Re: log/show: relative pathnames do not work in rev:path

[Alex Riesen <raa.lkml@gmail.com>]

Jakub Narebski, Tue, Dec 18, 2007 18:50:20 +0100:
> Alex Riesen <raa.lkml@gmail.com> writes:
> 
> > Noticed by a collegue of mine. Consider:
> > 
> >     $ cd $GIT/t
> >     $ git show 570f32266:t/test-lib.sh    # works
> >     $ git show 570f32266:test-lib.sh      # does not work
> >     $ git show 570f32266:./test-lib.sh    # does not work
> >     $ git show 570f32266:/t/test-lib.sh   # does not work
> > 
> > Considering that the relative path names work as filters (and many
> > agreed on that being useful), it would be nice to allow relative
> > pathnames in blob specifications for git-show and git-cat-file.
> > 
> > (besides the colon is a good delimiter, even tab-completion works with it)
> 
> If you think about it a bit, relative path names nor absolute
> path names does and should not work.  570f32266:t/test-lib.sh
> means path t/test-lib.sh staring from 570f32266^{tree}.  Where
> you are in the filesystem is not important and matters not for
> this syntax.  Besides if you access other branch file might be
> not in filesystem (deleted file, or disjoint branch with separate
> contents like 'todo' or 'html' branch in git.git repository).

Not convinced. It is *not* the plumbing problem I was trying to
describe. They discussion, metaphorically, should not have left the
command-line parser.

I think that we have parsing of the blob locators at the wrong level:
so that git-show, git-log and git-diff can handle its pathnames as
they handle path filters (relative to cwd), and git-cat-file,
git-diff-tree, git-rev-list, etc can handle theirs always relative to
the project root.

I actually do not see any problem for git-show (being porcelain-level
program) to treat *each and every* path anywhere relatively to the
current directory. It is just more comfortable.

Please consider the following patches.