Re: [PATCH v3 0/4] t: new helper test_line_count_cmd

[Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com>]

On Sat, Jun 19, 2021 at 2:17 AM Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
> Eric Sunshine <sunshine@sunshineco.com> writes:
> > what I tried for the last version might be even better. So, for
> > instance, the name test_out_count() might not be too bad:
> >
> >     test_out_count = 0 git ls-files -o &&
>
> "Test out" to me sound like trying something out and the part "out"
> in the name no longer hints it is about "output"; you may have
> shortened the name too much to be meaningful, I am afraid.
>
> Is the helper used to check with anything but equality?  Otherwise
> you can lose "= " to make it shorter.
>
> Having said all that, as an external interface, I wonder
>
>         test_line_count -e = 0 git-ls-files -o
>
> would work better.  It usually takes <op> <num> <file>, but when
> $1 is a magic "-e", we shift it out and it becomes <op> <num> <cmd>...

Indeed, I have no problem seeing this as a new mode of
test_line_count() triggered by an option. In fact, I suggested exactly
that[1] when this idea first arose (except I named the option `-c`
rather than `-e`, but the latter is fine). However, my suggestion was
pretty much shot down[2] (and I don't entirely disagree with [2],
which is why I didn't pursue the idea in [1]).

[1]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/CAPig+cS4tkXZLPDEWgEytzEOCR7oGrXyg1CZVKVPSXuJOifLjQ@mail.gmail.com/
[2]: https://lore.kernel.org/git/xmqq5z0fxlgn.fsf@gitster.g/