Hiya This is the v2 of the draft proposal[1]. I've added some details to the proposal, it talks more about what to implement instead of how. It is still incomplete. I'm currently adding more to the overview section, where I'll document the work done by Dscho and Alban. After that I'll find files that will be changed while implementing rest of the flags, finally add the basic control and/or data flow of the 'how' part. Thanks Rohit [1]: https://gist.github.com/r1walz/5588d11065d5231ee451c0136400610e https://public-inbox.org/git/20190322151157.9550-1-rohit.ashiwal265@xxxxxxxxx/ ------------------------------- >8 ------------------------------------- # Improve consistency of sequencer commands ## About Me ### Personal Information Name | Rohit Ashiwal ---------------|---------------------------------------------------------------- Major | Computer Science and Engineering E-mail | \<rohit.ashiwal265@xxxxxxxxx> IRC | __rohit Skype | rashiwal Ph no | [ ph_no ] Github | [r1walz](https://github.com/r1walz/) Linkedin | [rohit-ashiwal](https://linkedin.com/in/rohit-ashiwal/) Address | [ Address ] Postal Code | [ postal_code ] Time Zone | IST (UTC +0530) ### Background I am a sophomore at the [Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee][1], pursuing my bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Engineering. I was introduced to programming at a very early stage of my life. Since then, I've been trying out new technologies by taking up various projects and participating in contests. I am passionate about system software development and competitive programming, and I also actively contribute to open-source projects. At college, I joined the Mobile Development Group ([MDG][2]), IIT Roorkee - a student group that fosters mobile development within the campus. I have been an active part of the Git community since February of this year, contributing to git-for-windows. ### Dev-Env I am fluent in C/C++, Java and Shell Scripting, otherwise, I can also program in Python, JavaScript. I use both Ubuntu 18.04 and Windows 10 x64 on my laptop. I prefer Linux for development unless the work is specific to Windows. \ VCS **:** git \ Editor **:** VS Code with gdb integrated ## Contributions to Open Source My contributions to open source have helped me gain experience in understanding the flow of any pre-written code at a rapid pace and enabled me to edit/add new features. ### List of Contributions at Git: Repo | Status | Title -|-|- [git/git][8] | Merged in 'next' branch | [Micro][3]**:** Use helper functions in test script [git-for-windows/git][9] | Merged and released | [#2077][4]**:** [FIX] git-archive error, gzip -cn : command not found. [git-for-windows/build-extra][10] | Merged | [#235][5]**:** installer: Fix version of installer and installed file. ## The Project ### _Improve consistency of sequencer commands_ #### Overview Stephan Beyer \<s-beyer@xxxxxxx> tried to introduce git-sequencer as his GSoC 2008 [project][6] which executed a sequence of git instructions to \<HEAD> or \<branch> and the sequence was given by a \<file> or through `stdin`. The git-sequencer wants to become the common backend for git-am, git-rebase and other git commands. Unfortunately, most of the code did not get merged during the SoC period but he continued his contributions to the project along with Christian Couder \<chriscool@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> and then mentor Daniel Barkalow \<barkalow@xxxxxxxxxxxx>. The project was continued by Ramkumar Ramachandra \<artagnon@xxxxxxxxx> in [2011][7], converting it to a builtin and extending its domain to git-cherry-pick. The learnings from all those works will serve as a huge headstart this year for me. As of now, there are still some inconsistencies among these commands, e.g., there is no `--skip` flag in `git-cherry-pick` while one exists for `git-rebase`. This project aims to remove inconsistencies in how the command line options are handled. #### Points to work on: 1. Suggest relevant flags for operations that have such a concept like `git cherry-pick --skip` 2. Unify the suggestive messages of `git (cherry-pick|rebase-i)` with `git (am|rebase)` 3. Implement flags that am-based rebases support, but not interactive, in interactive rebases, e.g.: ``` * --ignore-whitespace * --committer-date-is-author-date or --ignore-date * --signoff * --whitespace=... * -C ``` 4. Test and Documentation 5. `[Bonus]` Make a flag to allow rebase to rewrite commit messages that refer to older commits that were also rebased 6. `[Bonus]` Deprecate am-based rebases #### "The Plan" 1. Start by introducing `git cherry-pick --skip`, this will help in step 2 of "the plan", since we are required to unify the advice messages that show during an interrupt of `git (cherry-pick|rebase -i)` when the incoming commit has become "empty" (no change between commits). **_Files changed_ :** - revert.c: Introduce option `--skip` under `run_sequencer()` 2. There are two backends available for rebasing/cherry-picking, _viz_, the `am` and the `interactive`. Naturally, there shall be some features that are implemented in one but not in the other. One such quality is suggestive messages. The am-based rebases (and am itself) will give advice to the user to use `git rebase --skip` (or `git am --skip`) when a patch isn't needed. In contrast, interactive-based and cherry-pick will suggest the user `git reset`. Change this to match the message of `am` backend, so that everything appears symmetric. **_Files changed_ :** - rebase.c: change flow so that `--skip` calls `git reset` while interactive rebasing - commit.c: change messages - sequencer.c: change suggestive message under `create_seq_dir()` 3. Now that I'm familiar with the code, I'll start picking the pace now. And start implementing the meat of the project. The flags. I'll start implementing the flags in the following order as [Elijah suggested][12]: 1. --ignore-whitespace 2. --committer-date-is-author-date 3. --ignore-date 4. --whitespace=... 5. `[Bonus]` --signoff **_Files changed_ :** [currently searching for files to be changed] 4. Testing and Documentation will go in sync with implementation. I intend to follow `Test Driven Development` but let's see how it turns out. 5. `[Bonus]` As familiarity with the code increases, I might be able to implement the feature of rewriting commits in time. 6. `[Bonus]` If everything goes well and time permits, discuss with the mentor(s) the possibility of deprecating the am backend of rebase. This point is last to work on as it provides no "cosmetic" difference on the user side. Elijah [mentioned][12] the possibility of a "social" problem that might occur which shall be discussed then. #### Proposed Timeline + Community Bonding (May 6th - May 26th): - Introduction to community - Get familiar with the dataflow - Study and understand the workflow and implementation of the project in detail + Phase 1 (May 27th - June 23rd): - Start with implementing `git cherry-pick --skip` - Write new tests for the just introduced flag(s) - Analyse the requirements and differences of am-based and other rebases flags + Phase 2 (June 24th - July 21st): - Introduce flags of am-based rebases to other kinds. - Add tests for the same. + Phase 3 (July 22th - August 19th): - Act on [Bonus] features - Documentation - Clean up tasks #### Relevant Work Dscho and I had a talk on how a non-am backend should implement `git rebase --whitespace=fix`, which he warned may become a large project (as it turns out it is a sub-task in one of the [proposed ideas][11]), we were trying to integrate this on git-for-windows first. Keeping warning in mind, I discussed this project with Rafael and he suggested (with a little bit uncertainty in mind) that I should work on implementing a git-diff flag that generates a patch that when applied, will remove whitespace errors which I am currently working on. ## Availability My vacations start on 7 May and end on 15 July. The official GSoC period is from 6 May to 19 August. I can easily devote 40-45 hours a week until my college reopens and 35-40 hours per week after that. I'm also free on the weekends and I intend to complete most of the work before my college reopens. Other than this project, I have no commitments/vacations planned for the summer. I shall keep my status posted to all the community members on a weekly basis and maintain transparency in the project. ## After GSoC Even after the Google Summer of Code, I plan on continuing my contributions to this organization, by adding to my project and working on open issues or feature requests. With the community growing continuously, I feel responsible for all the projects I'm a part of. Having picked up a lot of developing skills, my major focus would be to develop mentorship skills so that I can give back this community by helping other people navigate around and reviewing contributions. [0]: https://git.github.io/SoC-2019-Ideas/ [1]: https://www.iitr.ac.in/ [2]: http://mdg.iitr.ac.in/ [3]: https://public-inbox.org/git/20190303122842.30380-1-rohit.ashiwal265@xxxxxxxxx/ [4]: https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/pull/2077 [5]: https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/pull/235 [6]: https://public-inbox.org/git/20080607220101.GM31040@xxxxxxxxxx-net/ [7]: https://public-inbox.org/git/20110403172054.GA10220@kytes/ [8]: https://github.com/git/git/commit/404110d2910aa617c7fb7e326694f8e085c5b2a0 [9]: https://github.com/git-for-windows/git/commit/ed2b22adeb760d967c567c5664d33d5d641db10e [10]: https://github.com/git-for-windows/build-extra/commit/2e879f7fa5808f5f9cbfdd08ca456209f9ac5f1b [11]: https://git.github.io/SoC-2019-Ideas/#improve-consistency-of-sequencer-commands [12]: https://public-inbox.org/git/CABPp-BEdgSHGTkUcg_UDRu50Ag+cCqigmvU4_JaRZRnDpgWcdA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx/
