Merge commit 'v1.7.6' into jc/checkout-reflog-fix

* commit 'v1.7.6': (3211 commits)
  Git 1.7.6
  completion: replace core.abbrevguard to core.abbrev
  Git 1.7.6-rc3
  Documentation: git diff --check respects core.whitespace
  gitweb: 'pickaxe' and 'grep' features requires 'search' to be enabled
  t7810: avoid unportable use of "echo"
  plug a few coverity-spotted leaks
  builtin/gc.c: add missing newline in message
  tests: link shell libraries into valgrind directory
  t/Makefile: pass test opts to valgrind target properly
  sh-i18n--envsubst.c: do not #include getopt.h
  Fix typo: existant->existent
  Git 1.7.6-rc2
  gitweb: do not misparse nonnumeric content tag files that contain a digit
  Git 1.7.6-rc1
  fetch: do not leak a refspec
  t3703: skip more tests using colons in file names on Windows
  gitweb: Fix usability of $prevent_xss
  gitweb: Move "Requirements" up in gitweb/INSTALL
  gitweb: Describe CSSMIN and JSMIN in gitweb/INSTALL
  ...

1 files changed, 87 insertions, 43 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
index 1b5f61aa0b..58f6ad4994 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-remote-helpers.txt
@@ -3,20 +3,69 @@ git-remote-helpers(1)
 
 NAME
 ----
-git-remote-helpers - Helper programs for interoperation with remote git
+git-remote-helpers - Helper programs to interact with remote repositories
 
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
-'git remote-<transport>' <remote>
+'git remote-<transport>' <repository> [<URL>]
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
 
-These programs are normally not used directly by end users, but are
-invoked by various git programs that interact with remote repositories
-when the repository they would operate on will be accessed using
-transport code not linked into the main git binary. Various particular
-helper programs will behave as documented here.
+Remote helper programs are normally not used directly by end users,
+but they are invoked by git when it needs to interact with remote
+repositories git does not support natively.  A given helper will
+implement a subset of the capabilities documented here. When git
+needs to interact with a repository using a remote helper, it spawns
+the helper as an independent process, sends commands to the helper's
+standard input, and expects results from the helper's standard
+output. Because a remote helper runs as an independent process from
+git, there is no need to re-link git to add a new helper, nor any
+need to link the helper with the implementation of git.
+
+Every helper must support the "capabilities" command, which git will
+use to determine what other commands the helper will accept.  Other
+commands generally concern facilities like discovering and updating
+remote refs, transporting objects between the object database and
+the remote repository, and updating the local object store.
+
+Helpers supporting the 'fetch' capability can discover refs from the
+remote repository and transfer objects reachable from those refs to
+the local object store. Helpers supporting the 'push' capability can
+transfer local objects to the remote repository and update remote refs.
+
+Git comes with a "curl" family of remote helpers, that handle various
+transport protocols, such as 'git-remote-http', 'git-remote-https',
+'git-remote-ftp' and 'git-remote-ftps'. They implement the capabilities
+'fetch', 'option', and 'push'.
+
+INVOCATION
+----------
+
+Remote helper programs are invoked with one or (optionally) two
+arguments. The first argument specifies a remote repository as in git;
+it is either the name of a configured remote or a URL. The second
+argument specifies a URL; it is usually of the form
+'<transport>://<address>', but any arbitrary string is possible.
+
+When git encounters a URL of the form '<transport>://<address>', where
+'<transport>' is a protocol that it cannot handle natively, it
+automatically invokes 'git remote-<transport>' with the full URL as
+the second argument. If such a URL is encountered directly on the
+command line, the first argument is the same as the second, and if it
+is encountered in a configured remote, the first argument is the name
+of that remote.
+
+A URL of the form '<transport>::<address>' explicitly instructs git to
+invoke 'git remote-<transport>' with '<address>' as the second
+argument. If such a URL is encountered directly on the command line,
+the first argument is '<address>', and if it is encountered in a
+configured remote, the first argument is the name of that remote.
+
+Additionally, when a configured remote has 'remote.<name>.vcs' set to
+'<transport>', git explicitly invokes 'git remote-<transport>' with
+'<name>' as the first argument. If set, the second argument is
+'remote.<name>.url'; otherwise, the second argument is omitted.
 
 COMMANDS
 --------
@@ -25,8 +74,8 @@ Commands are given by the caller on the helper's standard input, one per line.
 
 'capabilities'::
 	Lists the capabilities of the helper, one per line, ending
-	with a blank line. Each capability may be preceded with '*'.
-	This marks them mandatory for git version using the remote
+	with a blank line. Each capability may be preceded with '*',
+	which marks them mandatory for git version using the remote
 	helper to understand (unknown mandatory capability is fatal
 	error).
 
