Re: [PATCH 01/20] pack-revindex: introduce a new API

Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] writes:

Without knowing what exactly "pack position", "offset" and "index
position" refer to, the above three are almost impossible to grok.
Can we have one paragraph description for each?  Something along the
lines of...

 - Pack position: a packstream consists of series of byte ranges,
   each of which represents an object, so the objects can be
   numbered from 0 (the object whose data is stored at the earliest
   part in the packfile) to N (the object whose data is stored at
   the tail end of the packfile).  The number corresponding to an
   object in this order in the packfile is called the "pack
   position" of the object.

 - Offset: The ofs_t distance between the beginning of a pack stream
   and the beginning of data that represents an object is called the
   "offset" of the object in the packfile.

 - Index position: for a single pack stream, there is a table that
   maps object name to its offset and the entries in this table are
   sorted by the object name (this is what pack ".idx" file is).
   The location (counting from 0) of an object in this table is
   called the "index position" of the object in the packfile.

I am not sure if the above correctly reflects what you meant by
"position", though.

Please scratch the above.  I see Peff already pointed out pretty
much the same, and his phrasing looked a lot cleaner than my
attempt.

Thanks.