This should be the second-to-last patch series in the quest for mmapped packed-refs. Before this patch series, there is still more coupling than necessary between `files_ref_store` and `packed_ref_store`: * `files_ref_store` adds packed references (e.g., during `git clone` and `git pack-refs`) by inserting them into the `packed_ref_store`'s internal `ref_cache`, then calling `commit_packed_refs()`. But `files_ref_store` shouldn't even *know* that `packed_ref_store` uses a `ref_cache`, let alone muck about in it. * `files_ref_store` deletes packed references by calling `repack_without_refs()`. Instead, implement reference transactions and `delete_refs()` for `packed_ref_store`, and change `files_ref_store` to use these standard methods rather than internal `packed_ref_store` methods. This patch series finishes up the encapsulation of `packed_ref_store`. At the end of the series, the outside world only interacts with it via the refs API plus a couple of locking-related functions. That will make it easy for the next patch series to change the internal workings of `packed_ref_store` without affecting `files_ref_store`. Along the way, we fix some longstanding problems with reference updates. Quoting from patch [08/10]: First, the old code didn't obtain the `packed-refs` lock until `files_transaction_finish()`. This means that a failure to acquire the `packed-refs` lock (e.g., due to contention with another process) wasn't detected until it was too late (problems like this are supposed to be detected in the "prepare" phase). The new code acquires the `packed-refs` lock in `files_transaction_prepare()`, the same stage of the processing when the loose reference locks are being acquired, removing another reason why the "prepare" phase might succeed and the "finish" phase might nevertheless fail. Second, the old code deleted the loose version of a reference before deleting any packed version of the same reference. This left a moment when another process might think that the packed version of the reference is current, which is incorrect. (Even worse, the packed version of the reference can be arbitrarily old, and might even point at an object that has since been garbage-collected.) Third, if a reference deletion fails to acquire the `packed-refs` lock altogether, then the old code might leave the repository in the incorrect state (possibly corrupt) described in the previous paragraph. Now we activate the new "packed-refs" file (sans any references that are being deleted) *before* deleting the corresponding loose references. But we hold the "packed-refs" lock until after the loose references have been finalized, thus preventing a simultaneous "pack-refs" process from packing the loose version of the reference in the time gap, which would otherwise defeat our attempt to delete it. This patch series is also available as branch `packed-ref-transactions` in my fork on GitHub [1]. A draft of the patch series to change `packed_ref_store` to use mmap and get rid of its `ref_cache` is available as branch `mmap-packed-refs` from the same source. Michael [1] https://github.com/mhagger/git Michael Haggerty (10): packed-backend: don't adjust the reference count on lock/unlock struct ref_transaction: add a place for backends to store data packed_ref_store: implement reference transactions packed_delete_refs(): implement method files_pack_refs(): use a reference transaction to write packed refs files_initial_transaction_commit(): use a transaction for packed refs t1404: demonstrate two problems with reference transactions files_ref_store: use a transaction to update packed refs packed-backend: rip out some now-unused code files_transaction_finish(): delete reflogs before references refs/files-backend.c | 200 ++++++++++++++----- refs/packed-backend.c | 457 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-------------- refs/packed-backend.h | 17 +- refs/refs-internal.h | 1 + t/t1404-update-ref-errors.sh | 71 +++++++ 5 files changed, 534 insertions(+), 212 deletions(-) -- 2.14.1