[PATCHv6 0/3] submodule--helper: Have some refactoring only patches first

[PATCHv6 0/3] submodule--helper: Have some refactoring only patches first

[Stefan Beller]

Added suggestions from Eric and Junio. Interdiff to v5 below.

Stefan Beller (3):
  submodule: Reimplement `module_list` shell function in C
  submodule: Reimplement `module_name` shell function in C
  submodule: Reimplement `module_clone` shell function in C

 .gitignore                  |   1 +
 Makefile                    |   1 +
 builtin.h                   |   1 +
 builtin/submodule--helper.c | 282 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 git-submodule.sh            | 164 +++-----------------------
 git.c                       |   1 +
 6 files changed, 301 insertions(+), 149 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 builtin/submodule--helper.c

diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 4e30d8e..f4c3eff 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -10,12 +10,16 @@
 #include "string-list.h"
 #include "run-command.h"
 
-static const struct cache_entry **ce_entries;
-static int ce_alloc, ce_used;
+struct module_list {
+	const struct cache_entry **entries;
+	int alloc, nr;
+};
+#define MODULE_LIST_INIT { NULL, 0, 0 }
 
 static int module_list_compute(int argc, const char **argv,
-				const char *prefix,
-				struct pathspec *pathspec)
+			       const char *prefix,
+			       struct pathspec *pathspec,
+			       struct module_list *list)
 {
 	int i, result = 0;
 	char *max_prefix, *ps_matched = NULL;
@@ -40,12 +44,11 @@ static int module_list_compute(int argc, const char **argv,
 
 		if (!S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode) ||
 		    !match_pathspec(pathspec, ce->name, ce_namelen(ce),
-				    max_prefix_len, ps_matched,
-				    S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode) | S_ISDIR(ce->ce_mode)))
+				    max_prefix_len, ps_matched, 1))
 			continue;
 
-		ALLOC_GROW(ce_entries, ce_used + 1, ce_alloc);
-		ce_entries[ce_used++] = ce;
+		ALLOC_GROW(list->entries, list->nr + 1, list->alloc);
+		list->entries[list->nr++] = ce;
 		while (i + 1 < active_nr &&
 		       !strcmp(ce->name, active_cache[i + 1]->name))
 			/*
@@ -68,6 +71,7 @@ static int module_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 {
 	int i;
 	struct pathspec pathspec;
+	struct module_list list = MODULE_LIST_INIT;
 
 	struct option module_list_options[] = {
 		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &prefix,
@@ -84,13 +88,13 @@ static int module_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_list_options,
 			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
 
-	if (module_list_compute(argc, argv, prefix, &pathspec) < 0) {
+	if (module_list_compute(argc, argv, prefix, &pathspec, &list) < 0) {
 		printf("#unmatched\n");
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	for (i = 0; i < ce_used; i++) {
-		const struct cache_entry *ce = ce_entries[i];
+	for (i = 0; i < list.nr; i++) {
+		const struct cache_entry *ce = list.entries[i];
 
 		if (ce_stage(ce))
 			printf("%06o %s U\t", ce->ce_mode, sha1_to_hex(null_sha1));
@@ -142,10 +146,7 @@ static int clone_submodule(const char *path, const char *gitdir, const char *url
 
 	cp.git_cmd = 1;
 	cp.env = local_repo_env;
-
 	cp.no_stdin = 1;
-	cp.no_stdout = 1;
-	cp.no_stderr = 1;
 
 	return run_command(&cp);
 }
@@ -206,8 +207,7 @@ static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(path) < 0)
 			die(_("could not create directory '%s'"), path);
 		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/index", sm_gitdir);
-		if (unlink(sb.buf) < 0)
-			die_errno(_("failed to delete '%s'"), sm_gitdir);
+		unlink_or_warn(sb.buf);
 		strbuf_reset(&sb);
 	}
 
