Jeff King wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 05, 2017 at 05:11:04AM -0400, rpj...@crashcourse.ca wrote:
>> - GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT
>> - GIT_COMMITTER_IDENT
>> - GIT_EDITOR
>> - GIT_PAGER
>>
>> first question -- what is it about precisely those four variables that makes
>> them "logical" variables in git parlance? just those four? no others?
>
> It was introduced in the very early days as a way for scripts to get
> access to "standard" values that would be computed the same way as the C
> portions of Git. But it hasn't generally been kept up to date with new
> possible variables.
>
> It also only tells half the story. You have to know not just what's in
> $GIT_EDITOR, but you have to know the right way to evaluate it. There's
> a git_editor helper in git-sh-setup, but other scripting languages are
> on their own.
I am not sure I understand the complaint here. git-var(1) says:
GIT_EDITOR
Text editor for use by Git commands. The value is meant to be
interpreted by the shell when it is used. Examples: [...]
Are you saying that the output of the command should quote that
manpage, so as to tell the rest of the story?
> We'd probably have done better to introduce a "git editor"
> command which can be run from any language.
I remember that we discussed this at the time but don't remember why
it didn't happen. It seems like a good idea.
[...]
>> p.s. yes, i realize this command is deprecated in favour of "git config -l",
>> but as long as it's available, it should work as described in the man page.
>
> Yes, though I think fixing the manpage is the right way to make them
> consistent.
Agreed as well. rday, care to take a stab at wording?
Thanks,
Jonathan
