Merge branch 'ta/config-set'

Add in-core caching layer to let us avoid reading the same
configuration files number of times.

* ta/config-set:
  test-config: add tests for the config_set API
  add `config_set` API for caching config-like files

8 files changed, 801 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 81e12c062..5bfb23459 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -178,6 +178,7 @@
 /gitweb/static/gitweb.min.*
 /test-chmtime
 /test-ctype
+/test-config
 /test-date
 /test-delta
 /test-dump-cache-tree
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-config.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-config.txt
index edd5018e1..21f280ca6 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-config.txt
@@ -77,6 +77,86 @@ To read a specific file in git-config format, use
 `git_config_from_file`. This takes the same callback and data parameters
 as `git_config`.
 
+Querying For Specific Variables
+-------------------------------
+
+For programs wanting to query for specific variables in a non-callback
+manner, the config API provides two functions `git_config_get_value`
+and `git_config_get_value_multi`. They both read values from an internal
+cache generated previously from reading the config files.
+
+`int git_config_get_value(const char *key, const char **value)`::
+
+	Finds the highest-priority value for the configuration variable `key`,
+	stores the pointer to it in `value` and returns 0. When the
+	configuration variable `key` is not found, returns 1 without touching
+	`value`. The caller should not free or modify `value`, as it is owned
+	by the cache.
+
+`const struct string_list *git_config_get_value_multi(const char *key)`::
+
+	Finds and returns the value list, sorted in order of increasing priority
+	for the configuration variable `key`. When the configuration variable
+	`key` is not found, returns NULL. The caller should not free or modify
+	the returned pointer, as it is owned by the cache.
+
+`void git_config_clear(void)`::
+
+	Resets and invalidates the config cache.
+
+The config API also provides type specific API functions which do conversion
+as well as retrieval for the queried variable, including:
+
+`int git_config_get_int(const char *key, int *dest)`::
+
+	Finds and parses the value to an integer for the configuration variable
+	`key`. Dies on error; otherwise, stores the value of the parsed integer in
+	`dest` and returns 0. When the configuration variable `key` is not found,
+	returns 1 without touching `dest`.
+
+`int git_config_get_ulong(const char *key, unsigned long *dest)`::
+
+	Similar to `git_config_get_int` but for unsigned longs.
+
+`int git_config_get_bool(const char *key, int *dest)`::
+
+	Finds and parses the value into a boolean value, for the configuration
+	variable `key` respecting keywords like "true" and "false". Integer
+	values are converted into true/false values (when they are non-zero or
+	zero, respectively). Other values cause a die(). If parsing is successful,
+	stores the value of the parsed result in `dest` and returns 0. When the
+	configuration variable `key` is not found, returns 1 without touching
+	`dest`.
+
+`int git_config_get_bool_or_int(const char *key, int *is_bool, int *dest)`::
+
+	Similar to `git_config_get_bool`, except that integers are copied as-is,
+	and `is_bool` flag is unset.
+
+`int git_config_get_maybe_bool(const char *key, int *dest)`::
+
+	Similar to `git_config_get_bool`, except that it returns -1 on error
+	rather than dying.
+
+`int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest)`::
+
+	Allocates and copies the retrieved string into the `dest` parameter for
+	the configuration variable `key`; if NULL string is given, prints an
+	error message and returns -1. When the configuration variable `key` is
+	not found, returns 1 without touching `dest`.
+
+`int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest)`::
+
+	Similar to `git_config_get_string_const`, except that retrieved value
+	copied into the `dest` parameter is a mutable string.
+
+`int git_config_get_pathname(const char *key, const char **dest)`::
+
+	Similar to `git_config_get_string`, but expands `~` or `~user` into
+	the user's home directory when found at the beginning of the path.
+
+See test-config.c for usage examples.
+
 Value Parsing Helpers
 ---------------------
 
@@ -134,6 +214,68 @@ int read_file_with_include(const char *file, config_fn_t fn, void *data)
 `git_config` respects includes automatically. The lower-level
 `git_config_from_file` does not.
 