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	if (path && *path)
 		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/.git", path);
 	else
-		strbuf_addf(&sb, ".git");
+		strbuf_addstr(&sb, ".git");
 
 	if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(sb.buf) < 0)
 		die(_("could not create leading directories of '%s'"), sb.buf);
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 7cfdc2c..8b0eb9a 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ cmd_add()
 			shift
 			;;
 		--depth=*)
-			depth="$1"
+			depth=$1
 			;;
 		--)
 			shift

-- 
2.5.0.256.g89f8063.dirty

[PATCHv6 1/3] submodule: Reimplement `module_list` shell function in C

[Stefan Beller]

Most of the submodule operations work on a set of submodules.
Calculating and using this set is usually done via:

       module_list "$@" | {
           while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
           do
                # the actual operation
           done
       }

Currently the function `module_list` is implemented in the
git-submodule.sh as a shell script wrapping a perl script.
The rewrite is in C, such that it is faster and can later be
easily adapted when other functions are rewritten in C.

git-submodule.sh, similar to the builtin commands, will navigate
to the top-most directory of the repository and keep the
subdirectory as a variable. As the helper is called from
within the git-submodule.sh script, we are already navigated
to the root level, but the path arguments are still relative
to the subdirectory we were in when calling git-submodule.sh.
That's why there is a `--prefix` option pointing to an alternative
path which to anchor relative path arguments.

Signed-off-by: Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com>
---
 .gitignore                  |   1 +
 Makefile                    |   1 +
 builtin.h                   |   1 +
 builtin/submodule--helper.c | 128 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 git-submodule.sh            |  54 +++----------------
 git.c                       |   1 +
 6 files changed, 138 insertions(+), 48 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 builtin/submodule--helper.c

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4fd81ba..1c2f832 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@
 /git-status
 /git-stripspace
 /git-submodule
+/git-submodule--helper
 /git-svn
 /git-symbolic-ref
 /git-tag
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 24b636d..d434e73 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -901,6 +901,7 @@ BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/shortlog.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/show-branch.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/show-ref.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/stripspace.o
+BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/submodule--helper.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/symbolic-ref.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/tag.o
 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/unpack-file.o
diff --git a/builtin.h b/builtin.h
index 839483d..924e6c4 100644
--- a/builtin.h
+++ b/builtin.h
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ extern int cmd_show(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_show_branch(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_status(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_stripspace(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
+extern int cmd_submodule__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_symbolic_ref(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_tag(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
 extern int cmd_tar_tree(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..10db4e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+#include "builtin.h"
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "parse-options.h"
+#include "quote.h"
+#include "pathspec.h"
+#include "dir.h"
+#include "utf8.h"
+
+struct module_list {
+	const struct cache_entry **entries;
+	int alloc, nr;
+};
+#define MODULE_LIST_INIT { NULL, 0, 0 }
+
+static int module_list_compute(int argc, const char **argv,
+			       const char *prefix,
+			       struct pathspec *pathspec,
+			       struct module_list *list)
+{
+	int i, result = 0;
+	char *max_prefix, *ps_matched = NULL;
+	int max_prefix_len;
+	parse_pathspec(pathspec, 0,
+		       PATHSPEC_PREFER_FULL |
+		       PATHSPEC_STRIP_SUBMODULE_SLASH_CHEAP,
+		       prefix, argv);
+
+	/* Find common prefix for all pathspec's */
+	max_prefix = common_prefix(pathspec);
+	max_prefix_len = max_prefix ? strlen(max_prefix) : 0;
+
+	if (pathspec->nr)
+		ps_matched = xcalloc(pathspec->nr, 1);
+
+	if (read_cache() < 0)
+		die(_("index file corrupt"));
+
+	for (i = 0; i < active_nr; i++) {
+		const struct cache_entry *ce = active_cache[i];
+
+		if (!S_ISGITLINK(ce->ce_mode) ||
+		    !match_pathspec(pathspec, ce->name, ce_namelen(ce),
+				    max_prefix_len, ps_matched, 1))
+			continue;
+
+		ALLOC_GROW(list->entries, list->nr + 1, list->alloc);
+		list->entries[list->nr++] = ce;
+		while (i + 1 < active_nr &&
+		       !strcmp(ce->name, active_cache[i + 1]->name))
+			/*
+			 * Skip entries with the same name in different stages
+			 * to make sure an entry is returned only once.
+			 */
+			i++;
+	}
+	free(max_prefix);
+
+	if (ps_matched && report_path_error(ps_matched, pathspec, prefix))
+		result = -1;
+
+	free(ps_matched);
+
+	return result;
+}
+
+static int module_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	int i;
+	struct pathspec pathspec;
+	struct module_list list = MODULE_LIST_INIT;
+
+	struct option module_list_options[] = {
+		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &prefix,
+			   N_("path"),
+			   N_("alternative anchor for relative paths")),
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
+		N_("git submodule--helper list [--prefix=<path>] [<path>...]"),
+		NULL
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_list_options,
+			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
+
+	if (module_list_compute(argc, argv, prefix, &pathspec, &list) < 0) {
+		printf("#unmatched\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	for (i = 0; i < list.nr; i++) {
+		const struct cache_entry *ce = list.entries[i];
+
+		if (ce_stage(ce))
+			printf("%06o %s U\t", ce->ce_mode, sha1_to_hex(null_sha1));
+		else
+			printf("%06o %s %d\t", ce->ce_mode, sha1_to_hex(ce->sha1), ce_stage(ce));
+
+		utf8_fprintf(stdout, "%s\n", ce->name);
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+
+struct cmd_struct {
+	const char *cmd;
+	int (*fn)(int, const char **, const char *);
+};
+
+static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
+	{"list", module_list},
+};
+
+int cmd_submodule__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	int i;
+	if (argc < 2)
+		die(_("fatal: submodule--helper subcommand must be "
+		      "called with a subcommand"));
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(commands); i++)
+		if (!strcmp(argv[1], commands[i].cmd))
+			return commands[i].fn(argc - 1, argv + 1, prefix);
+
+	die(_("fatal: '%s' is not a valid submodule--helper "
+	      "subcommand"), argv[1]);
+}
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 36797c3..95c04fc 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -145,48 +145,6 @@ relative_path ()
 	echo "$result$target"
 }
 