@@ -35,27 +84,27 @@ Commands are given by the caller on the helper's standard input, one per line.
 	[<attr> ...]". The value may be a hex sha1 hash, "@<dest>" for
 	a symref, or "?" to indicate that the helper could not get the
 	value of the ref. A space-separated list of attributes follows
-	the name; unrecognized attributes are ignored. After the
-	complete list, outputs a blank line.
+	the name; unrecognized attributes are ignored. The list ends
+	with a blank line.
 +
 If 'push' is supported this may be called as 'list for-push'
 to obtain the current refs prior to sending one or more 'push'
 commands to the helper.
 
 'option' <name> <value>::
-	Set the transport helper option <name> to <value>.  Outputs a
+	Sets the transport helper option <name> to <value>.  Outputs a
 	single line containing one of 'ok' (option successfully set),
 	'unsupported' (option not recognized) or 'error <msg>'
-	(option <name> is supported but <value> is not correct
+	(option <name> is supported but <value> is not valid
 	for it).  Options should be set before other commands,
-	and may how those commands behave.
+	and may influence the behavior of those commands.
 +
 Supported if the helper has the "option" capability.
 
 'fetch' <sha1> <name>::
 	Fetches the given object, writing the necessary objects
 	to the database.  Fetch commands are sent in a batch, one
-	per line, and the batch is terminated with a blank line.
+	per line, terminated with a blank line.
 	Outputs a single blank line when all fetch commands in the
 	same batch are complete. Only objects which were reported
 	in the ref list with a sha1 may be fetched this way.
@@ -67,7 +116,7 @@ suitably updated.
 Supported if the helper has the "fetch" capability.
 
 'push' +<src>:<dst>::
-	Pushes the given <src> commit or branch locally to the
+	Pushes the given local <src> commit or branch to the
 	remote branch described by <dst>.  A batch sequence of
 	one or more push commands is terminated with a blank line.
 +
@@ -91,6 +140,9 @@ Supported if the helper has the "push" capability.
 	by applying the refspecs from the "refspec" capability to the
 	name of the ref.
 +
+Especially useful for interoperability with a foreign versioning
+system.
++
 Supported if the helper has the "import" capability.
 
 'connect' <service>::
@@ -119,29 +171,21 @@ CAPABILITIES
 ------------
 
 'fetch'::
-	This helper supports the 'fetch' command.
-
 'option'::
-	This helper supports the option command.
-
 'push'::
-	This helper supports the 'push' command.
-
 'import'::
-	This helper supports the 'import' command.
+'connect'::
+	This helper supports the corresponding command with the same name.
 
 'refspec' 'spec'::
 	When using the import command, expect the source ref to have
 	been written to the destination ref. The earliest applicable
 	refspec takes precedence. For example
-	"refs/heads/*:refs/svn/origin/branches/*" means that, after an
-	"import refs/heads/name", the script has written to
+	"refs/heads/{asterisk}:refs/svn/origin/branches/{asterisk}" means
+	that, after an "import refs/heads/name", the script has written to
 	refs/svn/origin/branches/name. If this capability is used at
 	all, it must cover all refs reported by the list command; if
-	it is not used, it is effectively "*:*"
-
-'connect'::
-	This helper supports the 'connect' command.
+	it is not used, it is effectively "{asterisk}:{asterisk}"
 
 REF LIST ATTRIBUTES
 -------------------
@@ -157,20 +201,20 @@ REF LIST ATTRIBUTES
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
-'option verbosity' <N>::
-	Change the level of messages displayed by the helper.
-	When N is 0 the end-user has asked the process to be
-	quiet, and the helper should produce only error output.
-	N of 1 is the default level of verbosity, higher values
-	of N correspond to the number of -v flags passed on the
+'option verbosity' <n>::
+	Changes the verbosity of messages displayed by the helper.
+	A value of 0 for <n> means that processes operate
+	quietly, and the helper produces only error output.
+	1 is the default level of verbosity, and higher values
+	of <n> correspond to the number of -v flags passed on the
 	command line.
 
 'option progress' \{'true'|'false'\}::
-	Enable (or disable) progress messages displayed by the
+	Enables (or disables) progress messages displayed by the
 	transport helper during a command.
 
 'option depth' <depth>::
-	Deepen the history of a shallow repository.
+	Deepens the history of a shallow repository.
 
 'option followtags' \{'true'|'false'\}::
 	If enabled the helper should automatically fetch annotated
@@ -186,14 +230,14 @@ OPTIONS
 	helpers this only applies to the 'push', if supported.
 
 'option servpath <c-style-quoted-path>'::
-	Set service path (--upload-pack, --receive-pack etc.) for
-	next connect. Remote helper MAY support this option. Remote
-	helper MUST NOT rely on this option being set before
+	Sets service path (--upload-pack, --receive-pack etc.) for
+	next connect. Remote helper may support this option, but
+	must not rely on this option being set before
 	connect request occurs.
 
-Documentation
--------------
-Documentation by Daniel Barkalow and Ilari Liusvaara
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+linkgit:git-remote[1]
 
 GIT
 ---