submodule: explain first attempt failure clearly

When cloning with --recurse-submodules a superproject with at least one
submodule with HEAD pointing to an unborn branch, the clone goes
something like this:

	Cloning into 'test'...
	<messages about cloning of superproject>
	Submodule '<name>' (<uri>) registered for path '<submodule path>'
	Cloning into '<submodule path>'...
	fatal: Couldn't find remote ref HEAD
	Unable to fetch in submodule path '<submodule path>'
	<messages about fetching with SHA-1>
	From <uri>
	 * branch            <hash> -> FETCH_HEAD
	Submodule path '<submodule path>': checked out '<hash>'

In other words, first, a fetch is done with no hash arguments (that is,
a fetch of HEAD) resulting in a "Couldn't find remote ref HEAD" error;
then, a fetch is done given a hash, which succeeds.

The fetch given a hash was added in fb43e31f2b ("submodule: try harder
to fetch needed sha1 by direct fetching sha1", 2016-02-24), and the
"Unable to fetch..." message was downgraded from a fatal error to a
notice in e30d833671 ("git-submodule.sh: try harder to fetch a
submodule", 2018-05-16).

This commit improves the notice to be clearer that we are retrying the
fetch, and that the previous messages (in particular, the fatal errors
from fetch) do not necessarily indicate that the whole command fails. In
other words:

 - If the HEAD-fetch succeeds and we then have the commit we want,
   git-submodule prints no explanation.
 - If the HEAD-fetch succeeds and we do not have the commit we want, but
   the hash-fetch succeeds, git-submodule prints no explanation.
 - If the HEAD-fetch succeeds and we do not have the commit we want, but
   the hash-fetch fails, git-submodule prints a fatal error.
 - If the HEAD-fetch fails, fetch prints a fatal error, and
   git-submodule informs the user that it will retry by fetching
   specific commits by hash.
   - If the hash-fetch then succeeds, git-submodule prints no
     explanation (besides the ones already printed).
   - If the HEAD-fetch then fails, git-submodule prints a fatal error.

It could be said that we should just eliminate the HEAD-fetch
altogether, but that changes some behavior (in particular, some refs
that were opportunistically updated would no longer be), so I have left
that alone for now.

There is an analogous situation with the fetching code in fetch_finish()
and surrounding functions. For now, I have added a NEEDSWORK.