-#
-# Get submodule info for registered submodules
-# $@ = path to limit submodule list
-#
-module_list()
-{
-	eval "set $(git rev-parse --sq --prefix "$wt_prefix" -- "$@")"
-	(
-		git ls-files -z --error-unmatch --stage -- "$@" ||
-		echo "unmatched pathspec exists"
-	) |
-	@@PERL@@ -e '
-	my %unmerged = ();
-	my ($null_sha1) = ("0" x 40);
-	my @out = ();
-	my $unmatched = 0;
-	$/ = "\0";
-	while (<STDIN>) {
-		if (/^unmatched pathspec/) {
-			$unmatched = 1;
-			next;
-		}
-		chomp;
-		my ($mode, $sha1, $stage, $path) =
-			/^([0-7]+) ([0-9a-f]{40}) ([0-3])\t(.*)$/;
-		next unless $mode eq "160000";
-		if ($stage ne "0") {
-			if (!$unmerged{$path}++) {
-				push @out, "$mode $null_sha1 U\t$path\n";
-			}
-			next;
-		}
-		push @out, "$_\n";
-	}
-	if ($unmatched) {
-		print "#unmatched\n";
-	} else {
-		print for (@out);
-	}
-	'
-}
-
 die_if_unmatched ()
 {
 	if test "$1" = "#unmatched"
@@ -532,7 +490,7 @@ cmd_foreach()
 	# command in the subshell (and a recursive call to this function)
 	exec 3<&0
 
-	module_list |
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix"|
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
@@ -592,7 +550,7 @@ cmd_init()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	module_list "$@" |
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
@@ -674,7 +632,7 @@ cmd_deinit()
 		die "$(eval_gettext "Use '.' if you really want to deinitialize all submodules")"
 	fi
 
