diff mbox series

[11/20] sparse-index: convert from full to sparse

Message ID a2d77c23a0cbbe090b4ed6d840f608cffd4248fd.1614111270.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com (mailing list archive)
State Superseded
Headers show
Series Sparse Index: Design, Format, Tests | expand

Commit Message

Derrick Stolee Feb. 23, 2021, 8:14 p.m. UTC
From: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>

If we have a full index, then we can convert it to a sparse index by
replacing directories outside of the sparse cone with sparse directory
entries. The convert_to_sparse() method does this, when the situation is
appropriate.

For now, we avoid converting the index to a sparse index if:

 1. the index is split.
 2. the index is already sparse.
 3. sparse-checkout is disabled.
 4. sparse-checkout does not use cone mode.

Finally, we currently limit the conversion to when the
GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX environment variable is enabled. A mode using Git
config will be added in a later change.

The trickiest thing about this conversion is that we might not be able
to mark a directory as a sparse directory just because it is outside the
sparse cone. There might be unmerged files within that directory, so we
need to look for those. Also, if there is some strange reason why a file
is not marked with CE_SKIP_WORKTREE, then we should give up on
converting that directory. There is still hope that some of its
subdirectories might be able to convert to sparse, so we keep looking
deeper.

The conversion process is assisted by the cache-tree extension. This is
calculated from the full index if it does not already exist. We then
abandon the cache-tree as it no longer applies to the newly-sparse
index. Thus, this cache-tree will be recalculated in every
sparse-full-sparse round-trip until we integrate the cache-tree
extension with the sparse index.

Some Git commands use the index after writing it. For example, 'git add'
will update the index, then write it to disk, then read its entries to
report information. To keep the in-memory index in a full state after
writing, we re-expand it to a full one after the write. This is wasteful
for commands that only write the index and do not read from it again,
but that is only the case until we make those commands "sparse aware."

We can compare the behavior of the sparse-index in
t1092-sparse-checkout-compability.sh by using GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1
when operating on the 'sparse-index' repo. We can also compare the two
sparse repos directly, such as comparing their indexes (when expanded to
full in the case of the 'sparse-index' repo). We also verify that the
index is actually populated with sparse directory entries.

The 'checkout and reset (mixed)' test is marked for failure when
comparing a sparse repo to a full repo, but we can compare the two
sparse-checkout cases directly to ensure that we are not changing the
behavior when using a sparse index.

Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>
---
 cache-tree.c                             |   3 +
 cache.h                                  |   2 +
 read-cache.c                             |  26 ++++-
 sparse-index.c                           | 139 +++++++++++++++++++++++
 sparse-index.h                           |   1 +
 t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh |  61 +++++++++-
 6 files changed, 227 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