Signed-off-by: Jonathan Tan <jonathantanmy@google.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2 files changed
tree: 611dd2c0b366417ab81e9ea0cd61cb8edb470837
  1. .github/
  2. block-sha1/
  3. builtin/
  4. ci/
  5. compat/
  6. contrib/
  7. Documentation/
  8. ewah/
  9. git-gui/
  10. gitk-git/
  11. gitweb/
  12. mergetools/
  13. negotiator/
  14. perl/
  15. po/
  16. ppc/
  17. refs/
  18. sha1dc/
  19. sha256/
  20. t/
  21. templates/
  22. vcs-svn/
  23. xdiff/
  24. .clang-format
  25. .editorconfig
  26. .gitattributes
  27. .gitignore
  28. .gitmodules
  29. .mailmap
  30. .travis.yml
  31. .tsan-suppressions
  32. abspath.c
  33. aclocal.m4
  34. advice.c
  35. advice.h
  36. alias.c
  37. alias.h
  38. alloc.c
  39. alloc.h
  40. apply.c
  41. apply.h
  42. archive-tar.c
  43. archive-zip.c
  44. archive.c
  45. archive.h
  46. argv-array.c
  47. argv-array.h
  48. attr.c
  49. attr.h
  50. azure-pipelines.yml
  51. banned.h
  52. base85.c
  53. bisect.c
  54. bisect.h
  55. blame.c
  56. blame.h
  57. blob.c
  58. blob.h
  59. branch.c
  60. branch.h
  61. builtin.h
  62. bulk-checkin.c
  63. bulk-checkin.h
  64. bundle.c
  65. bundle.h
  66. cache-tree.c
  67. cache-tree.h
  68. cache.h
  69. chdir-notify.c
  70. chdir-notify.h
  71. check-builtins.sh
  72. check-racy.c
  73. check_bindir
  74. checkout.c
  75. checkout.h
  76. color.c
  77. color.h
  78. column.c
  79. column.h
  80. combine-diff.c
  81. command-list.txt
  82. commit-graph.c
  83. commit-graph.h
  84. commit-reach.c
  85. commit-reach.h
  86. commit-slab-decl.h
  87. commit-slab-impl.h
  88. commit-slab.h
  89. commit.c
  90. commit.h
  91. common-main.c
  92. config.c
  93. config.h
  94. config.mak.dev
  95. config.mak.in
  96. config.mak.uname
  97. configure.ac
  98. connect.c
  99. connect.h
  100. connected.c
  101. connected.h
  102. convert.c
  103. convert.h
  104. copy.c
  105. COPYING
  106. credential-cache--daemon.c
  107. credential-cache.c
  108. credential-store.c
  109. credential.c
  110. credential.h
  111. csum-file.c
  112. csum-file.h
  113. ctype.c
  114. daemon.c
  115. date.c
  116. decorate.c
  117. decorate.h
  118. delta-islands.c
  119. delta-islands.h
  120. delta.h
  121. detect-compiler
  122. diff-delta.c
  123. diff-lib.c
  124. diff-no-index.c
  125. diff.c
  126. diff.h
  127. diffcore-break.c
  128. diffcore-delta.c
  129. diffcore-order.c
  130. diffcore-pickaxe.c
  131. diffcore-rename.c
  132. diffcore.h
  133. dir-iterator.c
  134. dir-iterator.h
  135. dir.c
  136. dir.h
  137. editor.c
  138. entry.c
  139. environment.c
  140. exec-cmd.c
  141. exec-cmd.h
  142. fast-import.c
  143. fetch-negotiator.c
  144. fetch-negotiator.h
  145. fetch-object.c
  146. fetch-object.h
  147. fetch-pack.c
  148. fetch-pack.h
  149. fmt-merge-msg.h
  150. fsck.c
  151. fsck.h
  152. fsmonitor.c
  153. fsmonitor.h
  154. fuzz-commit-graph.c
  155. fuzz-pack-headers.c
  156. fuzz-pack-idx.c
  157. generate-cmdlist.sh
  158. gettext.c
  159. gettext.h
  160. git-add--interactive.perl
  161. git-archimport.perl
  162. git-bisect.sh
  163. git-compat-util.h
  164. git-cvsexportcommit.perl
  165. git-cvsimport.perl
  166. git-cvsserver.perl
  167. git-difftool--helper.sh
  168. git-filter-branch.sh
  169. git-instaweb.sh
  170. git-legacy-rebase.sh
  171. git-merge-octopus.sh
  172. git-merge-one-file.sh
  173. git-merge-resolve.sh
  174. git-mergetool--lib.sh
  175. git-mergetool.sh
  176. git-p4.py
  177. git-parse-remote.sh
  178. git-quiltimport.sh
  179. git-rebase--am.sh
  180. git-rebase--common.sh
  181. git-rebase--preserve-merges.sh
  182. git-remote-testgit.sh
  183. git-request-pull.sh
  184. git-send-email.perl
  185. git-sh-i18n.sh
  186. git-sh-setup.sh
  187. git-stash.sh
  188. git-submodule.sh
  189. git-svn.perl
  190. GIT-VERSION-GEN
  191. git-web--browse.sh
  192. git.c
  193. git.rc
  194. gpg-interface.c
  195. gpg-interface.h
  196. graph.c
  197. graph.h
  198. grep.c
  199. grep.h
  200. hash.h
  201. hashmap.c
  202. hashmap.h
  203. help.c
  204. help.h
  205. hex.c
  206. http-backend.c
  207. http-fetch.c
  208. http-push.c
  209. http-walker.c
  210. http.c
  211. http.h
  212. ident.c
  213. imap-send.c
  214. INSTALL
  215. interdiff.c
  216. interdiff.h
  217. iterator.h
  218. json-writer.c
  219. json-writer.h
  220. khash.h
