Would this tool be useful - encoding repository data into single URL

[Sebastian Gniazdowski <psprint@zdharma.org>]

Hello
I wonder about usability of following tool. Quick-start:

    giturl https://github.com/zdharma/giturl -r devel -p lib/coding_functions.cpp

    Protocol: https
    Site:     github.com
    Repo:     zdharma/giturl
    Revision: devel
    File:     lib/coding_functions.cpp

    gitu://ŬṽǚǫoŒẗ6ẏȅcЭÑẩőn4ầŘїệαЃȣϟṈӛŀї

It does Huffman encoding and base-1024 encoding to pack given data into single URL. The Unicode characters selected for base-1024 encoding are letters, not symbols, so double-clicking in e.g. web browser selects the whole code, making it easy to grab a repository data.

Decoding:

    giturl -qd ŬṽǚǫoŒẗ6ẏȅcЭÑẩőn4ầŘїệαЃȣϟṈӛŀї
    https://github.com/zdharma/giturl / rev:devel / file:lib/coding_functions.cpp

I can also encode commits relative to given revision, e.g. bits 10011 are commits 1, 4, 5. Easy to add to the g-code. Selecting 10th commit is only 1 character in base-1024.

However I wonder if this has any uses. Could be patches sent this way? Having refs/patches/<name>, encoding <name> in URL, sending it instead of inlining/attaching a diff, selecting e.g. 3 commits via the bit-mask mentioned. That said, it's more about easy-grab of repository data and storage in well-defined, consistent format, not in language "the branch is ..., commit a7a35cb". Does this make sense?

There are 2 implementations, in Zsh (uses Zshell like e.g. Ruby, not interactively) and C++11 (mostly because of std::regex):

https://github.com/zdharma/giturl
https://github.com/zdharma/cgiturl

--
Sebastian Gniazdowski
psprint /at/ zdharma.org