Comments

Elijah Newren Feb. 25, 2021, 7:33 a.m. UTC | #1
On Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 12:14 PM Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget
<gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> From: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>
>
> If we have a full index, then we can convert it to a sparse index by
> replacing directories outside of the sparse cone with sparse directory
> entries. The convert_to_sparse() method does this, when the situation is
> appropriate.
>
> For now, we avoid converting the index to a sparse index if:
>
>  1. the index is split.
>  2. the index is already sparse.
>  3. sparse-checkout is disabled.
>  4. sparse-checkout does not use cone mode.
>
> Finally, we currently limit the conversion to when the
> GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX environment variable is enabled. A mode using Git
> config will be added in a later change.
>
> The trickiest thing about this conversion is that we might not be able
> to mark a directory as a sparse directory just because it is outside the
> sparse cone. There might be unmerged files within that directory, so we
> need to look for those. Also, if there is some strange reason why a file
> is not marked with CE_SKIP_WORKTREE, then we should give up on
> converting that directory. There is still hope that some of its
> subdirectories might be able to convert to sparse, so we keep looking
> deeper.
>
> The conversion process is assisted by the cache-tree extension. This is
> calculated from the full index if it does not already exist. We then
> abandon the cache-tree as it no longer applies to the newly-sparse
> index. Thus, this cache-tree will be recalculated in every
> sparse-full-sparse round-trip until we integrate the cache-tree
> extension with the sparse index.
>
> Some Git commands use the index after writing it. For example, 'git add'
> will update the index, then write it to disk, then read its entries to
> report information. To keep the in-memory index in a full state after
> writing, we re-expand it to a full one after the write. This is wasteful
> for commands that only write the index and do not read from it again,
> but that is only the case until we make those commands "sparse aware."
>
> We can compare the behavior of the sparse-index in
> t1092-sparse-checkout-compability.sh by using GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1
> when operating on the 'sparse-index' repo. We can also compare the two
> sparse repos directly, such as comparing their indexes (when expanded to
> full in the case of the 'sparse-index' repo). We also verify that the
> index is actually populated with sparse directory entries.
>
> The 'checkout and reset (mixed)' test is marked for failure when
> comparing a sparse repo to a full repo, but we can compare the two
> sparse-checkout cases directly to ensure that we are not changing the
> behavior when using a sparse index.
>
> Signed-off-by: Derrick Stolee <dstolee@microsoft.com>
> ---
>  cache-tree.c                             |   3 +
>  cache.h                                  |   2 +
>  read-cache.c                             |  26 ++++-
>  sparse-index.c                           | 139 +++++++++++++++++++++++
>  sparse-index.h                           |   1 +
>  t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh |  61 +++++++++-
>  6 files changed, 227 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
> index 2fb483d3c083..5f07a39e501e 100644
> --- a/cache-tree.c
> +++ b/cache-tree.c
> @@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
>  #include "object-store.h"
>  #include "replace-object.h"
>  #include "promisor-remote.h"
> +#include "sparse-index.h"
>
>  #ifndef DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
>  #define DEBUG_CACHE_TREE 0
> @@ -442,6 +443,8 @@ int cache_tree_update(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
>         if (i)
>                 return i;
>
> +       ensure_full_index(istate);
> +
>         if (!istate->cache_tree)
>                 istate->cache_tree = cache_tree();
>
> diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
> index d75b352f38d3..e8b7d3b4fb33 100644
> --- a/cache.h
> +++ b/cache.h
> @@ -251,6 +251,8 @@ static inline unsigned int create_ce_mode(unsigned int mode)
>  {
>         if (S_ISLNK(mode))
>                 return S_IFLNK;
> +       if (mode == S_IFDIR)
> +               return S_IFDIR;
>         if (S_ISDIR(mode) || S_ISGITLINK(mode))
>                 return S_IFGITLINK;
>         return S_IFREG | ce_permissions(mode);
> diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
> index 97dbf2434f30..67acbf202f4e 100644
> --- a/read-cache.c
> +++ b/read-cache.c
> @@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
>  #include "fsmonitor.h"
>  #include "thread-utils.h"
>  #include "progress.h"
> +#include "sparse-index.h"
>
>  /* Mask for the name length in ce_flags in the on-disk index */
>
> @@ -1002,8 +1003,14 @@ int verify_path(const char *path, unsigned mode)
>
>                         c = *path++;
>                         if ((c == '.' && !verify_dotfile(path, mode)) ||
> -                           is_dir_sep(c) || c == '\0')
> +                           is_dir_sep(c))
>                                 return 0;
> +                       /*
> +                        * allow terminating directory separators for
> +                        * sparse directory enries.

enries -> entries

> +                        */
> +                       if (c == '\0')
> +                               return S_ISDIR(mode);

Yaay, much simpler (than the RFC version).

