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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/SubmittingPatches')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/SubmittingPatches | 277 |
1 files changed, 111 insertions, 166 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches index ba07c8c571..938eccf2a5 100644 --- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches +++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches @@ -6,14 +6,25 @@ Checklist (and a short version for the impatient): - check for unnecessary whitespace with "git diff --check" before committing - do not check in commented out code or unneeded files - - provide a meaningful commit message - the first line of the commit message should be a short - description and should skip the full stop - - if you want your work included in git.git, add a - "Signed-off-by: Your Name <you@example.com>" line to the - commit message (or just use the option "-s" when - committing) to confirm that you agree to the Developer's - Certificate of Origin + description (50 characters is the soft limit, see DISCUSSION + in git-commit(1)), and should skip the full stop + - the body should provide a meaningful commit message, which: + . explains the problem the change tries to solve, iow, what + is wrong with the current code without the change. + . justifies the way the change solves the problem, iow, why + the result with the change is better. + . alternate solutions considered but discarded, if any. + - describe changes in imperative mood, e.g. "make xyzzy do frotz" + instead of "[This patch] makes xyzzy do frotz" or "[I] changed + xyzzy to do frotz", as if you are giving orders to the codebase + to change its behaviour. + - try to make sure your explanation can be understood without + external resources. Instead of giving a URL to a mailing list + archive, summarize the relevant points of the discussion. + - add a "Signed-off-by: Your Name <you@example.com>" line to the + commit message (or just use the option "-s" when committing) + to confirm that you agree to the Developer's Certificate of Origin - make sure that you have tests for the bug you are fixing - make sure that the test suite passes after your commit @@ -37,6 +48,7 @@ Checklist (and a short version for the impatient): maintainer (gitster@pobox.com) if (and only if) the patch is ready for inclusion. If you use git-send-email(1), please test it first by sending email to yourself. + - see below for instructions specific to your mailer Long version: @@ -49,6 +61,34 @@ But the patch submission requirements are a lot more relaxed here on the technical/contents front, because the core GIT is thousand times smaller ;-). So here is only the relevant bits. +(0) Decide what to base your work on. + +In general, always base your work on the oldest branch that your +change is relevant to. + + - A bugfix should be based on 'maint' in general. If the bug is not + present in 'maint', base it on 'master'. For a bug that's not yet + in 'master', find the topic that introduces the regression, and + base your work on the tip of the topic. + + - A new feature should be based on 'master' in general. If the new + feature depends on a topic that is in 'pu', but not in 'master', + base your work on the tip of that topic. + + - Corrections and enhancements to a topic not yet in 'master' should + be based on the tip of that topic. If the topic has not been merged + to 'next', it's alright to add a note to squash minor corrections + into the series. + + - In the exceptional case that a new feature depends on several topics + not in 'master', start working on 'next' or 'pu' privately and send + out patches for discussion. Before the final merge, you may have to + wait until some of the dependent topics graduate to 'master', and + rebase your work. + +To find the tip of a topic branch, run "git log --first-parent +master..pu" and look for the merge commit. The second parent of this +commit is the tip of the topic branch. (1) Make separate commits for logically separate changes. @@ -58,10 +98,20 @@ your commit head. Instead, always make a commit with complete commit message and generate a series of patches from your repository. It is a good discipline. -Describe the technical detail of the change(s). +Give an explanation for the change(s) that is detailed enough so +that people can judge if it is good thing to do, without reading +the actual patch text to determine how well the code does what +the explanation promises to do. If your description starts to get too long, that's a sign that you probably need to split up your commit to finer grained pieces. +That being said, patches which plainly describe the things that +help reviewers check the patch, and future maintainers understand +the code, are the most beautiful patches. Descriptions that summarise +the point in the subject well, and describe the motivation for the +change, the approach taken by