On Sun, Nov 03, 2019 at 06:07:18PM +0000, Davide Berardi wrote: > -static void update_head(const struct ref *our, const struct ref *remote, > +static struct commit *lookup_commit_helper(const struct ref *our, > + const struct ref *remote, > + const char *msg, int *err) > +{ > + const struct object_id *tip = NULL; > + struct commit *tip_commit = NULL; > + > + if (our) > + tip = &our->old_oid; > + else if (remote) > + tip = &remote->old_oid; > + > + if (!tip) > + return NULL; > + > + tip_commit = lookup_commit_reference_gently_err(the_repository, tip, 1, err); > + if (!tip_commit) { > + /* > + * The given non-commit cannot be checked out, > + * so have a 'master' branch and leave it unborn. > + */ > + warning(_("non-commit cannot be checked out")); > + create_symref("HEAD", "refs/heads/master", msg); > + return NULL; > + } > + > + return tip_commit; > +} I like the logic flow in this function, which is IMHO clearer than the existing code. But the "err" thing puzzled me for a moment. I think you are trying to tell the difference between the case that both "our" and "remote" are NULL, and the case that we saw a non-commit. In either case we return NULL, but only one is an error. But: - I don't think that logic needs to extend down into lookup_commit_reference_gently(); a NULL return from it would always be an error, wouldn't it? - we could probably simplify this by just inlining it into update_head(). Something like: if (our) tip = &our->old_oid; else if (remote) tip = &remote->old_oid; if (!tip) { /* * We have no local branch requested with "-b", and the * remote HEAD is unborn. There's nothing to update HEAD * to, but this state is not an error. */ return 0; } tip_commit = lookup_commit_reference_gently(...); if (!tip_commit) { /* * The given non-commit cannot be checked out, etc... */ warning(...); create_symref(...); return -1; } ...and then existing code to use tip_commit... /* * we'd always return 0 here, because our update_ref calls die on * error */ return 0; > @@ -1268,8 +1303,10 @@ int cmd_clone(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix) > } > > junk_mode = JUNK_LEAVE_REPO; > - fetch_if_missing = 1; > - err = checkout(submodule_progress); > + if (!err) { > + fetch_if_missing = 1; > + err = checkout(submodule_progress); > + } This part makes sense. We might want an explanatory comment along the lines of: /* * Only try to checkout if we successfully updated HEAD; otherwise * HEAD isn't pointing to the thing the user wanted. / if (!err) { ... > -struct commit *lookup_commit_reference_gently(struct repository *r, > - const struct object_id *oid, int quiet) > +struct commit *lookup_commit_reference_gently_err(struct repository *r, > + const struct object_id *oid, int quiet, int *err) And this part I think could just go away, if you take my suggestion above. > diff --git a/t/t5609-clone-branch.sh b/t/t5609-clone-branch.sh > index 6e7a7be052..d57f750eeb 100755 > --- a/t/t5609-clone-branch.sh > +++ b/t/t5609-clone-branch.sh > @@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ test_expect_success 'setup' ' > echo one >file && git add file && git commit -m one && > git checkout -b two && > echo two >file && git add file && git commit -m two && > - git checkout master) && > + git checkout master && > + blob=$(git rev-parse HEAD:file) && > + echo $blob > .git/refs/heads/broken-tag && > + echo $blob > .git/refs/heads/broken-head) && Minor style nit, but we usually avoid the space after ">". > +test_expect_success 'clone -b with a non-commit tag must fallback' ' > + test_must_fail git clone -b broken-tag parent clone-broken-tag && > + (cd clone-broken-tag && > + check_HEAD master) > +' > +test_expect_success 'clone -b with a non-commit head must fallback' ' > + test_must_fail git clone -b broken-head parent clone-broken-head && > + (cd clone-broken-head && > + check_HEAD master) > +' OK, this second one covers the first conditional from update_head(): if (our && skip_prefix(our->name, "refs/heads/", &head)) { and the first one covers the second conditional: } else if (our) { Should we cover the third conditional, too? I think it would be the case that the remote HEAD is pointing to a non-commit (since that's a corrupt repository, it might make sense create a separate sub-repository). -Peff