>                 } else if (c == '\\' && protect_ntfs) {
>                         if (is_ntfs_dotgit(path))
>                                 return 0;
> @@ -3061,6 +3068,14 @@ static int do_write_locked_index(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *l
>                                  unsigned flags)
>  {
>         int ret;
> +       int was_full = !istate->sparse_index;
> +
> +       ret = convert_to_sparse(istate);
> +
> +       if (ret) {
> +               warning(_("failed to convert to a sparse-index"));
> +               return ret;
> +       }
>
>         /*
>          * TODO trace2: replace "the_repository" with the actual repo instance
> @@ -3072,6 +3087,9 @@ static int do_write_locked_index(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *l
>         trace2_region_leave_printf("index", "do_write_index", the_repository,
>                                    "%s", get_lock_file_path(lock));
>
> +       if (was_full)
> +               ensure_full_index(istate);
> +
>         if (ret)
>                 return ret;
>         if (flags & COMMIT_LOCK)
> @@ -3162,9 +3180,10 @@ static int write_shared_index(struct index_state *istate,
>                               struct tempfile **temp)
>  {
>         struct split_index *si = istate->split_index;
> -       int ret;
> +       int ret, was_full = !istate->sparse_index;
>
>         move_cache_to_base_index(istate);
> +       convert_to_sparse(istate);
>
>         trace2_region_enter_printf("index", "shared/do_write_index",
>                                    the_repository, "%s", get_tempfile_path(*temp));
> @@ -3172,6 +3191,9 @@ static int write_shared_index(struct index_state *istate,
>         trace2_region_leave_printf("index", "shared/do_write_index",
>                                    the_repository, "%s", get_tempfile_path(*temp));
>
> +       if (was_full)
> +               ensure_full_index(istate);
> +
>         if (ret)
>                 return ret;
>         ret = adjust_shared_perm(get_tempfile_path(*temp));
> diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
> index 316cb949b74b..cb1f85635fbc 100644
> --- a/sparse-index.c
> +++ b/sparse-index.c
> @@ -4,6 +4,145 @@
>  #include "tree.h"
>  #include "pathspec.h"
>  #include "trace2.h"
> +#include "cache-tree.h"
> +#include "config.h"
> +#include "dir.h"
> +#include "fsmonitor.h"
> +
> +static struct cache_entry *construct_sparse_dir_entry(
> +                               struct index_state *istate,
> +                               const char *sparse_dir,
> +                               struct cache_tree *tree)
> +{
> +       struct cache_entry *de;
> +
> +       de = make_cache_entry(istate, S_IFDIR, &tree->oid, sparse_dir, 0, 0);
> +
> +       de->ce_flags |= CE_SKIP_WORKTREE;
> +       return de;
> +}
> +
> +/*
> + * Returns the number of entries "inserted" into the index.
> + */
> +static int convert_to_sparse_rec(struct index_state *istate,
> +                                int num_converted,
> +                                int start, int end,
> +                                const char *ct_path, size_t ct_pathlen,
> +                                struct cache_tree *ct)
> +{
> +       int i, can_convert = 1;
> +       int start_converted = num_converted;
> +       enum pattern_match_result match;
> +       int dtype;
> +       struct strbuf child_path = STRBUF_INIT;
> +       struct pattern_list *pl = istate->sparse_checkout_patterns;
> +
> +       /*
> +        * Is the current path outside of the sparse cone?
> +        * Then check if the region can be replaced by a sparse
> +        * directory entry (everything is sparse and merged).
> +        */
> +       match = path_matches_pattern_list(ct_path, ct_pathlen,
> +                                         NULL, &dtype, pl, istate);
> +       if (match != NOT_MATCHED)
> +               can_convert = 0;

Not sure if you saw my comments on the flow control at
https://lore.kernel.org/git/CABPp-BE9wPwmC0=pA4p1_QSRDHrO8RzqfJQdE2NxYZsYL_Rcig@mail.gmail.com/
(the typos elsewhere seem to still be present).  If you saw it and
decided against it, that's fine, just wanted the idea to at least be
floated.

> +
> +       for (i = start; can_convert && i < end; i++) {
> +               struct cache_entry *ce = istate->cache[i];
> +
> +               if (ce_stage(ce) ||
> +                   !(ce->ce_flags & CE_SKIP_WORKTREE))
> +                       can_convert = 0;
> +       }
> +
> +       if (can_convert) {
> +               struct cache_entry *se;
> +               se = construct_sparse_dir_entry(istate, ct_path, ct);
> +
> +               istate->cache[num_converted++] = se;
> +               return 1;
> +       }
> +
> +       for (i = start; i < end; ) {
> +               int count, span, pos = -1;
> +               const char *base, *slash;
> +               struct cache_entry *ce = istate->cache[i];
> +
> +               /*
> +                * Detect if this is a normal entry oustide of any subtree

