[PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget]

From: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>

'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
submodules properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).

However, that commit mistakenly uses the non-existing environment
variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.

Fix that by using the correct variable, 'GIT_WORK_TREE'. Take the
opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide.

Signed-off-by: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
---
    gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-942%2Fphil-blain%2Fdoc-gitmodules-envvar-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-942/phil-blain/doc-gitmodules-envvar-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/942

 Documentation/gitmodules.txt | 24 ++++++++++++------------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
index 539b4e1997e..07f3af6bae4 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ gitmodules - Defining submodule properties
 
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
-$GIT_WORK_DIR/.gitmodules
+$GIT_WORK_TREE/.gitmodules
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ submodule.<name>.path::
 submodule.<name>.url::
 	Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
 	This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to
-	linkgit:git-clone[1] or (if it begins with ./ or ../) a location
+	linkgit:git-clone[1] or (if it begins with `./` or `../`) a location
 	relative to the superproject's origin repository.
 
 In addition, there are a number of optional keys:
 
 submodule.<name>.update::
 	Defines the default update procedure for the named submodule,
-	i.e. how the submodule is updated by "git submodule update"
+	i.e. how the submodule is updated by the `git submodule update`
 	command in the superproject. This is only used by `git
 	submodule init` to initialize the configuration variable of
 	the same name. Allowed values here are 'checkout', 'rebase',
@@ -58,13 +58,13 @@ submodule.<name>.branch::
 submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
 	This option can be used to control recursive fetching of this
 	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodules entry in
-	.git/config of the superproject, the setting there will override the
-	one found in .gitmodules.
+	`.git/config` of the superproject, the setting there will override the
+	one found in `.gitmodules`.
 	Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
-	"--[no-]recurse-submodules" option to "git fetch" and "git pull".
+	`--[no-]recurse-submodules` option to `git fetch` and `git pull`.
 
 submodule.<name>.ignore::
-	Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show
+	Defines under what circumstances `git status` and the diff family show
 	a submodule as modified. The following values are supported:
 +
 --
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	    been staged).
 
 	dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only
-	    committed differences between the HEAD of the submodule and its
+	    committed differences between the 'HEAD' of the submodule and its
 	    recorded state in the superproject are taken into account.
 
 	untracked;; Only untracked files in submodules will be ignored.
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	    differences, and modifications to tracked and untracked files are
 	    shown. This is the default option.
 
-If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config
+If this option is also present in the submodules entry in `.git/config`
 of the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
-.gitmodules.
+`.gitmodules`.
 
 Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
-"--ignore-submodules" option. The 'git submodule' commands are not
+`--ignore-submodules` option. The `git submodule` commands are not
 affected by this setting.
 --
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ submodule.<name>.shallow::
 EXAMPLES
 --------
 
-Consider the following .gitmodules file:
+Consider the following `.gitmodules` file:
 
 ----
 [submodule "libfoo"]

base-commit: 71ca53e8125e36efbda17293c50027d31681a41f
-- 
gitgitgadget

Re: [PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Martin Ågren]

On Sat, 2 Jan 2021 at 20:39, Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
<gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
>
> 'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
> submodules properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
> repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
> gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).
>
> However, that commit mistakenly uses the non-existing environment
> variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.

Good catch! I wonder what we should conclude from this having gone
unreported for so long.

> Fix that by using the correct variable, 'GIT_WORK_TREE'. Take the
> opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide.

It's a small correctness fix and some prettifying while at it. While I
read the diff and realized that it was more than just one or two
asciidoc tweaks in the immediate vicinity, I started wondering if this
should be presented the other way round: "Let's update the formatting
and fix s/DIR/TREE/ while at it." Or to split it up. But I don't think
it's worth thinking too much about -- what you have looks good to me.

> @@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ submodule.<name>.path::

Just above this point, you have another s/\.gitmodules/`&`/ waiting to
be fixed.

>  submodule.<name>.url::
>         Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
>         This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to

>         dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only
> -           committed differences between the HEAD of the submodule and its
> +           committed differences between the 'HEAD' of the submodule and its
>             recorded state in the superproject are taken into account.

