Re: [PATCH v3 68/77] ncr5380: Fix whitespace issues using regexp

[Finn Thain]

On Tue, 22 Dec 2015, Joe Perches wrote:

> On Wed, 2015-12-23 at 11:56 +1100, Finn Thain wrote:
> > On Tue, 22 Dec 2015, Joe Perches wrote:
> > 
> > > On Tue, 2015-12-22 at 12:18 +1100, Finn Thain wrote:
> > > > This patch is just the result of two substitutions. The first 
> > > > removes any tabs and spaces at the end of the line. The second 
> > > > replaces runs of tabs and spaces at the beginning of comment lines 
> > > > with a single space.
> > > 
> > > I think the second of these isn't done well.
> > 
> > The aim of this patch is not to fix code style, but to make it 
> > possible to compare these two files so that the fork can be repaired. 
> > Regexp is very helpful in creating uniformity (and a minimal diff).
> > 
> > If this was a coding style issue, we would be discussing the use of 
> > kernel-doc format for the affected comments, not whitespace.
> > 
> > > Many of these comments post reformatting are much worse to read 
> > > because of lost alignment.
> > 
> > You exaggerate a very trivial point.
> 
> <shrug>
> 
> I prefer that all patches be improvements.
> 

Agreed. But the example you cited is an improvement, in that it creates 
consistency.

Like you, I prefer to see formal parameters aligned when wrapped. But this 
isn't a formal parameter list, it is a comment, and no comment should 
duplicate code.

Can you suggest a better regexp? Since this is patch 68 in the series, 
there is a good chance that it will need to be regenerated.

> > I admit that a small proportion of comments are slightly less 
> > readable. But it is the diff that needs to be readable in order to 
> > resolve the fork.
> 
> diff -w works well.
> 

Yes, it works well at times. For this I prefer to use meld. It does have 
text filters that allow the user to elide differences that match a given 
regexp. But I don't want every meld user to have to write those regexps.

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