s/oustide/outside/

> +                * entry.
> +                */
> +               base = ce->name + ct_pathlen;
> +               slash = strchr(base, '/');
> +
> +               if (slash)
> +                       pos = cache_tree_subtree_pos(ct, base, slash - base);
> +
> +               if (pos < 0) {
> +                       istate->cache[num_converted++] = ce;
> +                       i++;
> +                       continue;
> +               }
> +
> +               strbuf_setlen(&child_path, 0);
> +               strbuf_add(&child_path, ce->name, slash - ce->name + 1);
> +
> +               span = ct->down[pos]->cache_tree->entry_count;
> +               count = convert_to_sparse_rec(istate,
> +                                             num_converted, i, i + span,
> +                                             child_path.buf, child_path.len,
> +                                             ct->down[pos]->cache_tree);
> +               num_converted += count;
> +               i += span;
> +       }
> +
> +       strbuf_release(&child_path);
> +       return num_converted - start_converted;
> +}
> +
> +int convert_to_sparse(struct index_state *istate)
> +{
> +       if (istate->split_index || istate->sparse_index ||
> +           !core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
> +               return 0;
> +
> +       /*
> +        * For now, only create a sparse index with the
> +        * GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX environment variable. We will relax
> +        * this once we have a proper way to opt-in (and later still,
> +        * opt-out).
> +        */
> +       if (!git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX", 0))
> +               return 0;
> +
> +       if (!istate->sparse_checkout_patterns) {
> +               istate->sparse_checkout_patterns = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct pattern_list));
> +               if (get_sparse_checkout_patterns(istate->sparse_checkout_patterns) < 0)
> +                       return 0;
> +       }
> +
> +       if (!istate->sparse_checkout_patterns->use_cone_patterns) {
> +               warning(_("attempting to use sparse-index without cone mode"));
> +               return -1;
> +       }
> +
> +       if (cache_tree_update(istate, 0)) {
> +               warning(_("unable to update cache-tree, staying full"));
> +               return -1;
> +       }
> +
> +       remove_fsmonitor(istate);
> +
> +       trace2_region_enter("index", "convert_to_sparse", istate->repo);
> +       istate->cache_nr = convert_to_sparse_rec(istate,
> +                                                0, 0, istate->cache_nr,
> +                                                "", 0, istate->cache_tree);
> +       istate->drop_cache_tree = 1;
> +       istate->sparse_index = 1;
> +       trace2_region_leave("index", "convert_to_sparse", istate->repo);
> +       return 0;
> +}
>
>  static void set_index_entry(struct index_state *istate, int nr, struct cache_entry *ce)
>  {
> diff --git a/sparse-index.h b/sparse-index.h
> index 09a20d036c46..64380e121d80 100644
> --- a/sparse-index.h
> +++ b/sparse-index.h
> @@ -3,5 +3,6 @@
>
>  struct index_state;
>  void ensure_full_index(struct index_state *istate);
> +int convert_to_sparse(struct index_state *istate);
>
>  #endif
> diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
> index 4d789fe86b9d..ca87033d30b0 100755
> --- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
> +++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
> @@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
>
>  test_description='compare full workdir to sparse workdir'
>
> +GIT_TEST_CHECK_CACHE_TREE=0

Same question as I posted for the RFC series:

Why do you need to set this?  I vaguely remember needing to mess with
this when working with sparse checkouts because it did weird stuff but
I don't remember details.  But since your patch touches cache_trees, it
seems weird to show up without explanation.

> +GIT_TEST_SPLIT_INDEX=0
> +
>  . ./test-lib.sh
>
>  test_expect_success 'setup' '
> @@ -121,15 +124,49 @@ run_on_all () {
>  test_all_match () {
>         run_on_all "$@" &&
>         test_cmp full-checkout-out sparse-checkout-out &&
> -       test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-checkout-err
> +       test_cmp full-checkout-out sparse-index-out &&
> +       test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-checkout-err &&
> +       test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-index-err
>  }
>
>  test_sparse_match () {
> -       run_on_sparse $* &&
> +       run_on_sparse "$@" &&
>         test_cmp sparse-checkout-out sparse-index-out &&
>         test_cmp sparse-checkout-err sparse-index-err
>  }
>
> +test_expect_success 'sparse-index contents' '
> +       init_repos &&
> +
> +       test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
> +       for dir in folder1 folder2 x
> +       do
> +               TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
> +               grep "040000 tree $TREE $dir/" cache \
> +                       || return 1
> +       done &&

Thanks for making the output look more like ls-tree output; it's
easier to parse that way, at least for me.