  221. kwset.c
  222. kwset.h
  223. levenshtein.c
  224. levenshtein.h
  225. LGPL-2.1
  226. line-log.c
  227. line-log.h
  228. line-range.c
  229. line-range.h
  230. linear-assignment.c
  231. linear-assignment.h
  232. list-objects-filter-options.c
  233. list-objects-filter-options.h
  234. list-objects-filter.c
  235. list-objects-filter.h
  236. list-objects.c
  237. list-objects.h
  238. list.h
  239. ll-merge.c
  240. ll-merge.h
  241. lockfile.c
  242. lockfile.h
  243. log-tree.c
  244. log-tree.h
  245. ls-refs.c
  246. ls-refs.h
  247. mailinfo.c
  248. mailinfo.h
  249. mailmap.c
  250. mailmap.h
  251. Makefile
  252. match-trees.c
  253. mem-pool.c
  254. mem-pool.h
  255. merge-blobs.c
  256. merge-blobs.h
  257. merge-recursive.c
  258. merge-recursive.h
  259. merge.c
  260. mergesort.c
  261. mergesort.h
  262. midx.c
  263. midx.h
  264. name-hash.c
  265. notes-cache.c
  266. notes-cache.h
  267. notes-merge.c
  268. notes-merge.h
  269. notes-utils.c
  270. notes-utils.h
  271. notes.c
  272. notes.h
  273. object-store.h
  274. object.c
  275. object.h
  276. oidmap.c
  277. oidmap.h
  278. oidset.c
  279. oidset.h
  280. pack-bitmap-write.c
  281. pack-bitmap.c
  282. pack-bitmap.h
  283. pack-check.c
  284. pack-objects.c
  285. pack-objects.h
  286. pack-revindex.c
  287. pack-revindex.h
  288. pack-write.c
  289. pack.h
  290. packfile.c
  291. packfile.h
  292. pager.c
  293. parse-options-cb.c
  294. parse-options.c
  295. parse-options.h
  296. patch-delta.c
  297. patch-ids.c
  298. patch-ids.h
  299. path.c
  300. path.h
  301. pathspec.c
  302. pathspec.h
  303. pkt-line.c
  304. pkt-line.h
  305. preload-index.c
  306. pretty.c
  307. pretty.h
  308. prio-queue.c
  309. prio-queue.h
  310. progress.c
  311. progress.h
  312. prompt.c
  313. prompt.h
  314. protocol.c
  315. protocol.h
  316. quote.c
  317. quote.h
  318. range-diff.c
  319. range-diff.h
  320. reachable.c
  321. reachable.h
  322. read-cache.c
  323. README.md
  324. rebase-interactive.c
  325. rebase-interactive.h
  326. ref-filter.c
  327. ref-filter.h
  328. reflog-walk.c
  329. reflog-walk.h
  330. refs.c
  331. refs.h
  332. refspec.c
  333. refspec.h
  334. remote-curl.c
  335. remote-testsvn.c
  336. remote.c
  337. remote.h
  338. replace-object.c
  339. replace-object.h
  340. repository.c
  341. repository.h
  342. rerere.c
  343. rerere.h
  344. resolve-undo.c
  345. resolve-undo.h
  346. revision.c
  347. revision.h
  348. run-command.c
  349. run-command.h
  350. send-pack.c
  351. send-pack.h
  352. sequencer.c
  353. sequencer.h
  354. serve.c
  355. serve.h
  356. server-info.c
  357. setup.c
  358. sh-i18n--envsubst.c
  359. sha1-array.c
  360. sha1-array.h
  361. sha1-file.c
  362. sha1-lookup.c
  363. sha1-lookup.h
  364. sha1-name.c
  365. sha1dc_git.c
  366. sha1dc_git.h
  367. shallow.c
  368. shell.c
  369. shortlog.h
  370. sideband.c
  371. sideband.h
  372. sigchain.c
  373. sigchain.h
  374. split-index.c
  375. split-index.h
  376. strbuf.c
  377. strbuf.h
  378. streaming.c
  379. streaming.h
  380. string-list.c
  381. string-list.h
  382. sub-process.c
  383. sub-process.h
  384. submodule-config.c
  385. submodule-config.h
  386. submodule.c
  387. submodule.h
  388. symlinks.c
  389. tag.c
  390. tag.h
  391. tar.h
  392. tempfile.c
  393. tempfile.h
  394. thread-utils.c
  395. thread-utils.h
  396. tmp-objdir.c
  397. tmp-objdir.h
  398. trace.c
  399. trace.h
  400. trailer.c
  401. trailer.h
  402. transport-helper.c
  403. transport-internal.h
  404. transport.c
  405. transport.h
  406. tree-diff.c
  407. tree-walk.c
  408. tree-walk.h
  409. tree.c
  410. tree.h
  411. unicode-width.h
  412. unimplemented.sh
  413. unix-socket.c
  414. unix-socket.h
  415. unpack-trees.c
  416. unpack-trees.h
  417. upload-pack.c
  418. upload-pack.h
  419. url.c
  420. url.h
  421. urlmatch.c
  422. urlmatch.h
  423. usage.c
  424. userdiff.c
  425. userdiff.h
  426. utf8.c
  427. utf8.h
  428. varint.c
  429. varint.h
  430. version.c
  431. version.h
  432. versioncmp.c
  433. walker.c
  434. walker.h
  435. wildmatch.c
  436. wildmatch.h
  437. worktree.c
  438. worktree.h
  439. wrap-for-bin.sh
  440. wrapper.c
  441. write-or-die.c
  442. ws.c
  443. wt-status.c
  444. wt-status.h
  445. xdiff-interface.c
  446. xdiff-interface.h
  447. zlib.c
README.md

