From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-3.8 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS, MAILING_LIST_MULTI,SPF_HELO_PASS,SPF_PASS shortcircuit=no autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [23.128.96.18]) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id AD8BF1F5AE for ; Thu, 18 Jun 2020 22:40:47 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1729272AbgFRWkp (ORCPT ); Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:40:45 -0400 Received: from pb-smtp20.pobox.com ([173.228.157.52]:54500 "EHLO pb-smtp20.pobox.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1726835AbgFRWkp (ORCPT ); Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:40:45 -0400 Received: from pb-smtp20.pobox.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by pb-smtp20.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4BF52DD60B; Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:40:43 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; s=sasl; bh=Y9PDrvD60cF2z6UPJ+5huu9IOqQ=; b=D72ubM +NekaVMBMnJhIp3qXajjailkB+1oBpyD0CYdKX16zZK9kc2eS5LDU0AM9hldQDsx xNXRlQ2jPiHSmrdMCn8qtAASsW6U/zvWGdxbunGE2y83BTk6EAc8Dk1tiPUUb6vz 5emggsj6lwJtbxvwFFnfgajhSboWLn8ADsOfA= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=pobox.com; h=from:to:cc :subject:references:date:in-reply-to:message-id:mime-version :content-type; q=dns; s=sasl; b=v1hrHdJEGOOpOKMlALm6Xu3YvsSl/+uu 8jY/gUHDds50B2Bc/MJORAfj7IfLJ0Mv7kbPvkPk1LoVWmgwtB3BZbTWl/oXW8XP m2VZbxNrHIhJTZTab48nohEJgJ7V6GoD0+o7lyJv9yzdWWDdVGT4JIBaq2yDUVN2 g64k2I9M70I= Received: from pb-smtp20.sea.icgroup.com (unknown [127.0.0.1]) by pb-smtp20.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 44B7BDD60A; Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:40:43 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) Received: from pobox.com (unknown [35.196.173.25]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by pb-smtp20.pobox.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 897C3DD608; Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:40:40 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from junio@pobox.com) From: Junio C Hamano To: Srinidhi Kaushik Cc: git@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [PATCH] diff-files: treat "i-t-a" files as "not-in-index" References: <20200611161640.52156-1-shrinidhi.kaushik@gmail.com> Date: Thu, 18 Jun 2020 15:40:38 -0700 In-Reply-To: (Junio C. Hamano's message of "Thu, 18 Jun 2020 15:33:11 -0700") Message-ID: User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/26.3 (gnu/linux) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain X-Pobox-Relay-ID: BCAB30EC-B1B4-11EA-B1E2-B0405B776F7B-77302942!pb-smtp20.pobox.com Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Junio C Hamano writes: >> + touch empty && > > Use of "touch" gives a wrong impression that you care about the file > timestamp; use something like ": >empty &&" instead when you care > about the presence of the file and do not care about its timestamp. I just realized that this is even more important in this case not to use "touch". The test that uses this file cares not just the presence, but it deeply cares that its contents is empty. The thing it least cares about is its timestamp. The purpose of using "touch" is to update the timestamp, to keep the current contents if it exists, and to ensure it exists (as a side effect), in the decreasing order of importance. Use of the command here misleads the readers. Thanks.