> +
> +       GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1 git -C sparse-index sparse-checkout set folder1 &&
> +
> +       test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
> +       for dir in deep folder2 x
> +       do
> +               TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
> +               grep "040000 tree $TREE $dir/" cache \
> +                       || return 1
> +       done &&
> +
> +       GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1 git -C sparse-index sparse-checkout set deep/deeper1 &&
> +
> +       test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
> +       for dir in deep/deeper2 folder1 folder2 x
> +       do
> +               TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
> +               grep "040000 tree $TREE $dir/" cache \
> +                       || return 1
> +       done
> +'
> +
>  test_expect_success 'expanded in-memory index matches full index' '
>         init_repos &&
>         test_sparse_match test-tool read-cache --expand --table
> @@ -137,6 +174,7 @@ test_expect_success 'expanded in-memory index matches full index' '
>
>  test_expect_success 'status with options' '
>         init_repos &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 -z -u &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 -uno &&
> @@ -273,6 +311,17 @@ test_expect_failure 'checkout and reset (mixed)' '
>         test_all_match git reset update-folder2
>  '
>
> +# Ensure that sparse-index behaves identically to
> +# sparse-checkout with a full index.
> +test_expect_success 'checkout and reset (mixed) [sparse]' '
> +       init_repos &&
> +
> +       test_sparse_match git checkout -b reset-test update-deep &&
> +       test_sparse_match git reset deepest &&
> +       test_sparse_match git reset update-folder1 &&
> +       test_sparse_match git reset update-folder2
> +'
> +
>  test_expect_success 'merge' '
>         init_repos &&
>
> @@ -309,14 +358,20 @@ test_expect_success 'clean' '
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
>         test_all_match git clean -f &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
>
>         test_all_match git clean -xf &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
>
>         test_all_match git clean -xdf &&
>         test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls &&
> +       test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
>
> -       test_path_is_dir sparse-checkout/folder1
> +       test_sparse_match test_path_is_dir folder1
>  '
>
>  test_done
> --
> gitgitgadget

I mostly read over the range-diff since it was much shorter.  You've
addressed a number of questions/comments I had on the RFC version, but
there's still some I didn't see a response to so I reposted them here.
Derrick Stolee March 9, 2021, 9:13 p.m. UTC | #2
On 2/25/2021 2:33 AM, Elijah Newren wrote:
> On Tue, Feb 23, 2021 at 12:14 PM Derrick Stolee via GitGitGadget
> <gitgitgadget@gmail.com> wrote:

>> +                       /*
>> +                        * allow terminating directory separators for
>> +                        * sparse directory enries.
> 
> enries -> entries

Thanks.

>> +                        */
>> +                       if (c == '\0')
>> +                               return S_ISDIR(mode);
> 
> Yaay, much simpler (than the RFC version).

>> +       /*
>> +        * Is the current path outside of the sparse cone?
>> +        * Then check if the region can be replaced by a sparse
>> +        * directory entry (everything is sparse and merged).
>> +        */
>> +       match = path_matches_pattern_list(ct_path, ct_pathlen,
>> +                                         NULL, &dtype, pl, istate);
>> +       if (match != NOT_MATCHED)
>> +               can_convert = 0;
> 
> Not sure if you saw my comments on the flow control at
> https://lore.kernel.org/git/CABPp-BE9wPwmC0=pA4p1_QSRDHrO8RzqfJQdE2NxYZsYL_Rcig@mail.gmail.com/
> (the typos elsewhere seem to still be present).  If you saw it and
> decided against it, that's fine, just wanted the idea to at least be
> floated.

Sorry for dropping this one. I _did_ decide against it, and
primarily because the "if (can_convert)" condition contains
a return statement. I like to use 'gotos' for blocks that
will eventually be entered by all paths through the code,
such as "goto cleanup;" but here I find the "can_convert"
check to be clearer.

>> +               /*
>> +                * Detect if this is a normal entry oustide of any subtree
> 
> s/oustide/outside/

Got it.

>> +test_expect_success 'sparse-index contents' '
>> +       init_repos &&
>> +
>> +       test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
>> +       for dir in folder1 folder2 x
>> +       do
>> +               TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
>> +               grep "040000 tree $TREE $dir/" cache \
>> +                       || return 1
>> +       done &&
> 
> Thanks for making the output look more like ls-tree output; it's
> easier to parse that way, at least for me.

