Re: [PATCH] submodule init: warn about falling back to a local path

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com> writes:

> When a submodule is initialized, the config variable 'submodule.<name>.url'
> is set depending on the value of the same variable in the .gitmodules
> file. When the URL indicates to be relative, then the url is computed
> relative to its default remote. The default remote cannot be determined
> accurately in all cases, such that it falls back to 'origin'.
>
> The 'origin' remote may not exist, though. In that case we give up looking
> for a suitable remote and we'll just assume it to be a local relative path.

IOW we keep the .url to be relative, the same as the original one we
took from .gitmodules?  That sounds like a sensible thing to do and
I agree it makes sense to warn when it happens.

>  <repository> is the URL of the new submodule's origin repository.
>  This may be either an absolute URL, or (if it begins with ./
> -or ../), the location relative to the superproject's origin
> +or ../), the location relative to the superproject's default remote
>  repository (Please note that to specify a repository 'foo.git'
>  which is located right next to a superproject 'bar.git', you'll
>  have to use '../foo.git' instead of './foo.git' - as one might expect
>  when following the rules for relative URLs - because the evaluation
>  of relative URLs in Git is identical to that of relative directories).
> -If the superproject doesn't have an origin configured
> ++
> +The default remote is the remote of the remote tracking branch
> +of the current branch. If no such remote tracking branch exists or
> +the HEAD is detached, "origin" is assumed to be the default remote.
> +If the superproject doesn't have a default remote configured

OK.

> @@ -118,18 +122,22 @@ too (and can also report changes to a submodule's work tree).
>  
>  init [--] [<path>...]::
>  	Initialize the submodules recorded in the index (which were
> -	added and committed elsewhere) by copying submodule
> -	names and urls from .gitmodules to .git/config.
> -	Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized.
> -	It will also copy the value of `submodule.$name.update` into
> -	.git/config.
> -	The key used in .git/config is `submodule.$name.url`.
> -	This command does not alter existing information in .git/config.
> -	You can then customize the submodule clone URLs in .git/config
> -	for your local setup and proceed to `git submodule update`;
> -	you can also just use `git submodule update --init` without
> -	the explicit 'init' step if you do not intend to customize
> -	any submodule locations.
> +	added and committed elsewhere) by copying `submodule.$name.url`
> +	from .gitmodules to .git/config, resolving relative urls to be
> +	relative to the default remote.

I read this as "copying..., resolving relative to the default remote
(if exists)."  A reader would wonder what happens if the default
remote does not exist---don't we want to describe what happens in
that case, like, "recording . (the current repository) as the
upstream" or something?

> ++
> +Optional <path> arguments limit which submodules will be initialized.
> +If no path is specified all submodules are initialized.

Perhaps s/ all submodules/,&/?

>  deinit [-f|--force] (--all|[--] <path>...)::
>  	Unregister the given submodules, i.e. remove the whole
> diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
> index 899dc334e3..15a5430c00 100644
> --- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
> +++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
> @@ -356,12 +356,10 @@ static void init_submodule(const char *path, const char *prefix, int quiet)
>  			strbuf_addf(&remotesb, "remote.%s.url", remote);
>  			free(remote);
>  
> -			if (git_config_get_string(remotesb.buf, &remoteurl))
> -				/*
> -				 * The repository is its own
> -				 * authoritative upstream
> -				 */
> +			if (git_config_get_string(remotesb.buf, &remoteurl)) {
> +				warning(_("could not lookup configuration '%s'. Assuming this repository is its own authoritative upstream."), remotesb.buf);

Sounds sensible (it might be a bit too long but it should be OK).

>  				remoteurl = xgetcwd();
> +			}
>  			relurl = relative_url(remoteurl, url, NULL);
>  			strbuf_release(&remotesb);
>  			free(remoteurl);

Thanks.