feat: Use git cherry-pick instead of git am ( = use mergiraf)

[rvalyi]

as I explained here #60, oca-port is currently not taking advantage of a killer merge conflict resolution tool: mergiraf.

This can change if we use git cherry-pick instead of git am in oca-port because cherry-pick has more merging context so mergiraf is kickin'in.

I used it this way for my last porting PRs in OCA/l10n-brazil. But if you prefer I can also craft is as an option. What do you think?

cc @sebalix @simahawk @sbidoul @renatonlima @sebastienbeau @hparfr

[sebalix]

git am is used instead of git cherry-pick because it allows to focus on the module (the path) you want to migrate/port.
If a commit is updating several modules at once, trying a cherry-pick of it on a target branch that doesn't contain all these modules will fail (that's also one of the reason the OCA Migration guide makes use of git format-patch + git am, to focus on a given module path).

But maybe there is an option with git cherry-pick to limit its scope to a given path/git tree?

NOTE: still didn't checked this mergiraf tool!

[rvalyi]

thanks for these explanations.

Note that we avoid having a commit change several modules at once in the OCA in general...

But indeed mergiraf doesn't work with git am an it seems unlikely it will work with it. Using git am for migration is not an issue as there is no conflict during the migration. But I'm afraid, on the other hand, porting commits means dealing with lots of conflicts...

You should absolutely try mergiraf, it typically fixed 50% of my conflicts in my daily Odoo routine. That's a BIG deal...

We also have to think about the big picture: the ability to lower the cost of maintaining modules in many branches. In the very close future LLMs will have the ability to migrate 50% of OCA modules and automate the conflict resolution of ports. That means we could have a port bot with modules opting it for auto port. But I feel mergiraf is the 1st step for that...

Would you accept my cherry-pick PR if I craft it as an option?

[rvalyi]

@sebalix as for limiting the effect of git cherry-pick to a specific path, Gemini AI just suggested:

git cherry-pick --no-commit <commit-hash>
git reset  #  unstage all the applied changes
git add module_path
git commit

I'll look further if it can be applied to this PR...

[sebalix]

I totally agree that resolving conflicts automatically will be a big deal.
I was thinking of another trick to limit the scope and still benefit from git cherry-pick:

1. apply the patches with git am in a temporary branch (so the commit is ported only for the given module path)
2. then use git cherry-pick from this temporary branch on the destination branch

Should it fix the workflow with mergiraf?