status: disable display of '#' comment prefix by default

Historically, "git status" needed to prefix each output line with '#' so
that the output could be added as comment to the commit message. This
prefix comment has no real purpose when "git status" is ran from the
command-line, and this may distract users from the real content.

Disable this prefix comment by default, and make it re-activable for
users needing backward compatibility with status.displayCommentPrefix.

Obviously, "git commit" ignores status.displayCommentPrefix and keeps the
comment unconditionnaly when writing to COMMIT_EDITMSG (but not when
writing to stdout for an error message or with --dry-run).

Signed-off-by: Matthieu Moy <Matthieu.Moy@imag.fr>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

Documentation/config.txt

@@ -2118,6 +2118,13 @@ status.branch::
 	Set to true to enable --branch by default in linkgit:git-status[1].
 	The option --no-branch takes precedence over this variable.
 
+status.displayCommentPrefix::
+	If set to true, linkgit:git-status[1] will insert a comment
+	prefix before each output line (starting with
+	`core.commentChar`, i.e. `#` by default). This was the
+	behavior of linkgit:git-status[1] in Git 1.8.4 and previous.
+	Defaults to false.
+
 status.showUntrackedFiles::
 	By default, linkgit:git-status[1] and linkgit:git-commit[1] show
 	files which are not currently tracked by Git. Directories which

builtin/commit.c

@@ -599,6 +599,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 	const char *hook_arg2 = NULL;
 	int ident_shown = 0;
 	int clean_message_contents = (cleanup_mode != CLEANUP_NONE);
+	int old_display_comment_prefix;
 
 	/* This checks and barfs if author is badly specified */
 	determine_author_info(author_ident);
@@ -696,6 +697,10 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 	if (s->fp == NULL)
 		die_errno(_("could not open '%s'"), git_path(commit_editmsg));
 
+	/* Ignore status.displayCommentPrefix: we do need comments in COMMIT_EDITMSG. */
+	old_display_comment_prefix = s->display_comment_prefix;
+	s->display_comment_prefix = 1;
+
 	if (clean_message_contents)
 		stripspace(&sb, 0);
 
@@ -821,6 +826,7 @@ static int prepare_to_commit(const char *index_file, const char *prefix,
 	 */
 	if (!commitable && whence != FROM_MERGE && !allow_empty &&
 	    !(amend && is_a_merge(current_head))) {
+		s->display_comment_prefix = old_display_comment_prefix;
 		run_status(stdout, index_file, prefix, 0, s);
 		if (amend)
 			fputs(_(empty_amend_advice), stderr);
@@ -1182,6 +1188,10 @@ static int git_status_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 		s->use_color = git_config_colorbool(k, v);
 		return 0;
 	}
+	if (!strcmp(k, "status.displaycommentprefix")) {
+		s->display_comment_prefix = git_config_bool(k, v);
+		return 0;
+	}
 	if (!prefixcmp(k, "status.color.") || !prefixcmp(k, "color.status.")) {
 		int slot = parse_status_slot(k, 13);
 		if (slot < 0)

t/t3001-ls-files-others-exclude.sh

@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ EOF
 
 git config core.excludesFile excludes-file
 
-git status | grep "^#	" > output
+git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=true status | grep "^#	" > output
 
 cat > expect << EOF
 #	.gitignore

t/t7060-wtstatus.sh

@@ -4,6 +4,10 @@ test_description='basic work tree status reporting'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+test_expect_success 'use status.displayCommentPrefix by default ' '
+	git config --global status.displayCommentPrefix true
+'
+
 test_expect_success setup '
 	git config --global advice.statusuoption false &&
 	test_commit A &&

t/t7508-status.sh

@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ test_description='git status'
 
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
+test_expect_success 'use status.displayCommentPrefix by default ' '
+	git config --global status.displayCommentPrefix true
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'status -h in broken repository' '
 	git config --global advice.statusuoption false &&
 	mkdir broken &&
@@ -60,8 +64,12 @@ test_expect_success 'status (1)' '
 	test_i18ngrep "use \"git rm --cached <file>\.\.\.\" to unstage" output
 '
 
+strip_comments () {
+	sed "s/^\# //; s/^\#$//; s/^#\t/\t/" <"$1" >"$1".tmp &&
+	rm "$1" && mv "$1".tmp "$1"
+}
+
 test_expect_success 'status --column' '
-	COLUMNS=50 git status --column="column dense" >output &&
 	cat >expect <<\EOF &&
 # On branch master
 # Changes to be committed:
@@ -78,9 +86,16 @@ test_expect_success 'status --column' '
 # Untracked files:
 #   (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)
 #
-#	dir1/untracked dir2/untracked untracked
-#	dir2/modified  output
+#	dir1/untracked dir2/untracked output
+#	dir2/modified  expect         untracked
 EOF
+	COLUMNS=50 git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=true status --column="column dense" >output &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status --column status.displayCommentPrefix=false' '
+	strip_comments expect &&
+	COLUMNS=49 git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=false status --column="column dense" >output &&
 	test_i18ncmp expect output
 '
 