`git grep -B10 HEAD CodingGuidelines` suggests this should be `HEAD`,
not 'HEAD'. Maybe you followed style -- there's an instance of 'HEAD'
earlier. I think both should be `HEAD`.

> -If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config
> +If this option is also present in the submodules entry in `.git/config`
>  of the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
> -.gitmodules.
> +`.gitmodules`.

Should "submodules entry" be "submodule's entry"? I've never worked with
submodules, but that reading somehow seems more natural. (There are two
hits for "submodules entry" in this document -- both might be worth
looking at.)

This patch looks good to me. It might be worthwhile to reroll
to address the naked .gitmodules around line 30 and the two 'HEAD' while
you're in the area. As for the last comment above, it could well be
that the proper response is "no, you're wrong".

Martin

Re: [PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Felipe Contreras]

Martin Ågren wrote:
> On Sat, 2 Jan 2021 at 20:39, Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
> <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > From: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
> >
> > 'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
> > submodules properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
> > repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
> > gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).
> >
> > However, that commit mistakenly uses the non-existing environment
> > variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.
> 
> Good catch! I wonder what we should conclude from this having gone
> unreported for so long.

That perhaps not that many people actually read the official
documentation?

I've noticed the common response RTFM is not that common anymore. A lot
of people seem to rely on Stack Overflow, blogs, and some semi-official
documentation (GitHub, Atlassian, etc.).

Cheers.

-- 
Felipe Contreras

Re: [PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Philippe Blain]

Hi Martin,

Le 2021-01-02 à 16:34, Martin Ågren a écrit :
> On Sat, 2 Jan 2021 at 20:39, Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
> <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> From: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
>>
>> 'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
>> submodules properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
>> repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
>> gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).
>>
>> However, that commit mistakenly uses the non-existing environment
>> variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.
> 
> Good catch! I wonder what we should conclude from this having gone
> unreported for so long.
> 
>> Fix that by using the correct variable, 'GIT_WORK_TREE'. Take the
>> opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide.
> 
> It's a small correctness fix and some prettifying while at it. While I
> read the diff and realized that it was more than just one or two
> asciidoc tweaks in the immediate vicinity, I started wondering if this
> should be presented the other way round: "Let's update the formatting
> and fix s/DIR/TREE/ while at it." Or to split it up. But I don't think
> it's worth thinking too much about -- what you have looks good to me.
> 
>> @@ -32,14 +32,14 @@ submodule.<name>.path::
> 
> Just above this point, you have another s/\.gitmodules/`&`/ waiting to
> be fixed.

Thanks, I added that.

> 
>>   submodule.<name>.url::
>>          Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
>>          This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to
> 
>>          dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only
>> -           committed differences between the HEAD of the submodule and its
>> +           committed differences between the 'HEAD' of the submodule and its
>>              recorded state in the superproject are taken into account.
> 
> `git grep -B10 HEAD CodingGuidelines` suggests this should be `HEAD`,
> not 'HEAD'. Maybe you followed style -- there's an instance of 'HEAD'
> earlier. I think both should be `HEAD`.

Yes, `HEAD` has indeed more hits than 'HEAD'.

> 
>> -If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config
>> +If this option is also present in the submodules entry in `.git/config`
>>   of the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
>> -.gitmodules.
>> +`.gitmodules`.
> 
> Should "submodules entry" be "submodule's entry"? I've never worked with
> submodules, but that reading somehow seems more natural. (There are two
> hits for "submodules entry" in this document -- both might be worth
> looking at.)

I agree, I also added that.

Thanks,

Philippe.

Re: [PATCH] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Martin Ågren]

On Sat, 2 Jan 2021 at 23:09, Felipe Contreras
<felipe.contreras@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Martin Ågren wrote:

> > Good catch! I wonder what we should conclude from this having gone
> > unreported for so long.
>
> That perhaps not that many people actually read the official
> documentation?
>
> I've noticed the common response RTFM is not that common anymore. A lot
> of people seem to rely on Stack Overflow, blogs, and some semi-official
> documentation (GitHub, Atlassian, etc.).

