I was using `git range-diff`:
$ git range-diff main feature-v2 HEAD
And got an error message:
fatal: need two commit ranges
I intended to give three arguments to the command. I started to wonder
if I maybe had just typed `main feature-v2` (forgot the third
argument). No, it was three arguments.
The problem was that I had mistyped one argument; it was `feature-v3`,
not `feature-v2`.
I thought that this error message was a little misleading or too
generic. I looked at the history of the file (`builtin/range-diff.c`)
and saw this commit: b75747829f (range-diff: optionally accept
pathspecs, 2022-08-26).
Maybe it works better with a `pathspec` marker (`--`)?
$ git range-diff HEAD main feature-v2 --
fatal: not a revision: 'feature-v2'
usage: git range-diff [<options>] <old-base>..<old-tip>
<new-base>..<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <old-tip>...<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <base> <old-tip> <new-tip>
Yes it does: `not a revision: 'feature-v2'`.
So I tried to contrast the behavior on the current release with the
behavior on the release before the aforementioned commit.
$ git checkout v2.40.0
$ make clean
$ NO_CURL=true make -j 4
$ # Misspelled ref `seen` as `seent`
$ ./bin-wrappers/git range-diff master next seent
fatal: need two commit ranges
usage: git range-diff [<options>] <old-base>..<old-tip>
<new-base>..<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <old-tip>...<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <base> <old-tip> <new-tip>
[…]
Expected behavior: tell me that `seent` is not a revision.
Actual behavior: generic error message.
But I get a nice error message if I append `--`:
$ ./bin-wrappers/git range-diff master next seent --
fatal: not a revision: 'seent'
usage: git range-diff [<options>] <old-base>..<old-tip>
<new-base>..<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <old-tip>...<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <base> <old-tip> <new-tip>
Contrast the behavior on `v2.37.2`, which is one of the tags before
rev. b75747829f (range-diff: optionally accept pathspecs,
2022-08-26).[1]
$ git checkout v2.37.2
$ make clean
$ NO_CURL=true make -j 4
$ ./bin-wrappers/git range-diff master next seent
fatal: not a revision: 'seent'
usage: git range-diff [<options>] <old-base>..<old-tip>
<new-base>..<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <old-tip>...<new-tip>
or: git range-diff [<options>] <base> <old-tip> <new-tip>
[…]
$ # Tag before rev. b75747829f (range-diff: optionally
$ # accept pathspecs, 2022-08-26)
$ git checkout v2.37.2
$ ./bin-wrappers/git range-diff HEAD master seent
fatal: ambiguous argument 'HEAD..seent': unknown revision or path not
in the working tree.
Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'
error: could not parse log for 'HEAD..seent'
[1]: I figured out later that `v2.37.6` looks like the last release
which does not have this commit
This error message is exactly what I expect to see when I mistype a ref
(my git(1) conditioning).
But the `v2.40.0` error message with `--` is better: `fatal: not a
revision: 'seent'`
So what if I give a `--`:
$ ./bin-wrappers/git range-diff master next seent --
fatal: ambiguous argument 'master..seent': unknown revision or path not
in the working tree.
Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this:
'git <command> [<revision>...] -- [<file>...]'
error: could not parse log for 'master..seent'
It’s the same. Oh, right—I guess rev. b75747829f (range-diff: optionally
accept pathspecs, 2022-08-26) that `range-diff` about `--`.
So in conclusion: IMO `range-diff` has a slight usability regression for
when you mistype the ref. It would be nice if the error message without
a pathspec (`--`/`dash_dash`) was as nice as one without it.
---
What do you think? Should I bring this up on the Git mailing list? Or
have I missed something/misunderstood something?
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