+Custom Configsets
+-----------------
+
+A `config_set` can be used to construct an in-memory cache for
+config-like files that the caller specifies (i.e., files like `.gitmodules`,
+`~/.gitconfig` etc.). For example,
+
+---------------------------------------
+struct config_set gm_config;
+git_configset_init(&gm_config);
+int b;
+/* we add config files to the config_set */
+git_configset_add_file(&gm_config, ".gitmodules");
+git_configset_add_file(&gm_config, ".gitmodules_alt");
+
+if (!git_configset_get_bool(gm_config, "submodule.frotz.ignore", &b)) {
+	/* hack hack hack */
+}
+
+/* when we are done with the configset */
+git_configset_clear(&gm_config);
+----------------------------------------
+
+Configset API provides functions for the above mentioned work flow, including:
+
+`void git_configset_init(struct config_set *cs)`::
+
+	Initializes the config_set `cs`.
+
+`int git_configset_add_file(struct config_set *cs, const char *filename)`::
+
+	Parses the file and adds the variable-value pairs to the `config_set`,
+	dies if there is an error in parsing the file. Returns 0 on success, or
+	-1 if the file does not exist or is inaccessible. The user has to decide
+	if he wants to free the incomplete configset or continue using it when
+	the function returns -1.
+
+`int git_configset_get_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **value)`::
+
+	Finds the highest-priority value for the configuration variable `key`
+	and config set `cs`, stores the pointer to it in `value` and returns 0.
+	When the configuration variable `key` is not found, returns 1 without
+	touching `value`. The caller should not free or modify `value`, as it
+	is owned by the cache.
+
+`const struct string_list *git_configset_get_value_multi(struct config_set *cs, const char *key)`::
+
+	Finds and returns the value list, sorted in order of increasing priority
+	for the configuration variable `key` and config set `cs`. When the
+	configuration variable `key` is not found, returns NULL. The caller
+	should not free or modify the returned pointer, as it is owned by the cache.
+
+`void git_configset_clear(struct config_set *cs)`::
+
+	Clears `config_set` structure, removes all saved variable-value pairs.
+
+In addition to above functions, the `config_set` API provides type specific
+functions in the vein of `git_config_get_int` and family but with an extra
+parameter, pointer to struct `config_set`.
+They all behave similarly to the `git_config_get*()` family described in
+"Querying For Specific Variables" above.
+
 Writing Config Files
 --------------------
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 9f984a9e5..30cc622f0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -551,6 +551,7 @@ PROGRAMS += $(patsubst %.o,git-%$X,$(PROGRAM_OBJS))
 
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-chmtime
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-ctype
+TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-config
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-date
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-delta
 TEST_PROGRAMS_NEED_X += test-dump-cache-tree
diff --git a/cache.h b/cache.h
index 76be78508..4d5b76c76 100644
--- a/cache.h
+++ b/cache.h
@@ -1353,6 +1353,38 @@ extern int parse_config_key(const char *var,
 			    const char **subsection, int *subsection_len,
 			    const char **key);
 
+struct config_set {
+	struct hashmap config_hash;
+	int hash_initialized;
+};
+
+extern void git_configset_init(struct config_set *cs);
+extern int git_configset_add_file(struct config_set *cs, const char *filename);
+extern int git_configset_get_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **value);
+extern const struct string_list *git_configset_get_value_multi(struct config_set *cs, const char *key);
+extern void git_configset_clear(struct config_set *cs);
+extern int git_configset_get_string_const(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_ulong(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, unsigned long *dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_bool(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_bool_or_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *is_bool, int *dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_maybe_bool(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_configset_get_pathname(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest);
+
+extern int git_config_get_value(const char *key, const char **value);
+extern const struct string_list *git_config_get_value_multi(const char *key);
+extern void git_config_clear(void);
+extern void git_config_iter(config_fn_t fn, void *data);
+extern int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest);
+extern int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest);
+extern int git_config_get_int(const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_config_get_ulong(const char *key, unsigned long *dest);
+extern int git_config_get_bool(const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_config_get_bool_or_int(const char *key, int *is_bool, int *dest);
+extern int git_config_get_maybe_bool(const char *key, int *dest);
+extern int git_config_get_pathname(const char *key, const char **dest);
+
 extern int committer_ident_sufficiently_given(void);
 extern int author_ident_sufficiently_given(void);
 
diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 058505cb8..a191328a9 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 #include "exec_cmd.h"
 #include "strbuf.h"
 #include "quote.h"
+#include "hashmap.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
 
 struct config_source {
 	struct config_source *prev;
@@ -33,10 +35,23 @@ struct config_source {
 	long (*do_ftell)(struct config_source *c);
 };
 