Hmm, now that you say it, I think that matches my impression. There was
a time when that seemed to be a really "in" answer, if not always
entirely friendly. You're right that it seems to be quite a bit less
common today.

Martin

[PATCH v2] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget]

From: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>

'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
submodule properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).

However, that commit mistakenly uses the non-existing environment
variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.

Fix that by using the correct variable, 'GIT_WORK_TREE'. Take the
opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide,
and fix a grammar mistake.

Signed-off-by: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
---
    gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name
    
    Changes since v1:
    
     * added Martin's suggestions

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-git-942%2Fphil-blain%2Fdoc-gitmodules-envvar-v2
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-git-942/phil-blain/doc-gitmodules-envvar-v2
Pull-Request: https://github.com/git/git/pull/942

Range-diff vs v1:

 1:  8fa2238f4a0 ! 1:  4fca37ea043 gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name
     @@ Commit message
          gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name
      
          'gitmodules.txt' is a guide about the '.gitmodules' file that describes
     -    submodules properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
     +    submodule properties, and that file must exist at the root of the
          repository. This was clarified in e5b5c1d2cf (Document clarification:
          gitmodules, gitattributes, 2008-08-31).
      
     @@ Commit message
          variable 'GIT_WORK_DIR' to refer to the root of the repository.
      
          Fix that by using the correct variable, 'GIT_WORK_TREE'. Take the
     -    opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide.
     +    opportunity to modernize and improve the formatting of that guide,
     +    and fix a grammar mistake.
      
          Signed-off-by: Philippe Blain <levraiphilippeblain@gmail.com>
      
     @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: gitmodules - Defining submodule properties
       
       DESCRIPTION
      @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.path::
     + 	Defines the path, relative to the top-level directory of the Git
     + 	working tree, where the submodule is expected to be checked out.
     + 	The path name must not end with a `/`. All submodule paths must
     +-	be unique within the .gitmodules file.
     ++	be unique within the `.gitmodules` file.
     + 
       submodule.<name>.url::
       	Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
       	This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to
     @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.path::
       	command in the superproject. This is only used by `git
       	submodule init` to initialize the configuration variable of
       	the same name. Allowed values here are 'checkout', 'rebase',
     +@@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.update::
     + 
     + submodule.<name>.branch::
     + 	A remote branch name for tracking updates in the upstream submodule.
     +-	If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote 'HEAD'.
     ++	If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote `HEAD`.
     + 	A special value of `.` is used to indicate that the name of the branch
     + 	in the submodule should be the same name as the current branch in the
     + 	current repository.  See the `--remote` documentation in
      @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.branch::
     + 
       submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
       	This option can be used to control recursive fetching of this
     - 	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodules entry in
     +-	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodules entry in
      -	.git/config of the superproject, the setting there will override the
      -	one found in .gitmodules.
     ++	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodule's entry in
      +	`.git/config` of the superproject, the setting there will override the
      +	one found in `.gitmodules`.
       	Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
     @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.ignore::
       
       	dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only
      -	    committed differences between the HEAD of the submodule and its
     -+	    committed differences between the 'HEAD' of the submodule and its
     ++	    committed differences between the `HEAD` of the submodule and its
       	    recorded state in the superproject are taken into account.
       
       	untracked;; Only untracked files in submodules will be ignored.
     @@ Documentation/gitmodules.txt: submodule.<name>.ignore::
       	    shown. This is the default option.
       
      -If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config
     -+If this option is also present in the submodules entry in `.git/config`
     ++If this option is also present in the submodule's entry in `.git/config`
       of the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
      -.gitmodules.
      +`.gitmodules`.