-	module_list "$@" |
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
@@ -790,7 +748,7 @@ cmd_update()
 	fi
 
 	cloned_modules=
-	module_list "$@" | {
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" | {
 	err=
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
@@ -1222,7 +1180,7 @@ cmd_status()
 		shift
 	done
 
-	module_list "$@" |
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
@@ -1299,7 +1257,7 @@ cmd_sync()
 		esac
 	done
 	cd_to_toplevel
-	module_list "$@" |
+	git submodule--helper list --prefix "$wt_prefix" "$@" |
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
diff --git a/git.c b/git.c
index 55c327c..deecba0 100644
--- a/git.c
+++ b/git.c
@@ -469,6 +469,7 @@ static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{ "stage", cmd_add, RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE },
 	{ "status", cmd_status, RUN_SETUP | NEED_WORK_TREE },
 	{ "stripspace", cmd_stripspace },
+	{ "submodule--helper", cmd_submodule__helper, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "symbolic-ref", cmd_symbolic_ref, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "tag", cmd_tag, RUN_SETUP },
 	{ "unpack-file", cmd_unpack_file, RUN_SETUP },
-- 
2.5.0.256.g89f8063.dirty

[PATCHv6 2/3] submodule: Reimplement `module_name` shell function in C

[Stefan Beller]

This implements the helper `name` in C instead of shell,
yielding a nice performance boost.

Before this patch, I measured a time (best out of three):

  $ time ./t7400-submodule-basic.sh  >/dev/null
    real	0m11.066s
    user	0m3.348s
    sys	0m8.534s

With this patch applied I measured (also best out of three)

  $ time ./t7400-submodule-basic.sh  >/dev/null
    real	0m10.063s
    user	0m3.044s
    sys	0m7.487s

Signed-off-by: Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com>
---
 builtin/submodule--helper.c | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 git-submodule.sh            | 32 +++++++-------------------------
 2 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index 10db4e6..bc79c41 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 #include "pathspec.h"
 #include "dir.h"
 #include "utf8.h"
+#include "submodule.h"
+#include "submodule-config.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
 
 struct module_list {
 	const struct cache_entry **entries;
@@ -102,6 +105,24 @@ static int module_list(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+static int module_name(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	const struct submodule *sub;
+
+	if (argc != 2)
+		usage(_("git submodule--helper name <path>"));
+
+	gitmodules_config();
+	sub = submodule_from_path(null_sha1, argv[1]);
+
+	if (!sub)
+		die(_("no submodule mapping found in .gitmodules for path '%s'"),
+		    argv[1]);
+
+	printf("%s\n", sub->name);
+
+	return 0;
+}
 
 struct cmd_struct {
 	const char *cmd;
@@ -110,6 +131,7 @@ struct cmd_struct {
 
 static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{"list", module_list},
+	{"name", module_name},
 };
 
 int cmd_submodule__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 95c04fc..2be8da2 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -178,24 +178,6 @@ get_submodule_config () {
 	printf '%s' "${value:-$default}"
 }
 
-
-#
-# Map submodule path to submodule name
-#
-# $1 = path
-#
-module_name()
-{
-	# Do we have "submodule.<something>.path = $1" defined in .gitmodules file?
-	sm_path="$1"
-	re=$(printf '%s\n' "$1" | sed -e 's/[].[^$\\*]/\\&/g')
-	name=$( git config -f .gitmodules --get-regexp '^submodule\..*\.path$' |
-		sed -n -e 's|^submodule\.\(.*\)\.path '"$re"'$|\1|p' )
-	test -z "$name" &&
-	die "$(eval_gettext "No submodule mapping found in .gitmodules for path '\$sm_path'")"
-	printf '%s\n' "$name"
-}
-
 #
 # Clone a submodule
 #
@@ -498,7 +480,7 @@ cmd_foreach()
 		then
 			displaypath=$(relative_path "$sm_path")
 			say "$(eval_gettext "Entering '\$prefix\$displaypath'")"
-			name=$(module_name "$sm_path")
+			name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path")
 			(
 				prefix="$prefix$sm_path/"
 				clear_local_git_env
@@ -554,7 +536,7 @@ cmd_init()
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
-		name=$(module_name "$sm_path") || exit
+		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path") || exit
 
 		displaypath=$(relative_path "$sm_path")
 
