(Version 4) In version 4, the padding after the pathname does not
exist.
+ Interpretation of index entries in split index mode is completely
+ different. See below for details.
+
== Extensions
=== Cached tree
- At most three 160-bit object names of the entry in stages from 1 to 3
(nothing is written for a missing stage).
+=== Split index
+
+ In split index mode, the majority of index entries could be stored
+ in a separate file. This extension records the changes to be made on
+ top of that to produce the final index.
+
+ The signature for this extension is { 'l', 'i, 'n', 'k' }.
+
+ The extension consists of:
+
+ - 160-bit SHA-1 of the shared index file. The shared index file path
+ is $GIT_DIR/sharedindex.<SHA-1>. If all 160 bits are zero, the
+ index does not require a shared index file.
+
+ - An ewah-encoded delete bitmap, each bit represents an entry in the
+ shared index. If a bit is set, its corresponding entry in the
+ shared index will be removed from the final index. Note, because
+ a delete operation changes index entry positions, but we do need
+ original positions in replace phase, it's best to just mark
+ entries for removal, then do a mass deletion after replacement.
+
+ - An ewah-encoded replace bitmap, each bit represents an entry in
+ the shared index. If a bit is set, its corresponding entry in the
+ shared index will be replaced with an entry in this index
+ file. All replaced entries are stored in sorted order in this
+ index. The first "1" bit in the replace bitmap corresponds to the
+ first index entry, the second "1" bit to the second entry and so
+ on. Replaced entries may have empty path names to save space.
+
+ The remaining index entries after replaced ones will be added to the
+ final index. These added entries are also sorted by entry namme then
+ stage.