Re: [git-users] Problem using detached worktrees with commands implemented in scripts

[Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>]

Philip Oakley wrote:

> A bit more looking gave that the cd_to_toplevel () in git-sh-setup.sh
> directly uses `git rev-parse --show-toplevel`, which simply returns
> work_tree (static char *work_tree; in environment.c, with comment /*
> This is set by setup_git_dir_gently() and/or git_default_config()
> */), apparently without a check for the GIT_WORK_TREE.

Getting closer. :)

The usual way to use GIT_WORK_TREE is along with GIT_DIR.  That takes
you into the setup_explicit_git_dir() codepath, which does respect
GIT_WORK_TREE as it should.  (setup_discovered_git_dir does, too.)

The strange behavior you ran into is that unlike, say, git-pull.sh and
git-am.sh, filter-branch does not set SUBDIRECTORY_OK, store the
prefix from 'git rev-parse --show-prefix', and then cd_to_toplevel at
the top of the script.  In other words, nobody bothered to make it
work from anywhere other than the toplevel of the worktree to begin
with, and nobody wanted it enough to fix it later.

Hope that helps,
Jonathan