@@ -636,7 +618,7 @@ cmd_deinit()
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
-		name=$(module_name "$sm_path") || exit
+		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path") || exit
 
 		displaypath=$(relative_path "$sm_path")
 
@@ -758,7 +740,7 @@ cmd_update()
 			echo >&2 "Skipping unmerged submodule $prefix$sm_path"
 			continue
 		fi
-		name=$(module_name "$sm_path") || exit
+		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path") || exit
 		url=$(git config submodule."$name".url)
 		branch=$(get_submodule_config "$name" branch master)
 		if ! test -z "$update"
@@ -1022,7 +1004,7 @@ cmd_summary() {
 			# Respect the ignore setting for --for-status.
 			if test -n "$for_status"
 			then
-				name=$(module_name "$sm_path")
+				name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path")
 				ignore_config=$(get_submodule_config "$name" ignore none)
 				test $status != A && test $ignore_config = all && continue
 			fi
@@ -1184,7 +1166,7 @@ cmd_status()
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
-		name=$(module_name "$sm_path") || exit
+		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path") || exit
 		url=$(git config submodule."$name".url)
 		displaypath=$(relative_path "$prefix$sm_path")
 		if test "$stage" = U
@@ -1261,7 +1243,7 @@ cmd_sync()
 	while read mode sha1 stage sm_path
 	do
 		die_if_unmatched "$mode"
-		name=$(module_name "$sm_path")
+		name=$(git submodule--helper name "$sm_path")
 		url=$(git config -f .gitmodules --get submodule."$name".url)
 
 		# Possibly a url relative to parent
-- 
2.5.0.256.g89f8063.dirty

[PATCHv6 3/3] submodule: Reimplement `module_clone` shell function in C

[Stefan Beller]

This reimplements the helper function `module_clone` in shell
in C as `clone`. This functionality is needed for converting
`git submodule update` later on, which we want to add threading
to.

Signed-off-by: Stefan Beller <sbeller@google.com>
---
 builtin/submodule--helper.c | 132 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 git-submodule.sh            |  78 +-------------------------
 2 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 76 deletions(-)

diff --git a/builtin/submodule--helper.c b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
index bc79c41..f4c3eff 100644
--- a/builtin/submodule--helper.c
+++ b/builtin/submodule--helper.c
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "submodule.h"
 #include "submodule-config.h"
 #include "string-list.h"
+#include "run-command.h"
 
