Jeff King wrote: > On Thu, Oct 05, 2017 at 05:11:04AM -0400, rpjday@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: >> - GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT >> - GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT >> - GIT_EDITOR >> - GIT_PAGER >> >> first question -- what is it about precisely those four variables that makes >> them "logical" variables in git parlance? just those four? no others? > > It was introduced in the very early days as a way for scripts to get > access to "standard" values that would be computed the same way as the C > portions of Git. But it hasn't generally been kept up to date with new > possible variables. > > It also only tells half the story. You have to know not just what's in > $GIT_EDITOR, but you have to know the right way to evaluate it. There's > a git_editor helper in git-sh-setup, but other scripting languages are > on their own. I am not sure I understand the complaint here. git-var(1) says: GIT_EDITOR Text editor for use by Git commands. The value is meant to be interpreted by the shell when it is used. Examples: [...] Are you saying that the output of the command should quote that manpage, so as to tell the rest of the story? > We'd probably have done better to introduce a "git editor" > command which can be run from any language. I remember that we discussed this at the time but don't remember why it didn't happen. It seems like a good idea. [...] >> p.s. yes, i realize this command is deprecated in favour of "git config -l", >> but as long as it's available, it should work as described in the man page. > > Yes, though I think fixing the manpage is the right way to make them > consistent. Agreed as well. rday, care to take a stab at wording? Thanks, Jonathan
