Not able to commit with predefined (template) commit message

[magical-heyrovsky]

Describe the bug

The recording below demonstrates the problem.

I have a commit message template in a gitconfig like this:

[commit]                                                                           
    template = ~/.config/git/custom-template

and gitui can also read it. So far everything as expected. When I try to commit something (c) it opens up the text area with my predefined commit message. But I am not able to immediately commit (⏎) because the option is greyed out. I need to remove or add a character in order to be able to commit.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Try to commit a change (c).
2. See the predefined commit message in the text area.
3. Try to commit (⏎).
4. It doesn't work because the option is greyed out.

Expected behavior

1. Try to commit a change (c).
2. See the predefined commit message in the text area.
3. Try to commit (⏎).
4. Changes are commited.

Screenshots

Screencast.webm

Context (please complete the following information):

• OS/Distro + Version: Ubuntu 23.04
• GitUI Version 0.24.3
• Rust version: not installed

[remique]

I believe this might have been an intended behavior, with intention that git templates serve as templates.

// impl CommitComponent
fn can_commit(&self) -> bool {
	!self.is_empty() && self.is_changed()
}

fn is_changed(&self) -> bool {
	Some(self.input.get_text().trim())
		!= self.commit_template.as_ref().map(|s| s.trim())
}

Not sure whether it should stay this way or allow no changes if commit_template is not None. If latter, should be a pretty easy fix.

[magical-heyrovsky]

Interesting, I didn't even think of this. I have multiple commit templates, some of which are used for private/automated projects where the message inside the template is not meant to be changed (something like "No commit message"). Funny thing is that I actually started to add these templates as a workaround, because gitui does not support empty commit messages.

[extrawurst]

i guess its fair to commit the template unchanged. shell will allow the same i assume

[Krismix1]

... shell will allow the same i assume

I wanted to tackle this issue, so I tested the behavior of the git CLI. It does not allow the commit with the template message, outputting "Aborting commit; you did not edit the message." (source)

Nevertheless, I went ahead and created a PR. If the intent is still to match the behavior of the git CLI, it can be rejected

[extrawurst]

no lets stay consistent with the shell then. @magical-heyrovsky if the CLI allows empty commit messages then feel free to open an issue to fix gitui be compatible

[magical-heyrovsky]

So lets summarize:

• git does not allow to commit with a unedited template message
• git does does allow to commit with with an empty commit message but only when using --allow-empty

I will close this issue. I no longer believe that my initially proposed behavior would make much sense in GitUI. Shortly after I created this issue, I discovered the "reuse previous commit message" feature and have been using it ever since.