 struct module_list {
 	const struct cache_entry **entries;
@@ -123,6 +124,136 @@ static int module_name(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 
 	return 0;
 }
+static int clone_submodule(const char *path, const char *gitdir, const char *url,
+			   const char *depth, const char *reference, int quiet)
+{
+	struct child_process cp;
+	child_process_init(&cp);
+
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, "clone");
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, "--no-checkout");
+	if (quiet)
+		argv_array_push(&cp.args, "--quiet");
+	if (depth && *depth)
+		argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "--depth", depth, NULL);
+	if (reference && *reference)
+		argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "--reference", reference, NULL);
+	if (gitdir && *gitdir)
+		argv_array_pushl(&cp.args, "--separate-git-dir", gitdir, NULL);
+
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, url);
+	argv_array_push(&cp.args, path);
+
+	cp.git_cmd = 1;
+	cp.env = local_repo_env;
+	cp.no_stdin = 1;
+
+	return run_command(&cp);
+}
+
+static int module_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
+{
+	const char *path = NULL, *name = NULL, *url = NULL;
+	const char *reference = NULL, *depth = NULL;
+	int quiet = 0;
+	FILE *submodule_dot_git;
+	char *sm_gitdir, *cwd, *p;
+	struct strbuf rel_path = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	struct option module_clone_options[] = {
+		OPT_STRING(0, "prefix", &prefix,
+			   N_("path"),
+			   N_("alternative anchor for relative paths")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "path", &path,
+			   N_("path"),
+			   N_("where the new submodule will be cloned to")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "name", &name,
+			   N_("string"),
+			   N_("name of the new submodule")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "url", &url,
+			   N_("string"),
+			   N_("url where to clone the submodule from")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "reference", &reference,
+			   N_("string"),
+			   N_("reference repository")),
+		OPT_STRING(0, "depth", &depth,
+			   N_("string"),
+			   N_("depth for shallow clones")),
+		OPT__QUIET(&quiet, "Suppress output for cloning a submodule"),
+		OPT_END()
+	};
+
+	const char *const git_submodule_helper_usage[] = {
+		N_("git submodule--helper clone [--prefix=<path>] [--quiet] "
+		   "[--reference <repository>] [--name <name>] [--url <url>]"
+		   "[--depth <depth>] [--] [<path>...]"),
+		NULL
+	};
+
+	argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, module_clone_options,
+			     git_submodule_helper_usage, 0);
+
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/modules/%s", get_git_dir(), name);
+	sm_gitdir = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
+
+	if (!file_exists(sm_gitdir)) {
+		if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(sm_gitdir) < 0)
+			die(_("could not create directory '%s'"), sm_gitdir);
+		if (clone_submodule(path, sm_gitdir, url, depth, reference, quiet))
+			die(_("clone of '%s' into submodule path '%s' failed"),
+			    url, path);
+	} else {
+		if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(path) < 0)
+			die(_("could not create directory '%s'"), path);
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/index", sm_gitdir);
+		unlink_or_warn(sb.buf);
+		strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	}
+
+	/* Write a .git file in the submodule to redirect to the superproject. */
+	if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(path) < 0)
+		die(_("could not create directory '%s'"), path);
+
+	if (path && *path)
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/.git", path);
+	else
+		strbuf_addstr(&sb, ".git");
+
+	if (safe_create_leading_directories_const(sb.buf) < 0)
+		die(_("could not create leading directories of '%s'"), sb.buf);
+	submodule_dot_git = fopen(sb.buf, "w");
+	if (!submodule_dot_git)
+		die_errno(_("cannot open file '%s'"), sb.buf);
+
+	fprintf(submodule_dot_git, "gitdir: %s\n",
+		relative_path(sm_gitdir, path, &rel_path));
+	if (fclose(submodule_dot_git))
+		die(_("could not close file %s"), sb.buf);
+	strbuf_reset(&sb);
+	strbuf_reset(&rel_path);
+
+	cwd = xgetcwd();
+	/* Redirect the worktree of the submodule in the superproject's config */
+	if (!is_absolute_path(sm_gitdir)) {
+		strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/%s", cwd, sm_gitdir);
+		free(sm_gitdir);
+		sm_gitdir = strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
+	}
+
+	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s/%s", cwd, path);
+	p = git_pathdup_submodule(path, "config");
+	if (!p)
+		die(_("could not get submodule directory for '%s'"), path);
+	git_config_set_in_file(p, "core.worktree",
+			       relative_path(sb.buf, sm_gitdir, &rel_path));
+	strbuf_release(&sb);
+	strbuf_release(&rel_path);
+	free(sm_gitdir);
+	free(cwd);
+	free(p);
+	return 0;
+}
 
 struct cmd_struct {
 	const char *cmd;
@@ -132,6 +263,7 @@ struct cmd_struct {
 static struct cmd_struct commands[] = {
 	{"list", module_list},
 	{"name", module_name},
+	{"clone", module_clone},
 };
 
 int cmd_submodule__helper(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
diff --git a/git-submodule.sh b/git-submodule.sh
index 2be8da2..8b0eb9a 100755
--- a/git-submodule.sh
+++ b/git-submodule.sh
@@ -178,80 +178,6 @@ get_submodule_config () {
 	printf '%s' "${value:-$default}"
 }
 
