Re: [RFD] minor frustration in 'git add' pathname completion

Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] writes:

Stefan Beller [off-list ref] writes:

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On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 2:44 PM, Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] wrote:

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Discuss.

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For example, I keep
a backup version of whats-cooking.txt in the working tree that I use
to manage the 'todo' branch as whats-cooking.txt+, and this is not
explicitly "ignored".

Completely side tracking thought: Have you considered ignoring
whats-cooking.txt+ locally?

The point is that I shouldn't have to.  I wasn't asking for a
workaround.

More importantly, I suspect that it would not work very well as a
workaround.

If I were to explicitly ignore that file, then even though I know
whats-cooking.txt is not ignored,

    $ git add whats-coo<HT>

would not offer anything.  I'd be left scratching my head, wondering
if I mistyped the early part of the filename (e.g. "wahts-coo<HT>"?).

I think the source of the irritation comes from the fact that the
command line completion can only say "I do not see anything worth
adding with the prefix you gave me" by not completing the prefix
string to anything, and it cannot explain why it thinks so
(e.g. "because the path that matches the prefix is up-to-date and
there is no point adding it again" vs "because there is no path that
matches the prefix, perhaps you made a typo?").  Loosening (3) might
be an effective way to address it.