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Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-format-patch.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/git-format-patch.txt | 40 |
1 files changed, 35 insertions, 5 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt b/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt index 3e49bf2210..113eabc107 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 non-merge 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 @@ -221,6 +238,11 @@ populated with placeholder text. `--subject-prefix` option) has ` v<n>` appended to it. E.g. `--reroll-count=4` may produce `v4-0001-add-makefile.patch` file that has "Subject: [PATCH v4 1/20] Add makefile" in it. + `<n>` does not have to be an integer (e.g. "--reroll-count=4.4", + or "--reroll-count=4rev2" are allowed), but the downside of + using such a reroll-count is that the range-diff/interdiff + with the previous version does not state exactly which + version the new interation is compared against. --to=<email>:: Add a `To:` header to the email headers. This is in addition @@ -667,10 +689,10 @@ You can also use `git format-patch --base=P -3 C` to generate patches for A, B and C, and the identifiers for P, X, Y, Z are appended at the end of the first message. -If set `--base=auto` in cmdline, it will track base commit automatically, -the base commit will be the merge base of tip commit of the remote-tracking +If set `--base=auto` in cmdline, it will automatically compute +the base commit as the merge base of tip commit of the remote-tracking branch and revision-range specified in cmdline. -For a local branch, you need to track a remote branch by `git branch +For a local branch, you need to make it to track a remote branch by `git branch --set-upstream-to` before using this option. EXAMPLES @@ -718,6 +740,14 @@ use it only when you know the recipient uses Git to apply your patch. $ git format-patch -3 ------------ +CAVEATS +------- + +Note that `format-patch` will omit merge commits from the output, even +if they are part of the requested range. A simple "patch" does not +include enough information for the receiving end to reproduce the same +merge commit. + SEE ALSO -------- linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1] |