+struct config_set_element {
+	struct hashmap_entry ent;
+	char *key;
+	struct string_list value_list;
+};
+
 static struct config_source *cf;
 
 static int zlib_compression_seen;
 
+/*
+ * Default config_set that contains key-value pairs from the usual set of config
+ * config files (i.e repo specific .git/config, user wide ~/.gitconfig, XDG
+ * config file and the global /etc/gitconfig)
+ */
+static struct config_set the_config_set;
+
 static int config_file_fgetc(struct config_source *conf)
 {
 	return fgetc(conf->u.file);
@@ -1210,6 +1225,262 @@ int git_config(config_fn_t fn, void *data)
 	return git_config_with_options(fn, data, NULL, 1);
 }
 
+static struct config_set_element *configset_find_element(struct config_set *cs, const char *key)
+{
+	struct config_set_element k;
+	struct config_set_element *found_entry;
+	char *normalized_key;
+	int ret;
+	/*
+	 * `key` may come from the user, so normalize it before using it
+	 * for querying entries from the hashmap.
+	 */
+	ret = git_config_parse_key(key, &normalized_key, NULL);
+
+	if (ret)
+		return NULL;
+
+	hashmap_entry_init(&k, strhash(normalized_key));
+	k.key = normalized_key;
+	found_entry = hashmap_get(&cs->config_hash, &k, NULL);
+	free(normalized_key);
+	return found_entry;
+}
+
+static int configset_add_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char *value)
+{
+	struct config_set_element *e;
+	e = configset_find_element(cs, key);
+	/*
+	 * Since the keys are being fed by git_config*() callback mechanism, they
+	 * are already normalized. So simply add them without any further munging.
+	 */
+	if (!e) {
+		e = xmalloc(sizeof(*e));
+		hashmap_entry_init(e, strhash(key));
+		e->key = xstrdup(key);
+		string_list_init(&e->value_list, 1);
+		hashmap_add(&cs->config_hash, e);
+	}
+	string_list_append_nodup(&e->value_list, value ? xstrdup(value) : NULL);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+static int config_set_element_cmp(const struct config_set_element *e1,
+				 const struct config_set_element *e2, const void *unused)
+{
+	return strcmp(e1->key, e2->key);
+}
+
+void git_configset_init(struct config_set *cs)
+{
+	hashmap_init(&cs->config_hash, (hashmap_cmp_fn)config_set_element_cmp, 0);
+	cs->hash_initialized = 1;
+}
+
+void git_configset_clear(struct config_set *cs)
+{
+	struct config_set_element *entry;
+	struct hashmap_iter iter;
+	if (!cs->hash_initialized)
+		return;
+
+	hashmap_iter_init(&cs->config_hash, &iter);
+	while ((entry = hashmap_iter_next(&iter))) {
+		free(entry->key);
+		string_list_clear(&entry->value_list, 0);
+	}
+	hashmap_free(&cs->config_hash, 1);
+	cs->hash_initialized = 0;
+}
+
+static int config_set_callback(const char *key, const char *value, void *cb)
+{
+	struct config_set *cs = cb;
+	configset_add_value(cs, key, value);
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int git_configset_add_file(struct config_set *cs, const char *filename)
+{
+	return git_config_from_file(config_set_callback, filename, cs);
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_value(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **value)
+{
+	const struct string_list *values = NULL;
+	/*
+	 * Follows "last one wins" semantic, i.e., if there are multiple matches for the
+	 * queried key in the files of the configset, the value returned will be the last
+	 * value in the value list for that key.
+	 */
+	values = git_configset_get_value_multi(cs, key);
+
+	if (!values)
+		return 1;
+	assert(values->nr > 0);
+	*value = values->items[values->nr - 1].string;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+const struct string_list *git_configset_get_value_multi(struct config_set *cs, const char *key)
+{
+	struct config_set_element *e = configset_find_element(cs, key);
