
time, in optionally different traversal order and depth cutoff, so that
the user can feed it to xargs and do whatever they want to run in there.