fix #8669: .gitignore entries shouldn't be excluded from workspaceContains events

[vnfedotov]

What it does

Fixes #8669: workspaceContains activation event doesn't fire if matched file found in .gitignore, it's expected behavior of ripgrep.

This PR changes arguments for fileSearchService when looking for files matched by workspaceContains pattern, adding useGitIgnore=false, in result ripgrep will run with '-uu' flag and include .gitignore entries in search results.

Impact is limited to workspaceContains activation event behavior.

How to test

1. Create plugin with following activation events:

"activationEvents": [
        "workspaceContains:**/compile_commands.json"
]

2. Create following folder structure:

my-parent-repo/
   .gitignore
   modules/
       my-module/   <- workspace root
          src/
          build/
             compile_commands.json

3. Add following entries to .gitignore:
   **/build/*
4. Load plugin, point workspace root to: my-parent-repo/modules/my-module/
5. Plugin should activate

Review checklist

• as an author, I have thoroughly tested my changes and carefully followed the review guidelines

Reminder for reviewers

• as a reviewer, I agree to behave in accordance with the review guidelines

Signed-off-by: Vladimir Fedotov [email protected]

[vince-fugnitto]

@vnfedotov thank you for your investigation into the issue and your subsequent pull-request contribution 👍 Please be sure to complete the Eclipse Contributor Agreement (ECA) so we can accept your changes.

[vince-fugnitto]

@vnfedotov were you able to confirm the behavior in vscode, I do not believe they search in ignored files when determining the activation event for workspaceContains. I verified with a custom extension which displays a message when compile_commands.json is present in the workspace.

During my tests in vscode, I noticed that the compile_commands.json added under node_modules (which is gitignored) does not trigger the activation event, while if it outside gitnignored files it does. This is the behavior I expect since I do not believe gitignored files should trigger extensions eagerly.

[vnfedotov]

@vince-fugnitto I did. I've tested with vscode-clangd extension (https://github.com/clangd/vscode-clangd) modified to have following activationEvents:

"activationEvents": [
        "workspaceContains:**/compile_commands.json",
        "onCommand:clangd.activate",
        "onCommand:clangd.install",
        "onCommand:clangd.update"
    ],

In fact, underlying workspace.findFiles() behaves differently in vscode, which initially made me think in has something to do with #6460 -- in vscode it finds gitignored files, in theia it doesn't (because useGitIgnore is true by default).

P.S. It's probably easier to test with vscode-clangd. If you're seeing prompt to install clangd, it means it's activated.

[vince-fugnitto]

@vnfedotov when testing, did you add a compile_commands.json file under a gitignored folder and no where else (ex: under node_modules)? For this case, vscode did not activate the extension and it is the behavior I expect but is broken by these changes.

To test, I created a minimal extension with the following activation event:

"activationEvents": [
    "workspaceContains:**/compile_commands.json"
],

Upon activation it will display an information message to end-users (for test purposes). The two use case are:

Use-Case	Observed VS Code Behavior
compile_commands.json exists in a non-gitignored folder (ex: root of workspace)	Extension activates
compile_commands.json exists in a gitignored folder (ex: node_modules)	Extension does not activate

For test purposes, you can use the sources of the extension itself: https://github.com/vince-fugnitto/workspace-contains-test

1. add a compile_commands.json at the root of the repo, reload the application, and notice the message.
2. move the compile_commands.json under node_modules, reload the application and the message does not appear.

[vince-fugnitto]

@vnfedotov I believe the fix would not be to ignore all gitignored files, but rather parent ones which seem to be your initial bug:

--no-ignore-parent
Don't respect ignore files (.gitignore, .ignore, etc.) in parent directories.

[vnfedotov]

@vince-fugnitto These are ripgrep args that I've extracted from vscode:

--files --hidden --case-sensitive -g '!**/.git' -g '!**/.svn' -g '!**/.hg' -g '!**/CVS' -g '!**/.DS_Store' -g '!**/node_modules' -g '!**/bower_components' -g '!**/*.code-search' --no-ignore-parent --follow --no-config --no-ignore-global

You can probably guess why workspaceContains doesn't fire when compile_commands.json is placed in node_modules.
I would suggest following test case, using your extension:

1. git clone https://github.com/vnfedotov/workspace-contains-test-repo
2. cd workspace-contains-test-repo && mkdir build && touch build/compile_commands.json
3. open vscode on workspace-contains-test-repo -> message appears
4. verify that compile_commands.json is gitignored (greyed out in project explorer)
5. mv build/compile_commands.json node_modules/
6. reopen workspace -> message doesn't appear

[vince-fugnitto]

You can probably guess why workspaceContains doesn't fire when compile_commands.json is placed in node_modules.
I would suggest following test case, using your extension:

@vnfedotov I understand that vscode does not activate the extension when it is under node_modules, what I'm trying to illustrate is how this pull-request breaks that behavior. With your changes, if my compile_commands.json is placed under node_modules (which is gitignored) the extension is incorrectly activated. While it may resolve your initial bug, it introduces a breaking behavior which should instead be fixed alternatively than simply ignoring all gitignored folders.

[vnfedotov]

@vince-fugnitto The point I was trying to make is that node_modules is ignored not because it's in .gitignore, but because vscode explicitly excludes it from search results, along with .git/, CVS/ and others.

[vince-fugnitto]

@vince-fugnitto The point I was trying to make is that node_modules is ignored not because it's in .gitignore, but because vscode explicitly excludes it from search results, along with .git/, CVS/ and others.

@vnfedotov I placed a compile_commands.json under another gitignored folder (ex: vince) for test purposes, the extension is not activated in vscode while it is with this pull-request.

[vnfedotov]

@vince-fugnitto I'm not sure what to tell you, because I'm observing exactly opposite behaviour

[vince-fugnitto]

@vince-fugnitto I'm not sure what to tell you, because I'm observing exactly opposite behaviour

In your example build is not properly gitignored (it is also not decorated as ignored), try:

build

You'll see that the activation event does not occur, while this pull-request does.

[vnfedotov]

@vince-fugnitto Ah, I see. It does work if file is gitignored, but doesn't if folder is also gitignored.
I'm not sure what to do with this. File search implementation in theia substantially differs from vscode. We can put bandage on it, adding no-ignore-parent as you suggested, but it won't fix underlying issues.

Tbh, I don't really get the logic behind vscode implementation, it leaves out use cases that are useful. In fact, we need some way to trigger plugin activation, if compilation database (compile_commands.json) exists in the workspace, and its common to put it in .gitignore as a build artifact.

[vince-fugnitto]

I believe the pull-request can be closed, from the last feedback (#8671 (comment)) the changes will incorrectly activate the extension which differs from behavior compared to vscode. If we continue we should find a way which does not break this behavior.