On 2/24/2021 2:11 PM, Martin Ågren wrote: > On Wed, 24 Feb 2021 at 00:57, Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget > <gitgitgadget@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> +that is not completely understood by other tools. Enabling sparse index >> +enables the `extensions.spareseIndex` config value, which might cause > > s/sparese/sparse Thanks! >> +other tools to stop working with your repository. If you have trouble with >> +this compatibility, then run `git sparse-checkout sparse-index disable` to >> +remove this config and rewrite your index to not be sparse. > > While I'm commenting on this..: > > There are several "layers" here, for lack of a better term. "Enabling foo > enables bar which may cause baz. If you fail due to baz, try dropping > bar by dropping foo." If I remove any mention of the config variable from > your text, I get the following. > > Enabling sparse index might cause other tools to stop working with your > repository. If you have trouble with this compatibility, then run `git > sparse-checkout sparse-index disable` to rewrite your index to not be > sparse. > > I'm tempted to suggest such a rewrite to relieve readers of knowing of > the middle step, which you could say is more of an implementation > detail. But if we think that the symptoms / error messages might involve > "extensions.sparseIndex" or, as would be the case with an older Git > installation, > > fatal: unknown repository extensions found: > sparseindex > > maybe there is some value in mentioning the config item by name. Just > thinking out loud, really, and I don't have any strong opinion. I only > came here to point out the typo in the docs. I agree that the layers are confusing. We could rearrange and have a similar flow to what you recommend by mentioning the extension at the end: **WARNING:** Using a sparse index requires modifying the index in a way that is not completely understood by other tools. If you have trouble with this compatibility, then run `git sparse-checkout sparse-index disable` to rewrite your index to not be sparse. Older versions of Git will not understand the `sparseIndex` repository extension and may fail to interact with your repository until it is disabled. Thanks, -Stolee
