Documentation: improve description for core.quotePath

Linking the description for pathname quoting to the configuration
variable "core.quotePath" removes inconstistent and incomplete
sections while also giving two hints how to deal with it: Either with
"-c core.quotePath=false" or with "-z".

Signed-off-by: Andreas Heiduk <asheiduk@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

9 files changed, 48 insertions, 39 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 47603f5484..5e5c2ae5fb 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -350,16 +350,19 @@ core.checkStat::
 	all fields, including the sub-second part of mtime and ctime.
 
 core.quotePath::
-	The commands that output paths (e.g. 'ls-files',
-	'diff'), when not given the `-z` option, will quote
-	"unusual" characters in the pathname by enclosing the
-	pathname in a double-quote pair and with backslashes the
-	same way strings in C source code are quoted.  If this
-	variable is set to false, the bytes higher than 0x80 are
-	not quoted but output as verbatim.  Note that double
-	quote, backslash and control characters are always
-	quoted without `-z` regardless of the setting of this
-	variable.
+	Commands that output paths (e.g. 'ls-files', 'diff'), will
+	quote "unusual" characters in the pathname by enclosing the
+	pathname in double-quotes and escaping those characters with
+	backslashes in the same way C escapes control characters (e.g.
+	`\t` for TAB, `\n` for LF, `\\` for backslash) or bytes with
+	values larger than 0x80 (e.g. octal `\302\265` for "micro" in
+	UTF-8).  If this variable is set to false, bytes higher than
+	0x80 are not considered "unusual" any more. Double-quotes,
+	backslash and control characters are always escaped regardless
+	of the setting of this variable.  A simple space character is
+	not considered "unusual".  Many commands can output pathnames
+	completely verbatim using the `-z` option. The default value
+	is true.
 
 core.eol::
 	Sets the line ending type to use in the working directory for
diff --git a/Documentation/diff-format.txt b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
index cf5262622f..706916c94c 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-format.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
@@ -78,9 +78,10 @@ Example:
 :100644 100644 5be4a4...... 000000...... M file.c
 ------------------------------------------------
 
-When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
-in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
-respectively.
+Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
+quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]).  Using `-z` the filename is output
+verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte.
 
 diff format for merges
 ----------------------
diff --git a/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt b/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
index d2a7ff56e8..231105cff4 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-generate-patch.txt
@@ -53,10 +53,9 @@ The index line includes the SHA-1 checksum before and after the change.
 The <mode> is included if the file mode does not change; otherwise,
 separate lines indicate the old and the new mode.
 
-3.  TAB, LF, double quote and backslash characters in pathnames
-    are represented as `\t`, `\n`, `\"` and `\\`, respectively.
-    If there is need for such substitution then the whole
-    pathname is put in double quotes.
+3.  Pathnames with "unusual" characters are quoted as explained for
+    the configuration variable `core.quotePath` (see
+    linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 4.  All the `file1` files in the output refer to files before the
     commit, and all the `file2` files refer to files after the commit.
diff --git a/Documentation/diff-options.txt b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
index d91ddbd5fe..89cc0f48de 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
@@ -192,10 +192,9 @@ ifndef::git-log[]
 	given, do not munge pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
 endif::git-log[]
 +
-Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
-and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
-respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
-any of those replacements occurred.
+Without this option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are quoted as
+explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath` (see
+linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 --name-only::
 	Show only names of changed files.
diff --git a/Documentation/git-apply.txt b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
index 8ddb207409..631cbd840a 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-apply.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
@@ -108,10 +108,9 @@ the information is read from the current index instead.
 	When `--numstat` has been given, do not munge pathnames,
 	but use a NUL-terminated machine-readable format.
 +
-Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
-and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
-respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
-any of those replacements occurred.
+Without this option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are quoted as
+explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath` (see
+linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 -p<n>::
 	Remove <n> leading slashes from traditional diff paths. The
diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
index 4f8f20a360..25dcdcc289 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
@@ -117,9 +117,12 @@ OPTIONS
 
 -z::
 --null::
-	When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, terminate
-	entries in the status output with NUL, instead of LF. If no
-	format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
+	When showing `short` or `porcelain` status output, print the
+	filename verbatim and terminate the entries with NUL, instead of LF.
+	If no format is given, implies the `--porcelain` output format.
+	Without the `-z` option, filenames with "unusual" characters are
+	quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+	(see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 -F <file>::
 --file=<file>::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
index 446209e206..1cab703f73 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-files.txt
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ OPTIONS
 	succeed.
 
 -z::
-	\0 line termination on output.
+	\0 line termination on output and do not quote filenames.
+	See OUTPUT below for more information.
 
 -x <pattern>::
 --exclude=<pattern>::
@@ -196,9 +197,10 @@ the index records up to three such pairs; one from tree O in stage
 the user (or the porcelain) to see what should eventually be recorded at the
 path. (see linkgit:git-read-tree[1] for more information on state)
 
-When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
-in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
-respectively.
+Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
+quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]).  Using `-z` the filename is output
+verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte.
 
 
 Exclude Patterns
diff --git a/Documentation/git-ls-tree.txt b/Documentation/git-ls-tree.txt
index dbc91f98ff..9dee7bef35 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-ls-tree.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-ls-tree.txt
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ OPTIONS
 	Show object size of blob (file) entries.
 
 -z::
-	\0 line termination on output.
+	\0 line termination on output and do not quote filenames.
+	See OUTPUT FORMAT below for more information.
 
 --name-only::
 --name-status::
@@ -82,8 +83,6 @@ Output Format
 -------------
         <mode> SP <type> SP <object> TAB <file>
 
-Unless the `-z` option is used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
-in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`, respectively.
 This output format is compatible with what `--index-info --stdin` of
 'git update-index' expects.
 
@@ -95,6 +94,11 @@ Object size identified by <object> is given in bytes, and right-justified
 with minimum width of 7 characters.  Object size is given only for blobs
 (file) entries; for other entries `-` character is used in place of size.
 
+Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
+quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]).  Using `-z` the filename is output
+verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte.
+
 GIT
 ---
 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite
diff --git a/Documentation/git-status.txt b/Documentation/git-status.txt
index 725065ef2d..ba873657cf 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-status.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-status.txt
@@ -322,10 +322,9 @@ When the `-z` option is given, pathnames are printed as is and
 without any quoting and lines are terminated with a NUL (ASCII 0x00)
 byte.
 
-Otherwise, all pathnames will be "C-quoted" if they contain any tab,
-linefeed, double quote, or backslash characters. In C-quoting, these
-characters will be replaced with the corresponding C-style escape
-sequences and the resulting pathname will be double quoted.
+Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
+quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]).
 
 
 CONFIGURATION