@@ -108,11 +123,39 @@ cat >expect <<\EOF
 #	untracked
 EOF
 
-test_expect_success 'status (2)' '
-	git status >output &&
+test_expect_success 'status with status.displayCommentPrefix=true' '
+	git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=true status >output &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'status with status.displayCommentPrefix=false' '
+	strip_comments expect &&
+	git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=false status >output &&
 	test_i18ncmp expect output
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'setup fake editor' '
+	cat >.git/editor <<-\EOF &&
+	#! /bin/sh
+	cp "$1" output
+EOF
+	chmod 755 .git/editor
+'
+
+commit_template_commented () {
+	(
+		EDITOR=.git/editor &&
+		export EDITOR &&
+		# Fails due to empty message
+		test_must_fail git commit
+	) &&
+	! grep '^[^#]' output
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'commit ignores status.displayCommentPrefix=false in COMMIT_EDITMSG' '
+	commit_template_commented
+'
+
 cat >expect <<\EOF
 # On branch master
 # Changes to be committed:
@@ -872,6 +915,16 @@ test_expect_success 'status submodule summary' '
 	test_i18ncmp expect output
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'status submodule summary with status.displayCommentPrefix=false' '
+	strip_comments expect &&
+	git -c status.displayCommentPrefix=false status >output &&
+	test_i18ncmp expect output
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'commit with submodule summary ignores status.displayCommentPrefix' '
+	commit_template_commented
+'
+
 cat >expect <<EOF
  M dir1/modified
 A  dir2/added

t/t7512-status-help.sh

@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ test_description='git status advice'
 
 set_fake_editor
 
+test_expect_success 'use status.displayCommentPrefix by default ' '
+	git config --global status.displayCommentPrefix true
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'prepare for conflicts' '
 	git config --global advice.statusuoption false &&
 	test_commit init main.txt init &&

wt-status.c

@@ -46,9 +46,11 @@ static void status_vprintf(struct wt_status *s, int at_bol, const char *color,
 
 	strbuf_vaddf(&sb, fmt, ap);
 	if (!sb.len) {
-		strbuf_addch(&sb, comment_line_char);
-		if (!trail)
-			strbuf_addch(&sb, ' ');
+		if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
+			strbuf_addch(&sb, comment_line_char);
+			if (!trail)
+				strbuf_addch(&sb, ' ');
+		}
 		color_print_strbuf(s->fp, color, &sb);
 		if (trail)
 			fprintf(s->fp, "%s", trail);
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ static void status_vprintf(struct wt_status *s, int at_bol, const char *color,
 		eol = strchr(line, '\n');
 
 		strbuf_reset(&linebuf);
-		if (at_bol) {
+		if (at_bol && s->display_comment_prefix) {
 			strbuf_addch(&linebuf, comment_line_char);
 			if (*line != '\n' && *line != '\t')
 				strbuf_addch(&linebuf, ' ');
@@ -129,6 +131,7 @@ void wt_status_prepare(struct wt_status *s)
 	s->untracked.strdup_strings = 1;
 	s->ignored.strdup_strings = 1;
 	s->show_branch = -1;  /* unspecified */
+	s->display_comment_prefix = 0;
 }
 
 static void wt_status_print_unmerged_header(struct wt_status *s)
@@ -707,9 +710,11 @@ static void wt_status_print_submodule_summary(struct wt_status *s, int uncommitt
 	strbuf_addbuf(&summary, &cmd_stdout);
 	strbuf_release(&cmd_stdout);
 
-	summary_content = strbuf_detach(&summary, &len);
-	strbuf_add_commented_lines(&summary, summary_content, len);
-	free(summary_content);
+	if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
+		summary_content = strbuf_detach(&summary, &len);
+		strbuf_add_commented_lines(&summary, summary_content, len);
+		free(summary_content);
+	}
 
 	fputs(summary.buf, s->fp);
 	strbuf_release(&summary);
@@ -748,8 +753,9 @@ static void wt_status_print_other(struct wt_status *s,
 	if (!column_active(s->colopts))
 		return;
 
-	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s#\t%s",
+	strbuf_addf(&buf, "%s%s\t%s",
 		    color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s),
+		    s->display_comment_prefix ? "#" : "",
 		    color(WT_STATUS_UNTRACKED, s));
 	memset(&copts, 0, sizeof(copts));
 	copts.padding = 1;
@@ -793,6 +799,8 @@ static void wt_status_print_tracking(struct wt_status *s)
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
 	const char *cp, *ep;
 	struct branch *branch;
+	char comment_line_string[3];
+	int i;
 
 	assert(s->branch && !s->is_initial);
 	if (prefixcmp(s->branch, "refs/heads/"))
@@ -801,12 +809,22 @@ static void wt_status_print_tracking(struct wt_status *s)
 	if (!format_tracking_info(branch, &sb))
 		return;
 
+	i = 0;
+	if (s->display_comment_prefix) {
+		comment_line_string[i++] = comment_line_char;
+		comment_line_string[i++] = ' ';
+	}
+	comment_line_string[i] = '\0';
+
 	for (cp = sb.buf; (ep = strchr(cp, '\n')) != NULL; cp = ep + 1)
 		color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s),
-				 "%c %.*s", comment_line_char,
+				 "%s%.*s", comment_line_string,
 				 (int)(ep - cp), cp);
-	color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s), "%c",
-			 comment_line_char);
+	if (s->display_comment_prefix)
+		color_fprintf_ln(s->fp, color(WT_STATUS_HEADER, s), "%c",
+				 comment_line_char);
+	else
+		fprintf_ln(s->fp, "");
 }
 
 static int has_unmerged(struct wt_status *s)

wt-status.h

@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ struct wt_status {
 	enum commit_whence whence;
 	int nowarn;
 	int use_color;
+	int display_comment_prefix;
 	int relative_paths;
 	int submodule_summary;
 	int show_ignored_files;