+	return e ? &e->value_list : NULL;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_string_const(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value))
+		return git_config_string(dest, key, value);
+	else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_string(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, char **dest)
+{
+	return git_configset_get_string_const(cs, key, (const char **)dest);
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		*dest = git_config_int(key, value);
+		return 0;
+	} else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_ulong(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, unsigned long *dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		*dest = git_config_ulong(key, value);
+		return 0;
+	} else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_bool(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		*dest = git_config_bool(key, value);
+		return 0;
+	} else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_bool_or_int(struct config_set *cs, const char *key,
+				int *is_bool, int *dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		*dest = git_config_bool_or_int(key, value, is_bool);
+		return 0;
+	} else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_maybe_bool(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value)) {
+		*dest = git_config_maybe_bool(key, value);
+		if (*dest == -1)
+			return -1;
+		return 0;
+	} else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+int git_configset_get_pathname(struct config_set *cs, const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	const char *value;
+	if (!git_configset_get_value(cs, key, &value))
+		return git_config_pathname(dest, key, value);
+	else
+		return 1;
+}
+
+static void git_config_check_init(void)
+{
+	if (the_config_set.hash_initialized)
+		return;
+	git_configset_init(&the_config_set);
+	git_config(config_set_callback, &the_config_set);
+}
+
+void git_config_clear(void)
+{
+	if (!the_config_set.hash_initialized)
+		return;
+	git_configset_clear(&the_config_set);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_value(const char *key, const char **value)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_value(&the_config_set, key, value);
+}
+
+const struct string_list *git_config_get_value_multi(const char *key)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_value_multi(&the_config_set, key);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_string_const(const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_string_const(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_string(const char *key, char **dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_config_get_string_const(key, (const char **)dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_int(const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_int(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_ulong(const char *key, unsigned long *dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_ulong(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_bool(const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_bool(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_bool_or_int(const char *key, int *is_bool, int *dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_bool_or_int(&the_config_set, key, is_bool, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_maybe_bool(const char *key, int *dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_maybe_bool(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
+int git_config_get_pathname(const char *key, const char **dest)
+{
+	git_config_check_init();
+	return git_configset_get_pathname(&the_config_set, key, dest);
+}
+
 /*
  * Find all the stuff for git_config_set() below.
  */
@@ -1705,6 +1976,9 @@ int git_config_set_multivar_in_file(const char *config_filename,
 	lock = NULL;
 	ret = 0;
 
