Subject: Re: [PATCH] "git help -a" should search all exec_paths and PATH

From: "Shawn O. Pearce" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 01:30:17 -0400

Scott R Parish <[email-masked]> wrote:
> Currently "git help -a" only searches in the highest priority exec_path,
> meaning at worst, nothing is listed if the git commands are only available
> from the PATH. It also makes git slightly less extensible.
...
>  extern char **environ;
>  static const char *builtin_exec_path = GIT_EXEC_PATH;
> -static const char *current_exec_path;
> +static const char *argv_exec_path;
>  
> -void git_set_exec_path(const char *exec_path)
> +void git_set_argv_exec_path(const char *exec_path)
>  {
> -	current_exec_path = exec_path;
> +	argv_exec_path = exec_path;
>  }

I'd rather see a rename isolated from a logic change.  I find
it easier to review.
  
> +const char *git_argv_exec_path(void)
> +const char *git_builtin_exec_path(void)
> +const char *git_env_exec_path(void)

And yet later you then build the same priority array as already used
by execv_git_cmd().  Why not just make a function that builds the
array for the caller, so both execv_git_cmd() and list_commands()
can both use the same array?

> +static unsigned int list_commands_in_dir(const char *dir, const char *prefix)
>  {
> +	int start_dir = open(".", O_RDONLY, 0);
...
> +	if (!dirp || chdir(dir)) {
> +		fchdir(start_dir);

fchdir() isn't as portable as Git currently is.  Thus far we have
avoided using fchdir().  Requiring it here for something as "simple"
as listing help is not a good improvement as it will limit who can
run git-help.  Why can't you stat the individual entries by joining
the paths together?

-- 
Shawn.