-#
-# Clone a submodule
-#
-# $1 = submodule path
-# $2 = submodule name
-# $3 = URL to clone
-# $4 = reference repository to reuse (empty for independent)
-# $5 = depth argument for shallow clones (empty for deep)
-#
-# Prior to calling, cmd_update checks that a possibly existing
-# path is not a git repository.
-# Likewise, cmd_add checks that path does not exist at all,
-# since it is the location of a new submodule.
-#
-module_clone()
-{
-	sm_path=$1
-	name=$2
-	url=$3
-	reference="$4"
-	depth="$5"
-	quiet=
-	if test -n "$GIT_QUIET"
-	then
-		quiet=-q
-	fi
-
-	gitdir=
-	gitdir_base=
-	base_name=$(dirname "$name")
-
-	gitdir=$(git rev-parse --git-dir)
-	gitdir_base="$gitdir/modules/$base_name"
-	gitdir="$gitdir/modules/$name"
-
-	if test -d "$gitdir"
-	then
-		mkdir -p "$sm_path"
-		rm -f "$gitdir/index"
-	else
-		mkdir -p "$gitdir_base"
-		(
-			clear_local_git_env
-			git clone $quiet ${depth:+"$depth"} -n ${reference:+"$reference"} \
-				--separate-git-dir "$gitdir" "$url" "$sm_path"
-		) ||
-		die "$(eval_gettext "Clone of '\$url' into submodule path '\$sm_path' failed")"
-	fi
-
-	# We already are at the root of the work tree but cd_to_toplevel will
-	# resolve any symlinks that might be present in $PWD
-	a=$(cd_to_toplevel && cd "$gitdir" && pwd)/
-	b=$(cd_to_toplevel && cd "$sm_path" && pwd)/
-	# Remove all common leading directories after a sanity check
-	if test "${a#$b}" != "$a" || test "${b#$a}" != "$b"; then
-		die "$(eval_gettext "Gitdir '\$a' is part of the submodule path '\$b' or vice versa")"
-	fi
-	while test "${a%%/*}" = "${b%%/*}"
-	do
-		a=${a#*/}
-		b=${b#*/}
-	done
-	# Now chop off the trailing '/'s that were added in the beginning
-	a=${a%/}
-	b=${b%/}
-
-	# Turn each leading "*/" component into "../"
-	rel=$(printf '%s\n' "$b" | sed -e 's|[^/][^/]*|..|g')
-	printf '%s\n' "gitdir: $rel/$a" >"$sm_path/.git"
-
-	rel=$(printf '%s\n' "$a" | sed -e 's|[^/][^/]*|..|g')
-	(clear_local_git_env; cd "$sm_path" && GIT_WORK_TREE=. git config core.worktree "$rel/$b")
-}
-
 isnumber()
 {
 	n=$(($1 + 0)) 2>/dev/null && test "$n" = "$1"
@@ -412,7 +338,7 @@ Use -f if you really want to add it." >&2
 				echo "$(eval_gettext "Reactivating local git directory for submodule '\$sm_name'.")"
 			fi
 		fi
-		module_clone "$sm_path" "$sm_name" "$realrepo" "$reference" "$depth" || exit
+		git submodule--helper clone ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} --prefix "$wt_prefix" --path "$sm_path" --name "$sm_name" --url "$realrepo" "$reference" "$depth" || exit
 		(
 			clear_local_git_env
 			cd "$sm_path" &&
@@ -774,7 +700,7 @@ Maybe you want to use 'update --init'?")"
 
 		if ! test -d "$sm_path"/.git && ! test -f "$sm_path"/.git
 		then
-			module_clone "$sm_path" "$name" "$url" "$reference" "$depth" || exit
+			git submodule--helper clone ${GIT_QUIET:+--quiet} --prefix "$prefix" --path "$sm_path" --name "$name" --url "$url" "$reference" "$depth" || exit
 			cloned_modules="$cloned_modules;$name"
 			subsha1=
 		else
-- 
2.5.0.256.g89f8063.dirty