Re: Exit code of git-ls-remote

Kacper Kornet [off-list ref] writes:

git-ls-remote behaves differently then git-show-ref when it cannot find
any matching refs. While the latter returns non zero exit code in this
case, the former always returns 0. Is there any specific reason for this
behaviour?

There is no specific reason other than "they happened to be implemented
like so".  These commands have always behaved that way and people are
relying on their exit status, so unless there is a compelling reason, they
will not change.

It is just a matter of opinion to consider that it is an error condition
or just a normal case to see an empty set for a "List 'em and filter with
these criteria" request. Outside git, "find /there -name no-such-file"
exits with zero status, while "grep no-such-pattern file" exits with
non-zero status.

You can rely on your knowledge of the commands and write your tests like
this:

	test $(git ls-remote $there $pattern | wc -l) != 0 || die "none"
	git show-ref -q $pattern || die "none"

Alternatively, you can defend yourself against the next person who asks
the same question by writing the last one as:

	test $(git show-ref $pattern | wc -l) != 0 || die "none"

Either would work.