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-rw-r--r--Documentation/technical/api-remote.txt20
-rw-r--r--Documentation/technical/protocol-capabilities.txt31
2 files changed, 33 insertions, 18 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-remote.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-remote.txt
index 4be87768f6..5d245aa9d1 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/api-remote.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/api-remote.txt
@@ -58,16 +58,16 @@ default remote, given the current branch and configuration.
struct refspec
--------------
-A struct refspec holds the parsed interpretation of a refspec. If it
-will force updates (starts with a '+'), force is true. If it is a
-pattern (sides end with '*') pattern is true. src and dest are the two
-sides (if a pattern, only the part outside of the wildcards); if there
-is only one side, it is src, and dst is NULL; if sides exist but are
-empty (i.e., the refspec either starts or ends with ':'), the
-corresponding side is "".
-
-This parsing can be done to an array of strings to give an array of
-struct refpsecs with parse_ref_spec().
+A struct refspec holds the parsed interpretation of a refspec. If it
+will force updates (starts with a '+'), force is true. If it is a
+pattern (sides end with '*') pattern is true. src and dest are the
+two sides (including '*' characters if present); if there is only one
+side, it is src, and dst is NULL; if sides exist but are empty (i.e.,
+the refspec either starts or ends with ':'), the corresponding side is
+"".
+
+An array of strings can be parsed into an array of struct refspecs
+using parse_fetch_refspec() or parse_push_refspec().
remote_find_tracking(), given a remote and a struct refspec with
either src or dst filled out, will fill out the other such that the
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/protocol-capabilities.txt b/Documentation/technical/protocol-capabilities.txt
index fd8ffa5df3..e3e792476e 100644
--- a/Documentation/technical/protocol-capabilities.txt
+++ b/Documentation/technical/protocol-capabilities.txt
@@ -72,14 +72,29 @@ interleaved with S-R-Q.
thin-pack
---------
-This capability means that the server can send a 'thin' pack, a pack
-which does not contain base objects; if those base objects are available
-on client side. Client requests 'thin-pack' capability when it
-understands how to "thicken" it by adding required delta bases making
-it self-contained.
-
-Client MUST NOT request 'thin-pack' capability if it cannot turn a thin
-pack into a self-contained pack.
+A thin pack is one with deltas which reference base objects not
+contained within the pack (but are known to exist at the receiving
+end). This can reduce the network traffic significantly, but it
+requires the receiving end to know how to "thicken" these packs by
+adding the missing bases to the pack.
+
+The upload-pack server advertises 'thin-pack' when it can generate
+and send a thin pack. A client requests the 'thin-pack' capability
+when it understands how to "thicken" it, notifying the server that
+it can receive such a pack. A client MUST NOT request the
+'thin-pack' capability if it cannot turn a thin pack into a
+self-contained pack.
+
+Receive-pack, on the other hand, is assumed by default to be able to
+handle thin packs, but can ask the client not to use the feature by
+advertising the 'no-thin' capability. A client MUST NOT send a thin
+pack if the server advertises the 'no-thin' capability.
+
+The reasons for this asymmetry are historical. The receive-pack
+program did not exist until after the invention of thin packs, so
+historically the reference implementation of receive-pack always
+understood thin packs. Adding 'no-thin' later allowed receive-pack
+to disable the feature in a backwards-compatible manner.
side-band, side-band-64k