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authorLibravatar Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>2021-03-24 10:35:40 -0700
committerLibravatar Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>2021-03-24 12:14:23 -0700
commit28e29ee38b59c54d199c4ef42a77173e2090ccdb (patch)
treedbb169d857f66c7b44c9375be45f8058d76834a2 /Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
parentGit 2.31 (diff)
downloadtgif-28e29ee38b59c54d199c4ef42a77173e2090ccdb.tar.xz
format-patch: give an overview of what a "patch" message is
The text says something called a "patch" is prepared one for each commit, it is suitable for e-mail submission, and "am" is the command to use it, but does not say what the "patch" really is. The description in the page also refers to the "three-dash" line, but it is unclear what it is, unless the reader is given a more detailed overview of what the "patch" is. Add a brief paragraph to give an overview of what the output looks like. Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-format-patch.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-format-patch.txt21
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt b/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
index 3e49bf2210..5cd8578b6f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
@@ -36,11 +36,28 @@ SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Prepare each commit with its patch in
-one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
+Prepare each commit with its "patch" in
+one "message" per commit, formatted to resemble a UNIX mailbox.
The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
for use with 'git am'.
+A "message" generated by the command consists of three parts:
+
+* A brief metadata header that begins with `From <commit>`
+ with a fixed `Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001` datestamp to help programs
+ like "file(1)" to recognize that the file is an output from this
+ command, fields that record the author identity, the author date,
+ and the title of the change (taken from the first paragraph of the
+ commit log message).
+
+* The second and subsequent paragraphs of the commit log message.
+
+* The "patch", which is the "diff -p --stat" output (see
+ linkgit:git-diff[1]) between the commit and its parent.
+
+The log message and the patch is separated by a line with a
+three-dash line.
+
There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading