Re: What exactly does 'needs update' mean?

Joshua Jensen [off-list ref] writes:

 I've come to accept the term 'needs update' when I've forgotten to
stash or commit before certain Git operations.  However, I got
cornered today and was asked to explain what it means.  I had to admit
I don't know.

It came from "you need to run update-index on that path, as you have local
modification in the working tree".

  ----- Original Message -----
From: Junio C Hamano
Date: 9/25/2010 12:06 AM

Joshua Jensen[off-list ref]  writes:

quoted

  I've come to accept the term 'needs update' when I've forgotten to
stash or commit before certain Git operations.  However, I got
cornered today and was asked to explain what it means.  I had to admit
I don't know.

It came from "you need to run update-index on that path, as you have local
modification in the working tree".

Okay, your description makes sense to me, and I'll be able to explain 
what it means.

I did a Google search before I posted here.  It turns out this phrase is 
*very* confusing to others.  Casual Joes don't use the plumbing commands 
(which I assume git update-index is).  Is there opposition to 
modernizing this turn to make it more clear based on the porcelain 
commands being run?

Thanks.

Josh

  ----- Original Message -----
From: Joshua Jensen
Date: 9/25/2010 8:16 AM

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Junio C Hamano
Date: 9/25/2010 12:06 AM

quoted

Joshua Jensen[off-list ref]  writes:

quoted

  I've come to accept the term 'needs update' when I've forgotten to
stash or commit before certain Git operations.  However, I got
cornered today and was asked to explain what it means.  I had to admit
I don't know.

It came from "you need to run update-index on that path, as you have 
local
modification in the working tree".

Okay, your description makes sense to me, and I'll be able to explain 
what it means.

I did a Google search before I posted here.  It turns out this phrase 
is *very* confusing to others.  Casual Joes don't use the plumbing 
commands (which I assume git update-index is).  Is there opposition to 
modernizing this turn to make it more clear based on the porcelain 
commands being run?

<sigh> Just waking up for the day.

Is there opposition to modernizing this *term* to make it more clear 
based on the porcelain commands being run?

-Josh

Hi Joshua,

Joshua Jensen writes:

Is there opposition to modernizing this *term* to make it more clear
based on the porcelain commands being run?

Most porcelain commands already contain checks to specifically prevent
it from displaying this message. See:

cache.h:506:#define REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN        0x0020  /* user friendly output, not "needs update" */
git-add--interactive.perl:215:          ;# ignore 'needs update'
read-cache.c:1109:      needs_update_fmt = (in_porcelain ? "M\t%s\n" : "%s: needs update\n");
builtin/add.c:190:      refresh_index(&the_index, verbose ? REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN : REFRESH_QUIET,
builtin/commit.c:284:   if (refresh_cache(refresh_flags | REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN))
builtin/reset.c:326:                            quiet ? REFRESH_QUIET : REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN);
builtin/reset.c:377:                            quiet ? REFRESH_QUIET : REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN);
cache.h:506:#define REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN        0x0020  /* user friendly output, not "needs update" */
read-cache.c:1104:      int in_porcelain = (flags & REFRESH_IN_PORCELAIN);

The real problem is with the shell scripts that invoke `git
update-index --refresh` without `-q` and forget to redirect output to
/dev/null. The Git infrastructure thinks update-index is a
non-porcelain: little does it know that update-index being run from a
porcelain-level shell script.

Thank you for reporting this bug.

-- Ram

Ramkumar Ramachandra (2):
  sh-setup: Write a new require_clean_work_tree function
  Porcelain scripts: Rewrite cryptic "needs update" error message

 git-pull.sh                |    5 +----
 git-rebase--interactive.sh |   16 ++++------------
 git-rebase.sh              |   14 +-------------
 git-sh-setup.sh            |   23 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)

-- 
1.7.2.2.409.gdbb11.dirty

Although Git interally has the facility to differentiate between
porcelain and plubmbing commands and appropriately print errors,
several shell scripts invoke plubming commands triggering cryptic
plumbing errors to be displayed on a porcelain interface. This patch
replaces the "needs update" message in git-pull and git-rebase, when
`git update-index` is run, with a more friendly message.

Reported-by: Joshua Jensen <redacted>
Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <redacted>
---
 git-pull.sh                |    5 +----
 git-rebase--interactive.sh |   16 ++++------------
 git-rebase.sh              |   14 +-------------
 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 29 deletions(-)

diff --git a/git-pull.sh b/git-pull.sh
index 8eb74d4..5da0f76 100755
--- a/git-pull.sh
+++ b/git-pull.sh

@@ -201,10 +201,7 @@ test true = "$rebase" && {
 			die "updating an unborn branch with changes added to the index"
 		fi
 	else
-		git update-index --ignore-submodules --refresh &&
-		git diff-files --ignore-submodules --quiet &&
-		git diff-index --ignore-submodules --cached --quiet HEAD -- ||
-		die "refusing to pull with rebase: your working tree is not up-to-date"
+		require_clean_work_tree "pull with rebase"
 	fi
 	oldremoteref= &&
 	. git-parse-remote &&

diff --git a/git-rebase--interactive.sh b/git-rebase--interactive.sh
index a27952d..8722baf 100755
--- a/git-rebase--interactive.sh
+++ b/git-rebase--interactive.sh

@@ -153,14 +153,6 @@ run_pre_rebase_hook () {
 	fi
 }
 
-require_clean_work_tree () {
-	# test if working tree is dirty
-	git rev-parse --verify HEAD > /dev/null &&
-	git update-index --ignore-submodules --refresh &&
-	git diff-files --quiet --ignore-submodules &&
-	git diff-index --cached --quiet HEAD --ignore-submodules -- ||
-	die "Working tree is dirty"
-}
 
 ORIG_REFLOG_ACTION="$GIT_REFLOG_ACTION"
 

@@ -557,7 +549,7 @@ do_next () {
 			exit "$status"
 		fi
 		# Run in subshell because require_clean_work_tree can die.
-		if ! (require_clean_work_tree)
+		if ! (require_clean_work_tree "rebase")
 		then
 			warn "Commit or stash your changes, and then run"
 			warn

@@ -740,7 +732,7 @@ do
 			die "Cannot read HEAD"
 		git update-index --ignore-submodules --refresh &&
 			git diff-files --quiet --ignore-submodules ||
-			die "Working tree is dirty"
+			die "Working tree is dirty. Please commit or stash your changes to proceed."
 
 		# do we have anything to commit?
 		if git diff-index --cached --quiet --ignore-submodules HEAD --

@@ -768,7 +760,7 @@ first and then run 'git rebase --continue' again."
 
 		record_in_rewritten "$(cat "$DOTEST"/stopped-sha)"
 
-		require_clean_work_tree
+		require_clean_work_tree "rebase"
 		do_rest
 		;;
 	--abort)

@@ -866,7 +858,7 @@ first and then run 'git rebase --continue' again."
 
 		comment_for_reflog start
 
-		require_clean_work_tree
+		require_clean_work_tree "rebase"
 
 		if test ! -z "$1"
 		then

diff --git a/git-rebase.sh b/git-rebase.sh
index 3335cee..c3ca8d5 100755
--- a/git-rebase.sh
+++ b/git-rebase.sh

@@ -416,19 +416,7 @@ else
 	fi
 fi
 
-# The tree must be really really clean.
-if ! git update-index --ignore-submodules --refresh > /dev/null; then
-	echo >&2 "cannot rebase: you have unstaged changes"
-	git diff-files --name-status -r --ignore-submodules -- >&2
-	exit 1
-fi
-diff=$(git diff-index --cached --name-status -r --ignore-submodules HEAD --)
-case "$diff" in
-?*)	echo >&2 "cannot rebase: your index contains uncommitted changes"
-	echo >&2 "$diff"
-	exit 1
-	;;
-esac
+require_clean_work_tree "rebase"
 
 if test -z "$rebase_root"
 then

-- 
1.7.2.2.409.gdbb11.dirty

Write a new require_clean_work_tree function to error out when working
tree contains unstaged changes or index contains uncommitted changes.

Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <redacted>
---
 git-sh-setup.sh |   23 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 files changed, 23 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)

diff --git a/git-sh-setup.sh b/git-sh-setup.sh
index 6131670..3a337da 100644
--- a/git-sh-setup.sh
+++ b/git-sh-setup.sh

@@ -145,6 +145,29 @@ require_work_tree () {
 	die "fatal: $0 cannot be used without a working tree."
 }
 
+require_clean_work_tree () {
+	# Update the index
+	git update-index -q --ignore-submodules --refresh
+
+	# Disallow unstaged changes in the working tree
+	if ! git diff-files --quiet --ignore-submodules --
+	then
+		echo >&2 "cannot $1: you have unstaged changes."
+		echo >&2 "Please commit or stash them."
+		git diff-files --name-status -r --ignore-submodules -- >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+
+	# Disallow uncommitted changes in the index
+	if ! git diff-index --cached --quiet --ignore-submodules HEAD --
+	then
+		echo >&2 "cannot $1: your index contains uncommitted changes."
+		echo >&2 "Please commit or stash them."
+		git diff-index --cached --name-status -r --ignore-submodules HEAD -- >&2
+		exit 1
+	fi
+}
+
 get_author_ident_from_commit () {
 	pick_author_script='
 	/^author /{

-- 
1.7.2.2.409.gdbb11.dirty