Overall architecture of TortoiseGit

===================================

Mainly TortoiseGit consists of several executables and two DLLs which

are of interest here (the project names are in parentheses bebind):

* TortoiseGit(32).dll (TortoiseShell)

* TortoiseGitStub(32).dll (TortoiseGitStub)

* TortoiseGitProc.exe (TortoiseGitProc)

* TGitCache.exe (TGitCache)

* TortoiseGitBlame.exe (TortoiseGitBlame)

* TortoiseGitIDiff.exe (TortoiseGitIDiff)

* TortoiseGitUDiff.exe (TortoiseGitIDiff)

* TortoiseGitMerge.exe (TortoiseGitMerge)

* TortoiseGitPlink.exe (TortoiseGitPlink)

* SshAskPass.exe (SshAskPass)

* tgittouch.exe (tgittouch)

TortoiseGit(32).dll and TortoiseGitStub(32).dll

===============================================

These two files are the heart of the Explorer Shell extension.

TortoiseGitStub(32).dll is registered as a shell extension and

loads TortoiseGit(32).dll which finally provides the context menu

and overlay icons (in combination with TGitCache.exe).

TortoiseGit(32).dll checks which context menu items to show and when a

context menu item is clicked on, it calls TortoiseGitProc.exe which

handles all commands from the shell extension.

Why two dlls? The reason for TortoiseGitStub(32).dll is the setting

"Show overlays and context menu only in explorer". It checks whether

the parent process is explorer.exe and depending on the setting

TortoiseGit(32).dll gets loaded. - Before supporting this setting

TortoiseGit directly registered TortoiseGit(32).dll as the TortoiseGit

explorer shell extension w/o using TortoiseGitStub(32).dll.

TortoiseGitProc.exe

===================

This is the main TortoiseGit GUI program. It is automatically executed

by the shell extension (TortoiseGit(32).dll) using command line

parameters indicating which action/command to execute and which files/folders

are selected in explorer.

If you want to see the command line parameters passed to TortoiseGitProc.exe

go to TortoiseGit settings, Advanced and set Debug to true. Starting from now

you will see all parameters passed to TortoiseGitProc.exe.

Some of the command line parameters (which we think are also useful for

users) are documented on

https://tortoisegit.org/docs/tortoisegit/tgit-automation.html#tgit-automation-basics.

If this program is started without any parameter, it just displays the about dialog.

Inside TortoiseGitProc all different commands have their own handler classes

and maybe dialogs (in MSVC you can see all the project directories for them).

Mostly TortoiseGitProc.exe will display its own dialogs and call git.exe. But for

diffing or blaming it will execute the other .exe files (such as TortoiseGitBlame.exe)

with appropriate command line parameters. Often TortoiseGitProc.exe also creates

temp files which are passed to the tools.

Noteworthy files

----------------

Main class for functionality is AppUtils.cpp, which is called by many commands.

The log dialog and other revision lists are handled by GitLogListBase.cpp or

derived classes (context menu action handlers are in GitLogListAction.cpp).

GitStatusListCtrl.cpp is used everywhere where file lists are displayed

in dialogs, such as log dialog and commit dialog.

TGitCache.exe

=============

This is a process running in the background. It calculates working tree and

file statuses. The shell extension (TortoiseGit(32).dll) connects to it for

asking which overlay icons to show.

TGitCache also watches changes on folders which were opened in explorer before

in order to instantly react on changes and propagating updates of the overlay

icons to the shell extension.

For more information you can set the CacheTrayIcon setting to true in the

TortoiseGit advanced settings. After restarting TGitCache you can see a new

icon in the systray. Double clicking on it opens a window showing which files

TGitCache processes right now.

TortoiseGitBlame.exe

====================

This program displays the blame functionality. It is called by TortoiseGitProc.exe

or manually by the user (there is an icon in the startmenu).

TortoiseGitIDiff.exe

====================

This program is for comparing images. It is called by TortoiseGitProc.exe

or manually by the user (there is an icon in the startmenu).

Command line parameters are document here:

https://tortoisegit.org/docs/tortoisegit/tgit-automation-idiff.html

TortoiseGitUDiff.exe

====================

This program is for showing .patch and .diff files with syntax highlighting.

It is called by TortoiseGitProc.exe or when the user double clicks on a .patch

or .diff file (TortoiseGitUDiff.exe is registered as a handler for these file

types on installation by default).

TortoiseGitMerge.exe

====================

This program is for comparing files and resolving conflicts. It is called by

TortoiseGitProc.exe or manually by the user (there is an icon in the startmenu).

Command line parameters are document here:

https://tortoisegit.org/docs/tortoisegitmerge/tme-automation.html

SshAskPass.exe

==============

This program is for providing a GUI for asking for credentials especially in

git.exe and ssh.exe.

Both, git.exe and ssh.exe (from OpenSSH) are command line tools. When executed

from TortoiseGitProc.exe there is no terminal attached and, thus, those tools

cannot ask for credentials. However, git.exe and ssh.exe allow to "register"

a helper utility (using the environment variables SSH_ASKPASS and GIT_ASKPASS).

All SshAskPass.exe does is, it displays the command line parameters in the GUI

and passes the entered values to STDOUT (where it is read by the calling tool).

tgittouch.exe

=============

This is a helper utility which creates/touches a file which is passed as

command line parameter.

It is needed for interacting with the Putty authentication agent (peagent).

TortoiseGit needs to know when the user finished entering his/her password,

but peagent is not blocking. Therefore, peagent is called with the private

key and tgittouch.exe together with a tmp filename.Then TortoiseGitProc.exe

waits untils the tmp-file is created.