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Posted to dev@subversion.apache.org by Atena Bogusz <at...@gmail.com> on 2023/03/10 09:21:44 UTC
Requesting opinion on improved error message for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET - autocorrection for supplied path
Hello everybody,
I wish to write a patch that would perform a lookup on missing targets when
SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET occurs and would display a suggested correction to
the path alongside the error message.
Suggested implementation: the algorithm will identify which part of the
path is valid (starting from root), substitute the invalid element with
other directories found in the path (not recursive) and test if that makes
the path a valid target. I don't see a simple method for suggesting
corrections to mistyped files without a full-fledged autocorrection engine,
therefore only the directories can be substituted.
The implementation I proposed above is hopefully simple enough to not
warrant a drawn out debate on what kinds of mistakes in the path and in
what way should be handled before receiving a go-ahead.
Feel free to respond with any objections or suggestions.
Maybe I'm spoiled by modern C compilers literally writing code for me when
I make a typo but this missing feature really irks me for some reason. I'm
glad to contribute a proper autocorrection system server-side instead of my
simple algorithm if my imagined opposition to the idea turns out to be, in
fact, imaginary. I reckon the problem of rating strings by similarity is a
solved problem in computing and there is a properly-licensed library to
plug into the codebase or an open-source algorithm at the least.
Re: Requesting opinion on improved error message for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET - autocorrection for supplied path
Posted by Daniel Sahlberg <da...@gmail.com>.
Den fre 10 mars 2023 kl 12:03 skrev Atena Bogusz <at...@gmail.com>:
> Sure, I'll use subversion repository as an example.
>
> I'm working on Linux in terminal. Suppose I want to check out
> documentation from a specific branch:
>
> $ svn co
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue-2897/doc
>
> I type the address in the command line from memory, because I'm familiar
> with the project and remember the path and happen to make a typo:
>
> $ svn ls
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc
> svn: warning: W160013: URL '
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc' nie
> istnieje w wersji 1908248
> svn: E200009: Could not list all targets because some targets don't exist
>
> What I would want to see in that situation would be another message
> pointing me to a correct path:
>
> $ svn ls
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc
> svn: warning: W160013: URL '
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc' nie
> istnieje w wersji 1908248
> svn: E200009: Could not list all targets because some targets don't exist
> svn: did you mean '
> https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue-2897/doc''
> instead?
>
> The way we organize directories at my workplace, I'd often need to go
> through 5 directories to get to the branch I'm working on and I make typos
> often.
>
Sounds like a good idea to me, however I still think you should investigate
the tabcompletion feature. At least to me it is more intuitive to tab my
way through the path when I enter it.
Kind regards,
Daniel
>
> pt., 10 mar 2023 o 11:45 Daniel Sahlberg <da...@gmail.com>
> napisał(a):
>
>> Den fre 10 mars 2023 kl 10:22 skrev Atena Bogusz <atena.bogusz@gmail.com
>> >:
>>
>>> Hello everybody,
>>>
>>> I wish to write a patch that would perform a lookup on missing targets
>>> when SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET occurs and would display a suggested correction
>>> to the path alongside the error message.
>>>
>>> Suggested implementation: the algorithm will identify which part of the
>>> path is valid (starting from root), substitute the invalid element with
>>> other directories found in the path (not recursive) and test if that makes
>>> the path a valid target. I don't see a simple method for suggesting
>>> corrections to mistyped files without a full-fledged autocorrection engine,
>>> therefore only the directories can be substituted.
>>>
>>> The implementation I proposed above is hopefully simple enough to not
>>> warrant a drawn out debate on what kinds of mistakes in the path and in
>>> what way should be handled before receiving a go-ahead.
>>>
>>> Feel free to respond with any objections or suggestions.
>>>
>>> Maybe I'm spoiled by modern C compilers literally writing code for me
>>> when I make a typo but this missing feature really irks me for some reason.
>>> I'm glad to contribute a proper autocorrection system server-side instead
>>> of my simple algorithm if my imagined opposition to the idea turns out to
>>> be, in fact, imaginary. I reckon the problem of rating strings by
>>> similarity is a solved problem in computing and there is a
>>> properly-licensed library to plug into the codebase or an open-source
>>> algorithm at the least.
>>>
>>
>> Glad to see you want to contribute!
>>
>> I tried a quick grep in the source code for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET and it
>> occurs in a lot of places, but it isn't clear to me what problem you are
>> trying to solve. Most places seems to be along the lines:
>>
>> [[[
>> if (svn_path_is_url(path))
>> return svn_error_createf(SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET, NULL,
>> _("'%s' is not a local path"), path);
>> ]]]
>>
>> Can you give a short reproduction script of what use case you consider,
>> with the current error and the suggested result?
>>
>> Please note that there is already some autocompletion support if you are
>> using bash (or compatible shells), see
>> http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/tools/client-side/bash_completion
>> .
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Daniel Sahlberg
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
Re: Requesting opinion on improved error message for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET - autocorrection for supplied path
Posted by Atena Bogusz <at...@gmail.com>.