Excellent.
 
> I mostly read over the range-diff since it was much shorter.  You've
> addressed a number of questions/comments I had on the RFC version, but
> there's still some I didn't see a response to so I reposted them here.
 
Thanks for being diligent!
-Stolee
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/cache-tree.c b/cache-tree.c
index 2fb483d3c083..5f07a39e501e 100644
--- a/cache-tree.c
+++ b/cache-tree.c
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ 
 #include "object-store.h"
 #include "replace-object.h"
 #include "promisor-remote.h"
+#include "sparse-index.h"
 
 #ifndef DEBUG_CACHE_TREE
 #define DEBUG_CACHE_TREE 0
@@ -442,6 +443,8 @@  int cache_tree_update(struct index_state *istate, int flags)
 	if (i)
 		return i;
 
+	ensure_full_index(istate);
+
 	if (!istate->cache_tree)
 		istate->cache_tree = cache_tree();
 
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index d75b352f38d3..e8b7d3b4fb33 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -251,6 +251,8 @@  static inline unsigned int create_ce_mode(unsigned int mode)
 {
 	if (S_ISLNK(mode))
 		return S_IFLNK;
+	if (mode == S_IFDIR)
+		return S_IFDIR;
 	if (S_ISDIR(mode) || S_ISGITLINK(mode))
 		return S_IFGITLINK;
 	return S_IFREG | ce_permissions(mode);
diff --git a/read-cache.c b/read-cache.c
index 97dbf2434f30..67acbf202f4e 100644
--- a/read-cache.c
+++ b/read-cache.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ 
 #include "fsmonitor.h"
 #include "thread-utils.h"
 #include "progress.h"
+#include "sparse-index.h"
 
 /* Mask for the name length in ce_flags in the on-disk index */
 
@@ -1002,8 +1003,14 @@  int verify_path(const char *path, unsigned mode)
 
 			c = *path++;
 			if ((c == '.' && !verify_dotfile(path, mode)) ||
-			    is_dir_sep(c) || c == '\0')
+			    is_dir_sep(c))
 				return 0;
+			/*
+			 * allow terminating directory separators for
+			 * sparse directory enries.
+			 */
+			if (c == '\0')
+				return S_ISDIR(mode);
 		} else if (c == '\\' && protect_ntfs) {
 			if (is_ntfs_dotgit(path))
 				return 0;
@@ -3061,6 +3068,14 @@  static int do_write_locked_index(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *l
 				 unsigned flags)
 {
 	int ret;
+	int was_full = !istate->sparse_index;
+
+	ret = convert_to_sparse(istate);
+
+	if (ret) {
+		warning(_("failed to convert to a sparse-index"));
+		return ret;
+	}
 
 	/*
 	 * TODO trace2: replace "the_repository" with the actual repo instance
@@ -3072,6 +3087,9 @@  static int do_write_locked_index(struct index_state *istate, struct lock_file *l
 	trace2_region_leave_printf("index", "do_write_index", the_repository,
 				   "%s", get_lock_file_path(lock));
 
+	if (was_full)
+		ensure_full_index(istate);
+
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 	if (flags & COMMIT_LOCK)
@@ -3162,9 +3180,10 @@  static int write_shared_index(struct index_state *istate,
 			      struct tempfile **temp)
 {
 	struct split_index *si = istate->split_index;
-	int ret;
+	int ret, was_full = !istate->sparse_index;
 
 	move_cache_to_base_index(istate);
+	convert_to_sparse(istate);
 
 	trace2_region_enter_printf("index", "shared/do_write_index",
 				   the_repository, "%s", get_tempfile_path(*temp));
@@ -3172,6 +3191,9 @@  static int write_shared_index(struct index_state *istate,
 	trace2_region_leave_printf("index", "shared/do_write_index",
 				   the_repository, "%s", get_tempfile_path(*temp));
 