Build Status

Git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system

Git is a fast, scalable, distributed revision control system with an unusually rich command set that provides both high-level operations and full access to internals.

Git is an Open Source project covered by the GNU General Public License version 2 (some parts of it are under different licenses, compatible with the GPLv2). It was originally written by Linus Torvalds with help of a group of hackers around the net.

Please read the file INSTALL for installation instructions.

Many Git online resources are accessible from https://git-scm.com/ including full documentation and Git related tools.

See Documentation/gittutorial.txt to get started, then see Documentation/giteveryday.txt for a useful minimum set of commands, and Documentation/git-.txt for documentation of each command. If git has been correctly installed, then the tutorial can also be read with man gittutorial or git help tutorial, and the documentation of each command with man git-<commandname> or git help <commandname>.

CVS users may also want to read Documentation/gitcvs-migration.txt (man gitcvs-migration or git help cvs-migration if git is installed).

The user discussion and development of Git take place on the Git mailing list -- everyone is welcome to post bug reports, feature requests, comments and patches to git@vger.kernel.org (read Documentation/SubmittingPatches for instructions on patch submission). To subscribe to the list, send an email with just “subscribe git” in the body to majordomo@vger.kernel.org. The mailing list archives are available at https://public-inbox.org/git/, http://marc.info/?l=git and other archival sites.

Issues which are security relevant should be disclosed privately to the Git Security mailing list git-security@googlegroups.com.

The maintainer frequently sends the “What's cooking” reports that list the current status of various development topics to the mailing list. The discussion following them give a good reference for project status, development direction and remaining tasks.

The name “git” was given by Linus Torvalds when he wrote the very first version. He described the tool as “the stupid content tracker” and the name as (depending on your mood):

  • random three-letter combination that is pronounceable, and not actually used by any common UNIX command. The fact that it is a mispronunciation of “get” may or may not be relevant.
  • stupid. contemptible and despicable. simple. Take your pick from the dictionary of slang.
  • “global information tracker”: you're in a good mood, and it actually works for you. Angels sing, and a light suddenly fills the room.
  • “goddamn idiotic truckload of sh*t”: when it breaks