Checking the size/permissions/file-type of files stored in the dirstate after an update where the files are changed concurrently outside of hg's control. $ hg init repo $ cd repo $ echo a > a $ hg commit -qAm _ $ echo aa > a $ hg commit -m _ $ hg debugdirstate --no-dates n 644 3 (set |unset) a (re) $ cat >> $TESTTMP/dirstaterace.py << EOF > from mercurial import ( > extensions, > merge, > ) > def extsetup(ui): > extensions.wrapfunction(merge, 'applyupdates', wrap) > def wrap(orig, *args, **kwargs): > res = orig(*args, **kwargs) > with open("a", "w"): > pass # just truncate the file > return res > EOF Do an update where file 'a' is changed between hg writing it to disk and hg writing the dirstate. It results in a corrupted dirstate, which stores the wrong size, and thus hg status shows spuriously modified files. $ hg up -r 0 --config extensions.race=$TESTTMP/dirstaterace.py 1 files updated, 0 files merged, 0 files removed, 0 files unresolved $ hg debugdirstate --no-dates n 644 0 (set |unset) a (re) $ echo a > a; hg status; hg diff M a