Re: [PATCH 1/1] config doc: highlight the name=value syntax
Philip Oakley writes: > +Variable name/value syntax > +^^ > + > All the other lines (and the remainder of the line after the section > header) are recognized as setting variables, in the form > 'name = value' (or just 'name', which is a short-hand to say that > @@ -69,7 +72,8 @@ stripped. Leading whitespaces after 'name =', the > remainder of the > line after the first comment character '#' or ';', and trailing > whitespaces of the line are discarded unless they are enclosed in > double quotes. Internal whitespaces within the value are retained > -verbatim. > +verbatim. Single quotes are not special and form part of the > +variable's value. > > Inside double quotes, double quote `"` and backslash `\` characters > must be escaped: use `\"` for `"` and `\\` for `\`. Hmph. This feels a bit backwards. The original paragraph is horrible in that there is no clear mention that a pair of dq can be used to quote (which primarily is useful if your value have leading or trailing whitespaces); the closest hint is "enclosed in double quotes" we see in the pre-context. The added sentence singles out sq but it is unclear why it is necessary to call out that it is not special---the readers can legitimately wonder if backquotes are special or not and why. I wonder if this is easier to understand: diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt index ad0f4510c3..5eebd539df 100644 --- a/Documentation/config.txt +++ b/Documentation/config.txt @@ -61,12 +61,16 @@ the variable is the boolean "true"). The variable names are case-insensitive, allow only alphanumeric characters and `-`, and must start with an alphabetic character. +The value part can have segments that are enclosed in a pair of +double quotes (note: other kinds of quoting character pairs are not +special)--the double quotes are stripped from the value. + A line that defines a value can be continued to the next line by ending it with a `\`; the backquote and the end-of-line are stripped. Leading whitespaces after 'name =', the remainder of the line after the first comment character '#' or ';', and trailing -whitespaces of the line are discarded unless they are enclosed in -double quotes. Internal whitespaces within the value are retained +whitespaces of the line are discarded. +Internal whitespaces within the value are retained verbatim. Inside double quotes, double quote `"` and backslash `\` characters > @@ -89,10 +93,14 @@ each other with the exception that `includeIf` sections > may be ignored > if their condition does not evaluate to true; see "Conditional includes" > below. > > +Both the `include` and `includeIf` sections implicitly apply an 'if found' > +condition to the given path names. > + Mentioning that missing target file is not an error is definitely an improvement. I've never viewed it as applying "if found" condition myself, but it is not wrong per-se to do so, I would think. > You can include a config file from another by setting the special > `include.path` (or `includeIf.*.path`) variable to the name of the file > to be included. The variable takes a pathname as its value, and is > -subject to tilde expansion. These variables can be given multiple times. > +subject to tilde expansion and the value syntax detailed above. > +These variables can be given multiple times. I have a mild suspicion that this adds negative value. Singling out that "[include] path = ..." follows the usual value syntax makes the readers wonder if there are some "[section] variable = ..." that does not follow the value syntax that they have to be aware of and careful about.
[PATCH 1/1] config doc: highlight the name=value syntax
Stas Bekman reported [1] that Git config was not accepting single quotes around a filename as may have been expected by shell users. Highlight the 'name = value' syntax with its own heading. Clarify that single quotes are not special here. Also point to this paragraph in the 'include' section regarding pathnames. In addition clarify that missing include file paths are not an error, but rather an implicit 'if found' for include files. [1] https://public-inbox.org/git/ca2b192e-1722-092e-2c54-d79d21a66...@stason.org/ Reported-by: Stas Bekman Signed-off-by: Philip Oakley --- Documentation/config.txt | 16 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt index 1264d91fa3..b65fd6138d 100644 --- a/Documentation/config.txt +++ b/Documentation/config.txt @@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ characters and `-`, and must start with an alphabetic character. Some variables may appear multiple times; we say then that the variable is multivalued. -Syntax -~~ +Config file Syntax +~~ The syntax is fairly flexible and permissive; whitespaces are mostly ignored. The '#' and ';' characters begin comments to the end of line, @@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ syntax, the subsection name is converted to lower-case and is also compared case sensitively. These subsection names follow the same restrictions as section names. +Variable name/value syntax +^^ + All the other lines (and the remainder of the line after the section header) are recognized as setting variables, in the form 'name = value' (or just 'name', which is a short-hand to say that @@ -69,7 +72,8 @@ stripped. Leading whitespaces after 'name =', the remainder of the line after the first comment character '#' or ';', and trailing whitespaces of the line are discarded unless they are enclosed in double quotes. Internal whitespaces within the value are retained -verbatim. +verbatim. Single quotes are not special and form part of the +variable's value. Inside double quotes, double quote `"` and backslash `\` characters must be escaped: use `\"` for `"` and `\\` for `\`. @@ -89,10 +93,14 @@ each other with the exception that `includeIf` sections may be ignored if their condition does not evaluate to true; see "Conditional includes" below. +Both the `include` and `includeIf` sections implicitly apply an 'if found' +condition to the given path names. + You can include a config file from another by setting the special `include.path` (or `includeIf.*.path`) variable to the name of the file to be included. The variable takes a pathname as its value, and is -subject to tilde expansion. These variables can be given multiple times. +subject to tilde expansion and the value syntax detailed above. +These variables can be given multiple times. The contents of the included file are inserted immediately, as if they had been found at the location of the include directive. If the value of the -- 2.17.1.windows.2
