Use git ref instead of branch for stgit log

[hborchardt]

I am having the problem that when viewing the repo state in SourceTree, my branch list is cluttered with the <mybranch>.stgit log entries from stgit (same argument as Issue #32).
Instead of not logging at all, would it be possible to not use a branch for the stgit log, but instead an abstract git ref like
refs/stgitlog/<mybranch>
to track the state of the log?

I did a quick test changing

stgit/stgit/lib/log.py

Line 121 in 333e9e4

return 'refs/heads/%s.stgit' % branch

to
return 'refs/stgitlog/%s.stgit' % branch
and as far as I can tell logging, undo, etc. works, as well as having a clean view in SourceTree.

I acknowledge that this would be a breaking change if just edited, so we might want to make the second part of the ref configurable.

If you could confirm that I am not missing anything and you would welcome such a change, I can give a shot at a pull request.

[hborchardt]

I just read your answer in this issue: #24 (comment)
I have a feeling that the "old metadata system" refers to the .stgit branch, so waiting for your patch with stackformatversion 4 might solve my problems. If so, feel free to close this issue.

[jpgrayson]

Sorry for this delayed response.

To clarify: the old metadata system uses files found under .git/patches. The new metadata system uses git objects in the .stgit branches. This is contrary to your guess above.

Regarding the idea of using a non-branch ref for the log (metadata), this is actually something I have been considering doing. The reason you site (clutter when using graphical log tools; gitk and even git log --graph --all also have this issue) is one of the reasons we might want to use a non-branch ref. Other reasons include:

• The .stgit branch can be considered "noise" when using git branch
• Checking-out a .stgit branch is always a mistake (unless doing stgit development) and thus best to help users avoid this mistake
• Individual patches already have refs found in .git/refs/patches/<branch>/.

The potential downsides of not keeping the metadata as a .stgit branch include:

• The presence of this branch may be used by StGit users to know that a branch has been initialized (i.e. with stg init)
• If we want to support distributed StGit metadata, i.e. pushing and pulling StGit stacks, it may be more intuitive to do this with regular git commands if the metadata is a regular branch.

I may be missing other pros/cons. My intent is to experiment with the usability of the metadata being located elsewhere. I was thinking either refs/stacks/<branch> or refs/stgit/<branch>.

[hborchardt]

Much love for implementing this, thanks! ❤️