+	/* Invalidate the config cache */
+	git_config_clear();
+
 out_free:
 	if (lock)
 		rollback_lock_file(lock);
diff --git a/setup.c b/setup.c
index 0a22f8bd1..793369da3 100644
--- a/setup.c
+++ b/setup.c
@@ -625,6 +625,15 @@ static const char *setup_git_directory_gently_1(int *nongit_ok)
 	int one_filesystem = 1;
 
 	/*
+	 * We may have read an incomplete configuration before
+	 * setting-up the git directory. If so, clear the cache so
+	 * that the next queries to the configuration reload complete
+	 * configuration (including the per-repo config file that we
+	 * ignored previously).
+	 */
+	git_config_clear();
+
+	/*
 	 * Let's assume that we are in a git repository.
 	 * If it turns out later that we are somewhere else, the value will be
 	 * updated accordingly.
diff --git a/t/t1308-config-set.sh b/t/t1308-config-set.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..7fdf840b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t1308-config-set.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='Test git config-set API in different settings'
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+# 'check_config get_* section.key value' verifies that the entry for
+# section.key is 'value'
+check_config () {
+	if test "$1" = expect_code
+	then
+		expect_code="$2" && shift && shift
+	else
+		expect_code=0
+	fi &&
+	op=$1 key=$2 && shift && shift &&
+	if test $# != 0
+	then
+		printf "%s\n" "$@"
+	fi >expect &&
+	test_expect_code $expect_code test-config "$op" "$key" >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+}
+
+test_expect_success 'setup default config' '
+	cat >.git/config <<\EOF
+	[case]
+		penguin = very blue
+		Movie = BadPhysics
+		UPPERCASE = true
+		MixedCase = true
+		my =
+		foo
+		baz = sam
+	[Cores]
+		WhatEver = Second
+		baz = bar
+	[cores]
+		baz = bat
+	[CORES]
+		baz = ball
+	[my "Foo bAr"]
+		hi = mixed-case
+	[my "FOO BAR"]
+		hi = upper-case
+	[my "foo bar"]
+		hi = lower-case
+	[case]
+		baz = bat
+		baz = hask
+	[lamb]
+		chop = 65
+		head = none
+	[goat]
+		legs = 4
+		head = true
+		skin = false
+		nose = 1
+		horns
+	EOF
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get value for a simple key' '
+	check_config get_value case.penguin "very blue"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get value for a key with value as an empty string' '
+	check_config get_value case.my ""
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'get value for a key with value as NULL' '
+	check_config get_value case.foo "(NULL)"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'upper case key' '
+	check_config get_value case.UPPERCASE "true" &&
+	check_config get_value case.uppercase "true"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'mixed case key' '
+	check_config get_value case.MixedCase "true" &&
+	check_config get_value case.MIXEDCASE "true" &&
+	check_config get_value case.mixedcase "true"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'key and value with mixed case' '
+	check_config get_value case.Movie "BadPhysics"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'key with case sensitive subsection' '
+	check_config get_value "my.Foo bAr.hi" "mixed-case" &&
+	check_config get_value "my.FOO BAR.hi" "upper-case" &&
+	check_config get_value "my.foo bar.hi" "lower-case"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'key with case insensitive section header' '
+	check_config get_value cores.baz "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value Cores.baz "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value CORES.baz "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value coreS.baz "ball"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'key with case insensitive section header & variable' '
+	check_config get_value CORES.BAZ "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value cores.baz "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value cores.BaZ "ball" &&
+	check_config get_value cOreS.bAz "ball"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find value with misspelled key' '
+	check_config expect_code 1 get_value "my.fOo Bar.hi" "Value not found for \"my.fOo Bar.hi\""
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find value with the highest priority' '
+	check_config get_value case.baz "hask"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find integer value for a key' '
+	check_config get_int lamb.chop 65
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find integer if value is non parse-able' '
+	check_config expect_code 128 get_int lamb.head
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find bool value for the entered key' '
+	check_config get_bool goat.head 1 &&
+	check_config get_bool goat.skin 0 &&
+	check_config get_bool goat.nose 1 &&
+	check_config get_bool goat.horns 1 &&
+	check_config get_bool goat.legs 1
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find multiple values' '
+	check_config get_value_multi case.baz sam bat hask
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find value from a configset' '
+	cat >config2 <<-\EOF &&
+	[case]
+		baz = lama
+	[my]
+		new = silk
+	[case]
+		baz = ball
+	EOF
+	echo silk >expect &&
+	test-config configset_get_value my.new config2 .git/config >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find value with highest priority from a configset' '
