Re: [PATCH v1] git-clone.txt: add the --recursive option

[Alban Gruin <alban.gruin@gmail.com>]

Hi Eric,

Le 13/09/2021 à 23:57, Eric Sunshine a écrit :
> On Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 4:42 PM Alban Gruin <alban.gruin@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Le 13/09/2021 à 21:26, Eric Sunshine a écrit :
>>> On Mon, Sep 13, 2021 at 3:14 PM Alban Gruin <alban.gruin@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> This adds the --recursive option, an alias of --recurse-submodule, to
>>>> git-clone's manual page.
>>>
>>> Considering that the `--recursive` option was intentionally removed
>>> from `git-clone.txt` by bb62e0a99f (clone: teach --recurse-submodules
>>> to optionally take a pathspec, 2017-03-17), it's not clear that this
>>> change helps the situation.
>>
>> The patch you mention also hides --recursive from the option array, but
>> that was reverted with 5c387428f1 (parse-options: don't emit "ambiguous
>> option" for aliases, 2019-04-29).  The option should be re-hidden, or
>> even removed.
> 
> I don't quite follow. As far as I understand both by reading
> 5c387428f1 and by testing, 5c387428f1 fixed tab-completion so it would
> _not_ show `--recursive`.
> 

bb62e0a99f hid --recursive from `git clone -h' with PARSE_OPT_HIDDEN,
but 5c387428f1 reverted that:

$ git checkout 5c387428f1~
$ make
$ bin-wrappers/git clone -h
...
    -s, --shared          setup as shared repository
    --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]
                          initialize submodules in the clone
    -j, --jobs <n>        number of submodules cloned in parallel
...

$ git checkout 5c387428f1
$ make
$ bin-wrappers/git clone -h
...
    --recursive[=<pathspec>]
                          initialize submodules in the clone
    --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]
                          initialize submodules in the clone
...

The two options were then reordered by c28b036fe3 (clone: reorder
--recursive/--recurse-submodules, 2020-03-16), and this is where we are
today:

$ git clone -h
...
    --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]
                          initialize submodules in the clone
    --recursive[=<pathspec>]
                          alias of --recurse-submodules
...

Junio did mention[0] that --recursive was no longer in the manual, but
not that it was once hidden from the option list.

> Anyhow, another approach which we've used elsewhere is to mention the
> option in the documentation but indicate clearly that it's deprecated.
> That way, people who run across the option in existing scripts or old
> blogs can at least find out what it means. Something like:
> 
>     --recurse-submodules[=<pathspec>]::
>         After the clone is created, initialize and clone submodules
>         within based on the provided pathspec.  If no pathspec is
>         provided, all submodules are initialized and cloned.
>         (`--recursive` is a deprecated synonym.)
> 
> I don't have an opinion as to whether or not we'd want to do that in this case.
> 

[0] https://lore.kernel.org/git/20200316212857.259093-3-gitster@pobox.com/

Alban