dch --create always launches editor

s/mbu1//, oops.

Martin: can you please take a look at it?

fwiw, this appears to be intentional.

--create support was added upstream in 2.9.5. The diff between the relevant SVN revisions of the time includes:

# Now Run the Editor; always run if doing "closes" to give a chance to check
-if (! $TEXT or @closes_text) {
+if (! $TEXT or @closes_text or $opt_create) {

Also fwiw, the debdiff includes two changes but the changelog entry only mentions one of them (the other being suppressing the "initial release" entry if text was passed on the command line)

Both changes are necessary to suppress the editor. I've updated the changelog entry to say the patch suppresses the "initial release" line when dch --create is given a changelog entry - thanks!

Though the code currently in debchange appears to be intentional it is not correct and doesn't behave as documented:

The "initial release" text is assigned to @closes_text, and currently the script launches the editor if @closes_text is populated. For this reason the ' or $opt_create' test for launching the editor is a NOOP - in the current code @closes_text is always populated if $opt_create is true.

If @closes_text were *not* set (which my patch allows) then the test for $opt_create would affect control flow. However, the test for $opt_create is still no good - my patch to prevent @closes_text from being populated requires that $opt_create be true and $TEXT be populated. This means testing for $opt_create is going to launch the editor even though the user passed in text on the command line. Passing text on the cmd line is documented to *not* open the editor but instead run in batch mode. Therefore the test for $opt_create needs to be removed.

Given that the documentation says that text passed on the cmd line is "simply add[ed]" to the changelog I think it is reasonable to remove the "initial release" text in this case.

The patch is at least incomplete. In order to get a valid changelog, you need to specify at least --package and -v in addition to the text in --create mode. The current patch does not enforce this.

Can you please file a Debian bug for this and discuss the approach there? I'd really like to avoid introducing such incompatibilities between Debian and Ubuntu, especially for tools which are called noninteractively from scripts.

Updated patch to required --package and -v for batch mode.

Filed debian bug 484334 with the same patch.

That looks much better now, thank you! Let's see what the Debian maintainer says, but I don't see a reason to reject the patch any more.

I've applied a variation on Steve's patch to what will be 2.10.30

The Debian bug contains a copy of the final diff and a brief description of my changes and the reasoning behind them

Thanks a lot, Adam!

This bug was fixed in the package devscripts - 2.10.26ubuntu6

---------------
devscripts (2.10.26ubuntu6) intrepid; urgency=low

  * debchange:
    + Don't automatically open an editor when creating a new changelog if
      a package name and version are supplied and either --empty was used
      or the text of a changelog entry was supplied on the command line.
      Based on a patch from Steve Magoun (Closes: #4843334, LP: #220733)
    + Don't automatically add an "initial release" stanza to a newly created
      changelog if the text of a changelog entry was supplied on the command
      line. Thanks Steve Magoun.
    (Backported from Debian SVN)

 -- Martin Pitt <email address hidden> Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:34:42 +0000