Sure, I'll use subversion repository as an example.
I'm working on Linux in terminal. Suppose I want to check out documentation
from a specific branch:
$ svn co https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue-2897/doc
I type the address in the command line from memory, because I'm familiar
with the project and remember the path and happen to make a typo:
$ svn ls https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc
svn: warning: W160013: URL '
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc' nie
istnieje w wersji 1908248
svn: E200009: Could not list all targets because some targets don't exist
What I would want to see in that situation would be another message
pointing me to a correct path:
$ svn ls https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc
svn: warning: W160013: URL '
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue2897/doc' nie
istnieje w wersji 1908248
svn: E200009: Could not list all targets because some targets don't exist
svn: did you mean '
https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/branches/issue-2897/doc''
instead?
The way we organize directories at my workplace, I'd often need to go
through 5 directories to get to the branch I'm working on and I make typos
often.
pt., 10 mar 2023 o 11:45 Daniel Sahlberg <da...@gmail.com>
napisał(a):
> Den fre 10 mars 2023 kl 10:22 skrev Atena Bogusz <at...@gmail.com>:
>
>> Hello everybody,
>>
>> I wish to write a patch that would perform a lookup on missing targets
>> when SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET occurs and would display a suggested correction
>> to the path alongside the error message.
>>
>> Suggested implementation: the algorithm will identify which part of the
>> path is valid (starting from root), substitute the invalid element with
>> other directories found in the path (not recursive) and test if that makes
>> the path a valid target. I don't see a simple method for suggesting
>> corrections to mistyped files without a full-fledged autocorrection engine,
>> therefore only the directories can be substituted.
>>
>> The implementation I proposed above is hopefully simple enough to not
>> warrant a drawn out debate on what kinds of mistakes in the path and in
>> what way should be handled before receiving a go-ahead.
>>
>> Feel free to respond with any objections or suggestions.
>>
>> Maybe I'm spoiled by modern C compilers literally writing code for me
>> when I make a typo but this missing feature really irks me for some reason.
>> I'm glad to contribute a proper autocorrection system server-side instead
>> of my simple algorithm if my imagined opposition to the idea turns out to
>> be, in fact, imaginary. I reckon the problem of rating strings by
>> similarity is a solved problem in computing and there is a
>> properly-licensed library to plug into the codebase or an open-source
>> algorithm at the least.
>>
>
> Glad to see you want to contribute!
>
> I tried a quick grep in the source code for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET and it
> occurs in a lot of places, but it isn't clear to me what problem you are
> trying to solve. Most places seems to be along the lines:
>
> [[[
> if (svn_path_is_url(path))
> return svn_error_createf(SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET, NULL,
> _("'%s' is not a local path"), path);
> ]]]
>
> Can you give a short reproduction script of what use case you consider,
> with the current error and the suggested result?
>
> Please note that there is already some autocompletion support if you are
> using bash (or compatible shells), see
> http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/tools/client-side/bash_completion
> .
>
> Kind regards,
> Daniel Sahlberg
>
>
>
>
>
>
Re: Requesting opinion on improved error message for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET - autocorrection for supplied path
Posted by Daniel Sahlberg <da...@gmail.com>.
Den fre 10 mars 2023 kl 10:22 skrev Atena Bogusz <at...@gmail.com>:
> Hello everybody,
>
> I wish to write a patch that would perform a lookup on missing targets
> when SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET occurs and would display a suggested correction
> to the path alongside the error message.
>
> Suggested implementation: the algorithm will identify which part of the
> path is valid (starting from root), substitute the invalid element with
> other directories found in the path (not recursive) and test if that makes
> the path a valid target. I don't see a simple method for suggesting
> corrections to mistyped files without a full-fledged autocorrection engine,
> therefore only the directories can be substituted.
>
> The implementation I proposed above is hopefully simple enough to not
> warrant a drawn out debate on what kinds of mistakes in the path and in
> what way should be handled before receiving a go-ahead.
>
> Feel free to respond with any objections or suggestions.
>
> Maybe I'm spoiled by modern C compilers literally writing code for me when
> I make a typo but this missing feature really irks me for some reason. I'm
> glad to contribute a proper autocorrection system server-side instead of my
> simple algorithm if my imagined opposition to the idea turns out to be, in
> fact, imaginary. I reckon the problem of rating strings by similarity is a
> solved problem in computing and there is a properly-licensed library to
> plug into the codebase or an open-source algorithm at the least.
>
Glad to see you want to contribute!
I tried a quick grep in the source code for SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET and it
occurs in a lot of places, but it isn't clear to me what problem you are
trying to solve. Most places seems to be along the lines:
[[[
if (svn_path_is_url(path))
return svn_error_createf(SVN_ERR_ILLEGAL_TARGET, NULL,
_("'%s' is not a local path"), path);
]]]
Can you give a short reproduction script of what use case you consider,
with the current error and the suggested result?
Please note that there is already some autocompletion support if you are
using bash (or compatible shells), see
http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/subversion/trunk/tools/client-side/bash_completion
.
Kind regards,
Daniel Sahlberg