[PATCH v3 11/12] bisect: check get_terms return at all call sites
From: Johannes Schindelin via GitGitGadget <hidden>
Date: 2026-08-12 08:03:46
Subsystem:
the rest · Maintainer:
Linus Torvalds
From: Johannes Schindelin <redacted> Six callers of get_terms() silently discard its return value. When get_terms fails (missing or truncated BISECT_TERMS file), the term strings remain NULL or empty, causing confusing downstream behavior: commands like "bisect next" or "bisect run" proceed with empty term strings, producing nonsensical ref names (refs/bisect/ with no suffix) and misleading error messages. Let's not discard the return value, but handle an error with the same message `bisect_terms()` already uses when reading the terms failed. Pointed out by Coverity. There is one slight complication here: One caller _needs_ the return value to indicate an error when the `BISECT_TERMS` file is absent, all the other call sites are totally okay with a "missing" `BISECT_TERMS` file. To address that, extend the function signature of `get_terms()` to indicate which behavior the caller wants. Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 Helped-by: Patrick Steinhardt [off-list ref] Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <redacted> --- builtin/bisect.c | 24 +++++++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
diff --git a/builtin/bisect.c b/builtin/bisect.c
index 69ab7ea248..ceb60b0626 100644
--- a/builtin/bisect.c
+++ b/builtin/bisect.c@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ static int bisect_next_check(const struct bisect_terms *terms, return decide_next(terms, current_term, !state.nr_good, !state.nr_bad); } -static int get_terms(struct bisect_terms *terms) +static int get_terms(struct bisect_terms *terms, int file_missing_is_ok) { struct strbuf str = STRBUF_INIT; FILE *fp = NULL;
@@ -493,7 +493,7 @@ static int get_terms(struct bisect_terms *terms) fp = fopen(git_path_bisect_terms(), "r"); if (!fp) { - res = -1; + res = file_missing_is_ok ? 0 : -1; goto finish; }
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ finish: static int bisect_terms(struct bisect_terms *terms, const char *option) { - if (get_terms(terms)) + if (get_terms(terms, 0)) return error(_("no terms defined")); if (!option) {
@@ -1057,7 +1057,8 @@ static int process_replay_line(struct bisect_terms *terms, struct strbuf *line) rev = word_end + strspn(word_end, " \t"); *word_end = '\0'; /* NUL-terminate the word */ - get_terms(terms); + if (get_terms(terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); if (check_and_set_terms(terms, p)) return -1;
@@ -1383,7 +1384,8 @@ static int cmd_bisect__next(int argc, const char **argv UNUSED, const char *pref if (argc) return error(_("'%s' requires 0 arguments"), "git bisect next"); - get_terms(&terms); + if (get_terms(&terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); res = bisect_next(&terms, prefix); free_terms(&terms); return res;
@@ -1417,7 +1419,8 @@ static int cmd_bisect__skip(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix UNUS struct bisect_terms terms = { 0 }; set_terms(&terms, "bad", "good"); - get_terms(&terms); + if (get_terms(&terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); res = bisect_skip(&terms, argc, argv); free_terms(&terms); return res;
@@ -1429,7 +1432,8 @@ static int cmd_bisect__visualize(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix int res; struct bisect_terms terms = { 0 }; - get_terms(&terms); + if (get_terms(&terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); res = bisect_visualize(&terms, argc, argv); free_terms(&terms); return res;
@@ -1443,7 +1447,8 @@ static int cmd_bisect__run(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix UNUSE if (!argc) return error(_("'%s' failed: no command provided."), "git bisect run"); - get_terms(&terms); + if (get_terms(&terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); res = bisect_run(&terms, argc, argv); free_terms(&terms); return res;
@@ -1482,7 +1487,8 @@ int cmd_bisect(int argc, usage_with_options(git_bisect_usage, options); set_terms(&terms, "bad", "good"); - get_terms(&terms); + if (get_terms(&terms, 1)) + return error(_("no terms defined")); if (check_and_set_terms(&terms, argv[0]) || !one_of(argv[0], terms.term_good, terms.term_bad, NULL)) usage_msg_optf(_("unknown command: '%s'"), git_bisect_usage,
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