git/Documentation/config/format.txt
Jacob Keller 7efba5fa39 format-patch: teach format.useAutoBase "whenAble" option
The format.useAutoBase configuration option exists to allow users to
enable '--base=auto' for format-patch by default.

This can sometimes lead to poor workflow, due to unexpected failures
when attempting to format an ancient patch:

    $ git format-patch -1 <an old commit>
    fatal: base commit shouldn't be in revision list

This can be very confusing, as it is not necessarily immediately obvious
that the user requested a --base (since this was in the configuration,
not on the command line).

We do want --base=auto to fail when it cannot provide a suitable base,
as it would be equally confusing if a formatted patch did not include
the base information when it was requested.

Teach format.useAutoBase a new mode, "whenAble". This mode will cause
format-patch to attempt to include a base commit when it can. However,
if no valid base commit can be found, then format-patch will continue
formatting the patch without a base commit.

In order to avoid making yet another branch name unusable with --base,
do not teach --base=whenAble or --base=whenable.

Instead, refactor the base_commit option to use a callback, and rely on
the global configuration variable auto_base.

This does mean that a user cannot request this optional base commit
generation from the command line. However, this is likely not too
valuable. If the user requests base information manually, they will be
immediately informed of the failure to acquire a suitable base commit.
This allows the user to make an informed choice about whether to
continue the format.

Add tests to cover the new mode of operation for --base.

Signed-off-by: Jacob Keller <jacob.keller@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2020-10-01 15:22:10 -07:00

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format.attach::
Enable multipart/mixed attachments as the default for
'format-patch'. The value can also be a double quoted string
which will enable attachments as the default and set the
value as the boundary. See the --attach option in
linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
format.from::
Provides the default value for the `--from` option to format-patch.
Accepts a boolean value, or a name and email address. If false,
format-patch defaults to `--no-from`, using commit authors directly in
the "From:" field of patch mails. If true, format-patch defaults to
`--from`, using your committer identity in the "From:" field of patch
mails and including a "From:" field in the body of the patch mail if
different. If set to a non-boolean value, format-patch uses that
value instead of your committer identity. Defaults to false.
format.numbered::
A boolean which can enable or disable sequence numbers in patch
subjects. It defaults to "auto" which enables it only if there
is more than one patch. It can be enabled or disabled for all
messages by setting it to "true" or "false". See --numbered
option in linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
format.headers::
Additional email headers to include in a patch to be submitted
by mail. See linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
format.to::
format.cc::
Additional recipients to include in a patch to be submitted
by mail. See the --to and --cc options in
linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
format.subjectPrefix::
The default for format-patch is to output files with the '[PATCH]'
subject prefix. Use this variable to change that prefix.
format.coverFromDescription::
The default mode for format-patch to determine which parts of
the cover letter will be populated using the branch's
description. See the `--cover-from-description` option in
linkgit:git-format-patch[1].
format.signature::
The default for format-patch is to output a signature containing
the Git version number. Use this variable to change that default.
Set this variable to the empty string ("") to suppress
signature generation.
format.signatureFile::
Works just like format.signature except the contents of the
file specified by this variable will be used as the signature.
format.suffix::
The default for format-patch is to output files with the suffix
`.patch`. Use this variable to change that suffix (make sure to
include the dot if you want it).
format.encodeEmailHeaders::
Encode email headers that have non-ASCII characters with
"Q-encoding" (described in RFC 2047) for email transmission.
Defaults to true.
format.pretty::
The default pretty format for log/show/whatchanged command,
See linkgit:git-log[1], linkgit:git-show[1],
linkgit:git-whatchanged[1].
format.thread::
The default threading style for 'git format-patch'. Can be
a boolean value, or `shallow` or `deep`. `shallow` threading
makes every mail a reply to the head of the series,
where the head is chosen from the cover letter, the
`--in-reply-to`, and the first patch mail, in this order.
`deep` threading makes every mail a reply to the previous one.
A true boolean value is the same as `shallow`, and a false
value disables threading.
format.signOff::
A boolean value which lets you enable the `-s/--signoff` option of
format-patch by default. *Note:* Adding the Signed-off-by: line to a
patch should be a conscious act and means that you certify you have
the rights to submit this work under the same open source license.
Please see the 'SubmittingPatches' document for further discussion.
format.coverLetter::
A boolean that controls whether to generate a cover-letter when
format-patch is invoked, but in addition can be set to "auto", to
generate a cover-letter only when there's more than one patch.
Default is false.
format.outputDirectory::
Set a custom directory to store the resulting files instead of the
current working directory. All directory components will be created.
format.useAutoBase::
A boolean value which lets you enable the `--base=auto` option of
format-patch by default. Can also be set to "whenAble" to allow
enabling `--base=auto` if a suitable base is available, but to skip
adding base info otherwise without the format dying.
format.notes::
Provides the default value for the `--notes` option to
format-patch. Accepts a boolean value, or a ref which specifies
where to get notes. If false, format-patch defaults to
`--no-notes`. If true, format-patch defaults to `--notes`. If
set to a non-boolean value, format-patch defaults to
`--notes=<ref>`, where `ref` is the non-boolean value. Defaults
to false.
+
If one wishes to use the ref `ref/notes/true`, please use that literal
instead.
+
This configuration can be specified multiple times in order to allow
multiple notes refs to be included. In that case, it will behave
similarly to multiple `--[no-]notes[=]` options passed in. That is, a
value of `true` will show the default notes, a value of `<ref>` will
also show notes from that notes ref and a value of `false` will negate
previous configurations and not show notes.
+
For example,
+
------------
[format]
notes = true
notes = foo
notes = false
notes = bar
------------
+
will only show notes from `refs/notes/bar`.