Subject: Re: [PATCH v17 1/2] refactor format_branch_comparison in preparation

From: Phillip Wood <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2026 14:56:21 +0000

Hi Harald

On 05/01/2026 10:17, Harald Nordgren via GitGitGadget wrote:
> From: Harald Nordgren <[email-masked]>
> 
> +static void format_branch_comparison(struct strbuf *sb,
> +				     int sti,

I wondered why we needed to pass sti as well as ours and theirs but it 
is because when we're using AHEAD_BEHIND_QUICK our and theirs are always 
zero and so we need to check sti to see if the branch is up to date. 
Perhaps we could make this a boolean called 'up_to_date' ?

> +				     int ours, int theirs,
> +				     const char *branch_name,
> +				     enum ahead_behind_flags abf,
> +				     int show_divergence_advice)

This could be 'bool' not 'int'

Everything else looks fine - it is a faithful conversion from the 
original and it makes sense to check if the upstream is gone in the caller.

Thanks

Phillip

> +{
> +	if (!sti) {
>   		strbuf_addf(sb,
>   			_("Your branch is up to date with '%s'.\n"),
> -			base);
> +			branch_name);
>   	} else if (abf == AHEAD_BEHIND_QUICK) {
>   		strbuf_addf(sb,
>   			    _("Your branch and '%s' refer to different commits.\n"),
> -			    base);
> +			    branch_name);
>   		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
>   			strbuf_addf(sb, _("  (use \"%s\" for details)\n"),
>   				    "git status --ahead-behind");
> @@ -2281,7 +2260,7 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
>   			Q_("Your branch is ahead of '%s' by %d commit.\n",
>   			   "Your branch is ahead of '%s' by %d commits.\n",
>   			   ours),
> -			base, ours);
> +			branch_name, ours);
>   		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
>   			strbuf_addstr(sb,
>   				_("  (use \"git push\" to publish your local commits)\n"));
> @@ -2292,7 +2271,7 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
>   			   "Your branch is behind '%s' by %d commits, "
>   			       "and can be fast-forwarded.\n",
>   			   theirs),
> -			base, theirs);
> +			branch_name, theirs);
>   		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
>   			strbuf_addstr(sb,
>   				_("  (use \"git pull\" to update your local branch)\n"));
> @@ -2305,12 +2284,47 @@ int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
>   			       "and have %d and %d different commits each, "
>   			       "respectively.\n",
>   			   ours + theirs),
> -			base, ours, theirs);
> +			branch_name, ours, theirs);
>   		if (show_divergence_advice &&
>   		    advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
>   			strbuf_addstr(sb,
>   				_("  (use \"git pull\" if you want to integrate the remote branch with yours)\n"));
>   	}
> +}
> +
> +/*
> + * Return true when there is anything to report, otherwise false.
> + */
> +int format_tracking_info(struct branch *branch, struct strbuf *sb,
> +			 enum ahead_behind_flags abf,
> +			 int show_divergence_advice)
> +{
> +	int ours, theirs, sti;
> +	const char *full_base;
> +	char *base;
> +	int upstream_is_gone = 0;
> +
> +	sti = stat_tracking_info(branch, &ours, &theirs, &full_base, 0, abf);
> +	if (sti < 0) {
> +		if (!full_base)
> +			return 0;
> +		upstream_is_gone = 1;
> +	}
> +
> +	base = refs_shorten_unambiguous_ref(get_main_ref_store(the_repository),
> +					    full_base, 0);
> +
> +	if (upstream_is_gone) {
> +		strbuf_addf(sb,
> +			_("Your branch is based on '%s', but the upstream is gone.\n"),
> +			base);
> +		if (advice_enabled(ADVICE_STATUS_HINTS))
> +			strbuf_addstr(sb,
> +				_("  (use \"git branch --unset-upstream\" to fixup)\n"));
> +	} else {
> +		format_branch_comparison(sb, sti, ours, theirs, base, abf, show_divergence_advice);
> +	}
> +
>   	free(base);
>   	return 1;
>   }