the change, and if relevant how this +differs substantially from the prior version, are all good things +to have. Oh, another thing. I am picky about whitespaces. Make sure your changes do not trigger errors with the sample pre-commit hook shipped @@ -158,17 +208,16 @@ patch, format it as "multipart/signed", not a text/plain message that starts with '-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----'. That is not a text/plain, it's something else. -Note that your maintainer does not necessarily read everything -on the git mailing list. If your patch is for discussion first, -send it "To:" the mailing list, and optionally "cc:" him. If it -is trivially correct or after the list reached a consensus, send -it "To:" the maintainer and optionally "cc:" the list for -inclusion. - -Also note that your maintainer does not actively involve himself in -maintaining what are in contrib/ hierarchy. When you send fixes and -enhancements to them, do not forget to "cc: " the person who primarily -worked on that hierarchy in contrib/. +Unless your patch is a very trivial and an obviously correct one, +first send it with "To:" set to the mailing list, with "cc:" listing +people who are involved in the area you are touching (the output from +"git blame $path" and "git shortlog --no-merges $path" would help to +identify them), to solicit comments and reviews. After the list +reached a consensus that it is a good idea to apply the patch, re-send +it with "To:" set to the maintainer and optionally "cc:" the list for +inclusion. Do not forget to add trailers such as "Acked-by:", +"Reviewed-by:" and "Tested-by:" after your "Signed-off-by:" line as +necessary. (4) Sign your work @@ -225,12 +274,21 @@ the change to its true author (see (2) above). Also notice that a real name is used in the Signed-off-by: line. Please don't hide your real name. -Some people also put extra tags at the end. +If you like, you can put extra tags at the end: -"Acked-by:" says that the patch was reviewed by the person who -is more familiar with the issues and the area the patch attempts -to modify. "Tested-by:" says the patch was tested by the person -and found to have the desired effect. +1. "Reported-by:" is used to credit someone who found the bug that + the patch attempts to fix. +2. "Acked-by:" says that the person who is more familiar with the area + the patch attempts to modify liked the patch. +3. "Reviewed-by:", unlike the other tags, can only be offered by the + reviewer and means that she is completely satisfied that the patch + is ready for application. It is usually offered only after a + detailed review. +4. "Tested-by:" is used to indicate that the person applied the patch + and found it to have the desired effect. + +You can also create your own tag or use one that's in common usage +such as "Thanks-to:", "Based-on-patch-by:", or "Mentored-by:". ------------------------------------------------ An ideal patch flow @@ -268,54 +326,38 @@ people play with it without having to pick up and apply the patch to their trees themselves. ------------------------------------------------ -MUA specific hints - -Some of patches I receive or pick up from the list share common -patterns of breakage. Please make sure your MUA is set up -properly not to corrupt whitespaces. Here are two common ones -I have seen: - -* Empty context lines that do not have _any_ whitespace. +Know the status of your patch after submission -* Non empty context lines that have one extra whitespace at the - beginning. +* You can use Git itself to find out when your patch is merged in + master. 'git pull --rebase' will automatically skip already-applied + patches, and will let you know. This works only if you rebase on top + of the branch in which your patch has been merged (i.e. it will not + tell you if your patch is merged in pu if you rebase on top of + master). -One test you could do yourself if your MUA is set up correctly is: +* Read the git mailing list, the maintainer regularly posts messages + entitled "What's cooking in git.git" and "What's in git.git" giving + the status of various proposed changes. -* Send the patch to yourself, exactly the way you would, except - To: and Cc: lines, which would not contain the list and - maintainer address. - -* Save that patch to a file in UNIX mailbox format. Call it say - a.patch. - -* Try to apply to the tip of the "master" branch from the - git.git public repository: - - $ git fetch http://kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git master:test-apply - $ git checkout test-apply - $ git reset --hard - $ git am a.patch - -If it does not apply correctly, there can be various reasons. +------------------------------------------------ +MUA specific hints -* Your patch itself does not apply cleanly. That is _bad_ but - does not have much to do with your MUA. Please rebase the - patch appropriately. +Some of patches I receive or pick up from the list share common +patterns of breakage. Please make sure your MUA is set up +properly not to corrupt whitespaces. -* Your MUA corrupted your patch; "am" would complain that - the patch does not apply. Look at .git/rebase-apply/ subdirectory and - see what 'patch' file contains and check for the common - corruption patterns mentioned above. +See the DISCUSSION section of git-format-patch(1) for hints on +checking your patch by mailing it to yourself and applying with +git-am(1). -* While you are at it, check what are in 'info' and - 'final-commit' files as well. If what is in 'final-commit' is - not exactly what you would want to see in the commit log - message, it is very likely that your maintainer would end up - hand editing the log message when he applies your patch. - Things like "Hi, this is my first patch.\n", if you really - want to put in the patch e-mail, should come after the - three-dash line that signals the end of the commit message. +While you are at it, check the resulting commit log message from +a trial run of applying the patch. If what is in the resulting +commit is not exactly what you would want to see, it is very +likely that your maintainer would end up hand editing the log +message when he applies your patch. Things like "Hi, this is my +first patch.\n", if you really want to put in the patch e-mail, +should come after the three-dash line that signals the end of the +commit message. Pine @@ -371,62 +413,10 @@ that or Gentoo did it.) So you need to set the it. -Thunderbird ------------ - -(A Large Angry SCM) - -Here are some hints on how to successfully submit patches inline using -Thunderbird. - -This recipe appears to work with the current [*1*] Thunderbird from Suse. - -The following Thunderbird extensions are needed: - AboutConfig 0.5 - http://aboutconfig.mozdev.org/ - External Editor 0.7.2 - http://globs.org/articles.php?lng=en&pg=8 - -1) Prepare the patch as a text file using your method of choice. +Thunderbird, KMail, GMail +------------------------- -2) Before opening a compose window, use Edit->Account Settings to -uncheck the "Compose messages in HTML format" setting in the -"Composition & Addressing" panel of the account to be used to send the -patch. [*2*] - -3) In the main Thunderbird window, _before_ you open the compose window -for the patch, use Tools->about:config to set the following to the -indicated values: - mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed => false - mailnews.wraplength => 0 - -4) Open a compose window and click the external editor icon. - -5) In the external editor window, read in the patch file and exit the -editor normally. - -6) Back in the compose window: Add whatever other text you wish to the -message, complete the addressing and subject fields, and press send. - -7) Optionally, undo the about:config/account settings changes made in -steps 2 & 3. - - -[Footnotes] -*1* Version 1.0 (20041207) from the MozillaThunderbird-1.0-5 rpm of Suse -9.3 professional updates. - -*2* It may be possible to do this with about:config and the following -settings but I haven't tried, yet. - mail.html_compose => false - mail.identity.default.compose_html => false - mail.identity.id?.compose_html => false - -(Lukas Sandström) - -There is a script in contrib/thunderbird-patch-inline which can help -you include patches with Thunderbird in an easy way. To use it, do the -steps above and then use the script as the external editor. +See the MUA-SPECIFIC HINTS section of git-format-patch(1). Gnus ---- @@ -441,48 +431,3 @@ characters (most notably in people's names), and also whitespaces (fatal in patches). Running 'C-u g' to display the message in raw form before using '|' to run the pipe can work this problem around. - - -KMail ------ - -This should help you to submit patches inline using KMail. - -1) Prepare the patch as a text file. - -2) Click on New Mail. - -3) Go under "Options" in the Composer window and be sure that -"Word wrap" is not set. - -4) Use Message -> Insert file... and insert the patch. - -5) Back in the compose window: add whatever other text you wish to the -message, complete the addressing and subject fields, and press send. - - -Gmail ------ - -Submitting properly formatted patches via Gmail is simple now that -IMAP support is available. First, edit your ~/.gitconfig to specify your -account settings: - -[imap] - folder = "[Gmail]/Drafts" - host = imaps://imap.gmail.com - user = user@gmail.com - pass = p4ssw0rd - port = 993 - sslverify = false - -Next, ensure that your Gmail settings are correct. In "Settings" the -"Use Unicode (UTF-8) encoding for outgoing messages" should be checked. - -Once your commits are ready to send to the mailing list, run the following -command to send the patch emails to your Gmail Drafts folder. - - $ git format-patch -M --stdout origin/master | git imap-send - -Go to your Gmail account, open the Drafts folder, find the patch email, fill -in the To: and CC: fields and send away! |