 Documentation/gitmodules.txt | 30 +++++++++++++++---------------
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+), 15 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
index 539b4e1997e..8e333dde1ba 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitmodules.txt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ gitmodules - Defining submodule properties
 
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
-$GIT_WORK_DIR/.gitmodules
+$GIT_WORK_TREE/.gitmodules
 
 
 DESCRIPTION
@@ -27,19 +27,19 @@ submodule.<name>.path::
 	Defines the path, relative to the top-level directory of the Git
 	working tree, where the submodule is expected to be checked out.
 	The path name must not end with a `/`. All submodule paths must
-	be unique within the .gitmodules file.
+	be unique within the `.gitmodules` file.
 
 submodule.<name>.url::
 	Defines a URL from which the submodule repository can be cloned.
 	This may be either an absolute URL ready to be passed to
-	linkgit:git-clone[1] or (if it begins with ./ or ../) a location
+	linkgit:git-clone[1] or (if it begins with `./` or `../`) a location
 	relative to the superproject's origin repository.
 
 In addition, there are a number of optional keys:
 
 submodule.<name>.update::
 	Defines the default update procedure for the named submodule,
-	i.e. how the submodule is updated by "git submodule update"
+	i.e. how the submodule is updated by the `git submodule update`
 	command in the superproject. This is only used by `git
 	submodule init` to initialize the configuration variable of
 	the same name. Allowed values here are 'checkout', 'rebase',
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ submodule.<name>.update::
 
 submodule.<name>.branch::
 	A remote branch name for tracking updates in the upstream submodule.
-	If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote 'HEAD'.
+	If the option is not specified, it defaults to the remote `HEAD`.
 	A special value of `.` is used to indicate that the name of the branch
 	in the submodule should be the same name as the current branch in the
 	current repository.  See the `--remote` documentation in
@@ -57,14 +57,14 @@ submodule.<name>.branch::
 
 submodule.<name>.fetchRecurseSubmodules::
 	This option can be used to control recursive fetching of this
-	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodules entry in
-	.git/config of the superproject, the setting there will override the
-	one found in .gitmodules.
+	submodule. If this option is also present in the submodule's entry in
+	`.git/config` of the superproject, the setting there will override the
+	one found in `.gitmodules`.
 	Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
-	"--[no-]recurse-submodules" option to "git fetch" and "git pull".
+	`--[no-]recurse-submodules` option to `git fetch` and `git pull`.
 
 submodule.<name>.ignore::
-	Defines under what circumstances "git status" and the diff family show
+	Defines under what circumstances `git status` and the diff family show
 	a submodule as modified. The following values are supported:
 +
 --
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	    been staged).
 
 	dirty;; All changes to the submodule's work tree will be ignored, only
-	    committed differences between the HEAD of the submodule and its
+	    committed differences between the `HEAD` of the submodule and its
 	    recorded state in the superproject are taken into account.
 
 	untracked;; Only untracked files in submodules will be ignored.
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ submodule.<name>.ignore::
 	    differences, and modifications to tracked and untracked files are
 	    shown. This is the default option.
 
-If this option is also present in the submodules entry in .git/config
+If this option is also present in the submodule's entry in `.git/config`
 of the superproject, the setting there will override the one found in
-.gitmodules.
+`.gitmodules`.
 
 Both settings can be overridden on the command line by using the
-"--ignore-submodules" option. The 'git submodule' commands are not
+`--ignore-submodules` option. The `git submodule` commands are not
 affected by this setting.
 --
 
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ submodule.<name>.shallow::
 EXAMPLES
 --------
 
-Consider the following .gitmodules file:
+Consider the following `.gitmodules` file:
 
 ----
 [submodule "libfoo"]

base-commit: 71ca53e8125e36efbda17293c50027d31681a41f
-- 
gitgitgadget

Re: [PATCH v2] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Martin Ågren]

Hi Philippe,

On Sun, 3 Jan 2021 at 18:42, Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
<gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>     Changes since v1:
>
>      * added Martin's suggestions

Yup, this looks good to me.

Martin

Re: [PATCH v2] gitmodules.txt: fix 'GIT_WORK_TREE' variable name

[Junio C Hamano]

Martin Ågren <martin.agren@gmail.com> writes:

> Hi Philippe,
>
> On Sun, 3 Jan 2021 at 18:42, Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
> <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>     Changes since v1:
>>
>>      * added Martin's suggestions
>
> Yup, this looks good to me.
>
> Martin

Thanks, all.