Re: [PATCH] builtin/describe.c: ignore untracked changes in submodules

[Brandon Casey <drafnel@gmail.com>]

On Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Jens Lehmann <Jens.Lehmann@web.de> wrote:
>>Brandon Casey <casey@nrlssc.navy.mil> writes:
>>
>>> From: Brandon Casey <drafnel@gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Since 'git describe' does not append -dirty to the version string it
>>> produces when untracked files exist in the working directory of the main
>>> repository, it should not do so for submodules either.
>>>
>>> Add --ignore-submodules=untracked to the call to diff-index which is used
>>> to decide whether or not the '-dirty' string is necessary.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Brandon Casey <casey@nrlssc.navy.mil>
>>> ---
>>
>>Hmm, this changes the behaviour in a big way but it probably is for the
>>better.  At least it is consistent with the recent fixes to the
>>interaction between diff and submodules.
>
> Hmm, by default the diff family considers submodules with untracked files as
> dirty unless configured otherwise (and AFAICS the recent fixes to the interaction
> between diff and submodule were options to configure your own default).
>
> So when git status tells you the subodule is modified, e.g. because of an untracked
> file, I would expect git describe to add '-dirty' to its output when requested.

Triple hmm.  Perhaps a deeper level change is necessary than what I originally
thought.

It appears to me now, that the behavior of the entire diff family is
inconsistent
with respect to how untracked content is handled at the super-project level and
at the submodule level.

At the super-project level, git only considers as 'modified', changes to
_tracked_ content.  Any untracked content is ignored by git-describe, git-diff,
and friends, and git-status places it in its own 'Untracked files' section.

At the submodule level, all files, tracked and untracked, are considered.

> To get rid
> of that I would expect you either fix the .gitignore of the submodule or configure that
> you don't care about untracked files in submodules at all (either only for this
> submodule or in the config).
>
> So if I didn't misunderstand something here I would rather vote against this change,
> git describe should append a '-dirty' when git status would show modifications, no?

Do you agree that there is an inconsistency between how untracked content is
treated at the super-project level and at the submodule level?  Any thoughts
about how the behavior should be made to be consistent?

Perhaps the default setting of submodule.<name>.ignore should be 'untracked'?

-Brandon