+	echo hask >expect &&
+	test-config configset_get_value case.baz config2 .git/config >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'find value_list for a key from a configset' '
+	cat >except <<-\EOF &&
+	sam
+	bat
+	hask
+	lama
+	ball
+	EOF
+	test-config configset_get_value case.baz config2 .git/config >actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'proper error on non-existent files' '
+	echo "Error (-1) reading configuration file non-existent-file." >expect &&
+	test_expect_code 2 test-config configset_get_value foo.bar non-existent-file 2>actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success POSIXPERM,SANITY 'proper error on non-accessible files' '
+	chmod -r .git/config &&
+	test_when_finished "chmod +r .git/config" &&
+	echo "Error (-1) reading configuration file .git/config." >expect &&
+	test_expect_code 2 test-config configset_get_value foo.bar .git/config 2>actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'proper error on error in default config files' '
+	cp .git/config .git/config.old &&
+	test_when_finished "mv .git/config.old .git/config" &&
+	echo "[" >>.git/config &&
+	echo "fatal: bad config file line 35 in .git/config" >expect &&
+	test_expect_code 128 test-config get_value foo.bar 2>actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'proper error on error in custom config files' '
+	echo "[" >>syntax-error &&
+	echo "fatal: bad config file line 1 in syntax-error" >expect &&
+	test_expect_code 128 test-config configset_get_value foo.bar syntax-error 2>actual &&
+	test_cmp expect actual
+'
+
+test_done
diff --git a/test-config.c b/test-config.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9dd1b2263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-config.c
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+#include "cache.h"
+#include "string-list.h"
+
+/*
+ * This program exposes the C API of the configuration mechanism
+ * as a set of simple commands in order to facilitate testing.
+ *
+ * Reads stdin and prints result of command to stdout:
+ *
+ * get_value -> prints the value with highest priority for the entered key
+ *
+ * get_value_multi -> prints all values for the entered key in increasing order
+ *		     of priority
+ *
+ * get_int -> print integer value for the entered key or die
+ *
+ * get_bool -> print bool value for the entered key or die
+ *
+ * configset_get_value -> returns value with the highest priority for the entered key
+ * 			from a config_set constructed from files entered as arguments.
+ *
+ * configset_get_value_multi -> returns value_list for the entered key sorted in
+ * 				ascending order of priority from a config_set
+ * 				constructed from files entered as arguments.
+ *
+ * Examples:
+ *
+ * To print the value with highest priority for key "foo.bAr Baz.rock":
+ * 	test-config get_value "foo.bAr Baz.rock"
+ *
+ */
+
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+	int i, val;
+	const char *v;
+	const struct string_list *strptr;
+	struct config_set cs;
+	git_configset_init(&cs);
+
+	if (argc < 2) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "Please, provide a command name on the command-line\n");
+		goto exit1;
+	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get_value")) {
+		if (!git_config_get_value(argv[2], &v)) {
+			if (!v)
+				printf("(NULL)\n");
+			else
+				printf("%s\n", v);
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get_value_multi")) {
+		strptr = git_config_get_value_multi(argv[2]);
+		if (strptr) {
+			for (i = 0; i < strptr->nr; i++) {
+				v = strptr->items[i].string;
+				if (!v)
+					printf("(NULL)\n");
+				else
+					printf("%s\n", v);
+			}
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get_int")) {
+		if (!git_config_get_int(argv[2], &val)) {
+			printf("%d\n", val);
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	} else if (argc == 3 && !strcmp(argv[1], "get_bool")) {
+		if (!git_config_get_bool(argv[2], &val)) {
+			printf("%d\n", val);
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	} else if (!strcmp(argv[1], "configset_get_value")) {
+		for (i = 3; i < argc; i++) {
+			int err;
+			if ((err = git_configset_add_file(&cs, argv[i]))) {
+				fprintf(stderr, "Error (%d) reading configuration file %s.\n", err, argv[i]);
+				goto exit2;
+			}
+		}
+		if (!git_configset_get_value(&cs, argv[2], &v)) {
+			if (!v)
+				printf("(NULL)\n");
+			else
+				printf("%s\n", v);
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	} else if (!strcmp(argv[1], "configset_get_value_multi")) {
+		for (i = 3; i < argc; i++) {
+			int err;
+			if ((err = git_configset_add_file(&cs, argv[i]))) {
+				fprintf(stderr, "Error (%d) reading configuration file %s.\n", err, argv[i]);
+				goto exit2;
+			}
+		}
+		strptr = git_configset_get_value_multi(&cs, argv[2]);
+		if (strptr) {
+			for (i = 0; i < strptr->nr; i++) {
+				v = strptr->items[i].string;
+				if (!v)
+					printf("(NULL)\n");
+				else
+					printf("%s\n", v);
+			}
+			goto exit0;
+		} else {
+			printf("Value not found for \"%s\"\n", argv[2]);
+			goto exit1;
+		}
+	}
+
+	die("%s: Please check the syntax and the function name", argv[0]);
+
+exit0:
+	git_configset_clear(&cs);
+	return 0;
+
+exit1:
+	git_configset_clear(&cs);
+	return 1;
+
+exit2:
+	git_configset_clear(&cs);
+	return 2;
+}