+	if (was_full)
+		ensure_full_index(istate);
+
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 	ret = adjust_shared_perm(get_tempfile_path(*temp));
diff --git a/sparse-index.c b/sparse-index.c
index 316cb949b74b..cb1f85635fbc 100644
--- a/sparse-index.c
+++ b/sparse-index.c
@@ -4,6 +4,145 @@ 
 #include "tree.h"
 #include "pathspec.h"
 #include "trace2.h"
+#include "cache-tree.h"
+#include "config.h"
+#include "dir.h"
+#include "fsmonitor.h"
+
+static struct cache_entry *construct_sparse_dir_entry(
+				struct index_state *istate,
+				const char *sparse_dir,
+				struct cache_tree *tree)
+{
+	struct cache_entry *de;
+
+	de = make_cache_entry(istate, S_IFDIR, &tree->oid, sparse_dir, 0, 0);
+
+	de->ce_flags |= CE_SKIP_WORKTREE;
+	return de;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Returns the number of entries "inserted" into the index.
+ */
+static int convert_to_sparse_rec(struct index_state *istate,
+				 int num_converted,
+				 int start, int end,
+				 const char *ct_path, size_t ct_pathlen,
+				 struct cache_tree *ct)
+{
+	int i, can_convert = 1;
+	int start_converted = num_converted;
+	enum pattern_match_result match;
+	int dtype;
+	struct strbuf child_path = STRBUF_INIT;
+	struct pattern_list *pl = istate->sparse_checkout_patterns;
+
+	/*
+	 * Is the current path outside of the sparse cone?
+	 * Then check if the region can be replaced by a sparse
+	 * directory entry (everything is sparse and merged).
+	 */
+	match = path_matches_pattern_list(ct_path, ct_pathlen,
+					  NULL, &dtype, pl, istate);
+	if (match != NOT_MATCHED)
+		can_convert = 0;
+
+	for (i = start; can_convert && i < end; i++) {
+		struct cache_entry *ce = istate->cache[i];
+
+		if (ce_stage(ce) ||
+		    !(ce->ce_flags & CE_SKIP_WORKTREE))
+			can_convert = 0;
+	}
+
+	if (can_convert) {
+		struct cache_entry *se;
+		se = construct_sparse_dir_entry(istate, ct_path, ct);
+
+		istate->cache[num_converted++] = se;
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	for (i = start; i < end; ) {
+		int count, span, pos = -1;
+		const char *base, *slash;
+		struct cache_entry *ce = istate->cache[i];
+
+		/*
+		 * Detect if this is a normal entry oustide of any subtree
+		 * entry.
+		 */
+		base = ce->name + ct_pathlen;
+		slash = strchr(base, '/');
+
+		if (slash)
+			pos = cache_tree_subtree_pos(ct, base, slash - base);
+
+		if (pos < 0) {
+			istate->cache[num_converted++] = ce;
+			i++;
+			continue;
+		}
+
+		strbuf_setlen(&child_path, 0);
+		strbuf_add(&child_path, ce->name, slash - ce->name + 1);
+
+		span = ct->down[pos]->cache_tree->entry_count;
+		count = convert_to_sparse_rec(istate,
+					      num_converted, i, i + span,
+					      child_path.buf, child_path.len,
+					      ct->down[pos]->cache_tree);
+		num_converted += count;
+		i += span;
+	}
+
+	strbuf_release(&child_path);
+	return num_converted - start_converted;
+}
+
+int convert_to_sparse(struct index_state *istate)
+{
+	if (istate->split_index || istate->sparse_index ||
+	    !core_apply_sparse_checkout || !core_sparse_checkout_cone)
+		return 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * For now, only create a sparse index with the
+	 * GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX environment variable. We will relax
+	 * this once we have a proper way to opt-in (and later still,
+	 * opt-out).
+	 */
+	if (!git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX", 0))
+		return 0;
+
+	if (!istate->sparse_checkout_patterns) {
+		istate->sparse_checkout_patterns = xcalloc(1, sizeof(struct pattern_list));
+		if (get_sparse_checkout_patterns(istate->sparse_checkout_patterns) < 0)
+			return 0;
+	}
+
+	if (!istate->sparse_checkout_patterns->use_cone_patterns) {
+		warning(_("attempting to use sparse-index without cone mode"));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	if (cache_tree_update(istate, 0)) {
+		warning(_("unable to update cache-tree, staying full"));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	remove_fsmonitor(istate);
+
+	trace2_region_enter("index", "convert_to_sparse", istate->repo);
+	istate->cache_nr = convert_to_sparse_rec(istate,
+						 0, 0, istate->cache_nr,
+						 "", 0, istate->cache_tree);
+	istate->drop_cache_tree = 1;
+	istate->sparse_index = 1;
+	trace2_region_leave("index", "convert_to_sparse", istate->repo);
+	return 0;
+}
 
