Re: [RFC PATCH 00/12] Sparse checkout

Hi,

On 7/24/08, Johannes Schindelin [off-list ref] wrote:

 > > No, I did mean the index.  This is an attribute of the index: either
 > > it is sparsely checked out or not.  You can even have multiple indices
 > > (switching between them by setting GIT_INDEX_FILE) which have
 > > different prefixes.
 >
 > I don't think so. It's a mask for workdir, right? If you save it it
 > index, you can switch index and the prefix as well, but workdir only has
 > several subtrees that do not fit any other prefix than the original
 > prefix.


Ah, you adroitly avoided addressing the issue that the user can change the
 prefix without the index ever noticing.

Forgive my ignorance. I still do not get why index must notice prefix
change? The only reason I can think of is that we must make sure there
won't be any user-modification in index outside the prefix. But that
can be guarded from higher level (plumbings and porcelains) because
index is allowed to have modification outside sparse prefix
(auto-merged entries).
-- 
Duy