sparse-index: add 'sdir' index extension

The index format does not currently allow for sparse directory entries.
This violates some expectations that older versions of Git or
third-party tools might not understand. We need an indicator inside the
index file to warn these tools to not interact with a sparse index
unless they are aware of sparse directory entries.

Add a new _required_ index extension, 'sdir', that indicates that the
index may contain sparse directory entries. This allows us to continue
to use the differences in index formats 2, 3, and 4 before we create a
new index version 5 in a later change.

Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 12 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/technical/index-format.txt b/Documentation/technical/index-format.txt
index 3b74c05647..65da0daaa5 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/index-format.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/index-format.txt
@@ -392,3 +392,15 @@ The remaining data of each directory block is grouped by type:
 	in this block of entries.
 
     - 32-bit count of cache entries in this block
+
+== Sparse Directory Entries
+
+  When using sparse-checkout in cone mode, some entire directories within
+  the index can be summarized by pointing to a tree object instead of the
+  entire expanded list of paths within that tree. An index containing such
+  entries is a "sparse index". Index format versions 4 and less were not
+  implemented with such entries in mind. Thus, for these versions, an
+  index containing sparse directory entries will include this extension
+  with signature { 's', 'd', 'i', 'r' }. Like the split-index extension,
+  tools should avoid interacting with a sparse index unless they understand
+  this extension.