 static void set_index_entry(struct index_state *istate, int nr, struct cache_entry *ce)
 {
diff --git a/sparse-index.h b/sparse-index.h
index 09a20d036c46..64380e121d80 100644
--- a/sparse-index.h
+++ b/sparse-index.h
@@ -3,5 +3,6 @@ 
 
 struct index_state;
 void ensure_full_index(struct index_state *istate);
+int convert_to_sparse(struct index_state *istate);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
index 4d789fe86b9d..ca87033d30b0 100755
--- a/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
+++ b/t/t1092-sparse-checkout-compatibility.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ 
 
 test_description='compare full workdir to sparse workdir'
 
+GIT_TEST_CHECK_CACHE_TREE=0
+GIT_TEST_SPLIT_INDEX=0
+
 . ./test-lib.sh
 
 test_expect_success 'setup' '
@@ -121,15 +124,49 @@  run_on_all () {
 test_all_match () {
 	run_on_all "$@" &&
 	test_cmp full-checkout-out sparse-checkout-out &&
-	test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-checkout-err
+	test_cmp full-checkout-out sparse-index-out &&
+	test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-checkout-err &&
+	test_cmp full-checkout-err sparse-index-err
 }
 
 test_sparse_match () {
-	run_on_sparse $* &&
+	run_on_sparse "$@" &&
 	test_cmp sparse-checkout-out sparse-index-out &&
 	test_cmp sparse-checkout-err sparse-index-err
 }
 
+test_expect_success 'sparse-index contents' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
+	for dir in folder1 folder2 x
+	do
+		TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
+		grep "040000 tree $TREE	$dir/" cache \
+			|| return 1
+	done &&
+
+	GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1 git -C sparse-index sparse-checkout set folder1 &&
+
+	test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
+	for dir in deep folder2 x
+	do
+		TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
+		grep "040000 tree $TREE	$dir/" cache \
+			|| return 1
+	done &&
+
+	GIT_TEST_SPARSE_INDEX=1 git -C sparse-index sparse-checkout set deep/deeper1 &&
+
+	test-tool -C sparse-index read-cache --table >cache &&
+	for dir in deep/deeper2 folder1 folder2 x
+	do
+		TREE=$(git -C sparse-index rev-parse HEAD:$dir) &&
+		grep "040000 tree $TREE	$dir/" cache \
+			|| return 1
+	done
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'expanded in-memory index matches full index' '
 	init_repos &&
 	test_sparse_match test-tool read-cache --expand --table
@@ -137,6 +174,7 @@  test_expect_success 'expanded in-memory index matches full index' '
 
 test_expect_success 'status with options' '
 	init_repos &&
+	test_sparse_match ls &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 -z -u &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 -uno &&
@@ -273,6 +311,17 @@  test_expect_failure 'checkout and reset (mixed)' '
 	test_all_match git reset update-folder2
 '
 
+# Ensure that sparse-index behaves identically to
+# sparse-checkout with a full index.
+test_expect_success 'checkout and reset (mixed) [sparse]' '
+	init_repos &&
+
+	test_sparse_match git checkout -b reset-test update-deep &&
+	test_sparse_match git reset deepest &&
+	test_sparse_match git reset update-folder1 &&
+	test_sparse_match git reset update-folder2
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'merge' '
 	init_repos &&
 
@@ -309,14 +358,20 @@  test_expect_success 'clean' '
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
 	test_all_match git clean -f &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+	test_sparse_match ls &&
+	test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
 
 	test_all_match git clean -xf &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+	test_sparse_match ls &&
+	test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
 
 	test_all_match git clean -xdf &&
 	test_all_match git status --porcelain=v2 &&
+	test_sparse_match ls &&
+	test_sparse_match ls folder1 &&
 
-	test_path_is_dir sparse-checkout/folder1
+	test_sparse_match test_path_is_dir folder1
 '
 
 test_done