Re: [PATCH 5/6] config docs: Provide for config to specify tags not to abbreviate

Jacob Keller writes ("Re: [PATCH 5/6] config docs: Provide for config to specify tags not to abbreviate"):

On Mon, Nov 7, 2016 at 4:52 PM, Ian Jackson
[off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

+log.noAbbrevTags::
+       Each value is a glob pattern, specifying tag nammes which
+       should always be displayed in full, even when other tags may
+       be omitted or abbreviated (for example, by linkgit:gitk[1]).
+       Values starting with `^` specify tags which should be
+       abbreviated.  The order is important: the last match, in the
+       most-local configuration, wins.
+

It seems weird that this description implies some sort of behavior
change in core git itself, but in fact is only used as a reference for
other tools that may or may not honor it. I guess the reasoning here
is to try to get other external tools that abbreviate tags to also
honor this? But it still seems pretty weird to have a documented
config that has no code in core git to honor it...

Thanks for your attention.

Yes, I agree that it does seem weird.  But the alternatives seem
worse.  I think it's probably best if options like this (currently
only honoured by out-of-core tools but of general usefulness) are
collected together here.

There is a precedent: `git config gui.encoding' is, according to the
documentation, honoured only by git-gui and gitk.

Calling the config option `gitk.noAbbrevTags' would be possible but
that would invite everyone else to invent their own, which would be
quite annoying.  (Also, gitk does not have any gitk-specific git
config options right now, AIUI.  It does honour `git config
gui.encoding'.)

Would it help to add a sentence to the documentation saying that this
is currently only honoured by gitk ?  (The paragraph for gui.encoding
says something similar.)  Of course I don't know who else abbreviates
tags, but as they gain support they could be added to the docs.

Thanks,
Ian.

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Ian Jackson [off-list ref]   These opinions are my own.

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