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215a7ad1 JH |
1 | git-format-patch(1) |
2 | =================== | |
7fc9d69f JH |
3 | |
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
7bd7f280 | 6 | git-format-patch - Prepare patches for e-mail submission |
7fc9d69f JH |
7 | |
8 | ||
9 | SYNOPSIS | |
10 | -------- | |
353ce815 | 11 | [verse] |
50710ce4 | 12 | 'git format-patch' [-k] [(-o|--output-directory) <dir> | --stdout] |
f693b7e9 | 13 | [--no-thread | --thread[=<style>]] |
50710ce4 SB |
14 | [(--attach|--inline)[=<boundary>] | --no-attach] |
15 | [-s | --signoff] | |
6622d9c7 | 16 | [--signature=<signature> | --no-signature] |
7022650f | 17 | [--signature-file=<file>] |
a5a27c79 DB |
18 | [-n | --numbered | -N | --no-numbered] |
19 | [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files] | |
c1a6f21c | 20 | [--in-reply-to=<message id>] [--suffix=.<sfx>] |
a5a27c79 | 21 | [--ignore-if-in-upstream] |
c1a6f21c | 22 | [--rfc] [--subject-prefix=<subject prefix>] |
68e83a5b | 23 | [(--reroll-count|-v) <n>] |
ae6c098f | 24 | [--to=<email>] [--cc=<email>] |
83d9db78 DL |
25 | [--[no-]cover-letter] [--quiet] |
26 | [--no-notes | --notes[=<ref>]] | |
126facf8 | 27 | [--interdiff=<previous>] |
8631bf1c | 28 | [--range-diff=<previous> [--creation-factor=<percent>]] |
738e88a2 | 29 | [--progress] |
50710ce4 | 30 | [<common diff options>] |
8a1d076e | 31 | [ <since> | <revision range> ] |
7fc9d69f JH |
32 | |
33 | DESCRIPTION | |
34 | ----------- | |
2052d146 | 35 | |
8a1d076e | 36 | Prepare each commit with its patch in |
2052d146 | 37 | one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format. |
2052d146 | 38 | The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or |
0b444cdb | 39 | for use with 'git am'. |
35ef3a4c | 40 | |
8a1d076e JH |
41 | There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on. |
42 | ||
43 | 1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading | |
44 | to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history | |
45 | that leads to the <since> to be output. | |
46 | ||
47 | 2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING | |
9d83e382 | 48 | REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7]) means the |
2f6a3823 JH |
49 | commits in the specified range. |
50 | ||
2d266f9d TR |
51 | The first rule takes precedence in the case of a single <commit>. To |
52 | apply the second rule, i.e., format everything since the beginning of | |
9e9f132f | 53 | history up until <commit>, use the `--root` option: `git format-patch |
6cf378f0 | 54 | --root <commit>`. If you want to format only <commit> itself, you |
dce5ef14 | 55 | can do this with `git format-patch -1 <commit>`. |
8a1d076e | 56 | |
e6ff0f42 | 57 | By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the |
2052d146 | 58 | first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as |
dce5ef14 | 59 | the filename. With the `--numbered-files` option, the output file names |
e6ff0f42 JL |
60 | will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended. |
61 | The names of the output files are printed to standard | |
dce5ef14 | 62 | output, unless the `--stdout` option is specified. |
66f04f38 | 63 | |
dce5ef14 | 64 | If `-o` is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise |
bc6bf2d7 | 65 | they are created in the current working directory. The default path |
ae9f6311 | 66 | can be set with the `format.outputDirectory` configuration option. |
bc6bf2d7 AK |
67 | The `-o` option takes precedence over `format.outputDirectory`. |
68 | To store patches in the current working directory even when | |
69 | `format.outputDirectory` points elsewhere, use `-o .`. | |
35ef3a4c | 70 | |
52ffe995 JW |
71 | By default, the subject of a single patch is "[PATCH] " followed by |
72 | the concatenation of lines from the commit message up to the first blank | |
73 | line (see the DISCUSSION section of linkgit:git-commit[1]). | |
74 | ||
75 | When multiple patches are output, the subject prefix will instead be | |
76 | "[PATCH n/m] ". To force 1/1 to be added for a single patch, use `-n`. | |
77 | To omit patch numbers from the subject, use `-N`. | |
35ef3a4c | 78 | |
dce5ef14 BG |
79 | If given `--thread`, `git-format-patch` will generate `In-Reply-To` and |
80 | `References` headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear | |
81 | as replies to the first mail; this also generates a `Message-Id` header to | |
cc35de84 | 82 | reference. |
7fc9d69f JH |
83 | |
84 | OPTIONS | |
85 | ------- | |
c1a95fa6 | 86 | :git-format-patch: 1 |
b8105375 BG |
87 | include::diff-options.txt[] |
88 | ||
ed5f07a6 | 89 | -<n>:: |
2c642ed8 | 90 | Prepare patches from the topmost <n> commits. |
ed5f07a6 | 91 | |
3240240f SB |
92 | -o <dir>:: |
93 | --output-directory <dir>:: | |
35ef3a4c | 94 | Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the |
efd02016 | 95 | current working directory. |
35ef3a4c | 96 | |
3240240f SB |
97 | -n:: |
98 | --numbered:: | |
a567fdcb | 99 | Name output in '[PATCH n/m]' format, even with a single patch. |
35ef3a4c | 100 | |
3240240f SB |
101 | -N:: |
102 | --no-numbered:: | |
49604a4d BG |
103 | Name output in '[PATCH]' format. |
104 | ||
2052d146 DS |
105 | --start-number <n>:: |
106 | Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1. | |
107 | ||
e6ff0f42 JL |
108 | --numbered-files:: |
109 | Output file names will be a simple number sequence | |
110 | without the default first line of the commit appended. | |
e6ff0f42 | 111 | |
3240240f SB |
112 | -k:: |
113 | --keep-subject:: | |
35ef3a4c JH |
114 | Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the |
115 | commit log message. | |
116 | ||
3240240f SB |
117 | -s:: |
118 | --signoff:: | |
6f855371 NW |
119 | Add `Signed-off-by:` line to the commit message, using |
120 | the committer identity of yourself. | |
b2c150d3 | 121 | See the signoff option in linkgit:git-commit[1] for more information. |
6f855371 | 122 | |
54ba6013 | 123 | --stdout:: |
2052d146 DS |
124 | Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format, |
125 | instead of creating a file for each one. | |
7fc9d69f | 126 | |
c112f689 JS |
127 | --attach[=<boundary>]:: |
128 | Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of | |
129 | which is the commit message and the patch itself in the | |
dce5ef14 | 130 | second part, with `Content-Disposition: attachment`. |
c112f689 | 131 | |
0db5260b JW |
132 | --no-attach:: |
133 | Disable the creation of an attachment, overriding the | |
134 | configuration setting. | |
135 | ||
c112f689 JS |
136 | --inline[=<boundary>]:: |
137 | Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of | |
138 | which is the commit message and the patch itself in the | |
dce5ef14 | 139 | second part, with `Content-Disposition: inline`. |
a15a44ef | 140 | |
30984ed2 | 141 | --thread[=<style>]:: |
f693b7e9 | 142 | --no-thread:: |
dce5ef14 | 143 | Controls addition of `In-Reply-To` and `References` headers to |
f693b7e9 | 144 | make the second and subsequent mails appear as replies to the |
dce5ef14 | 145 | first. Also controls generation of the `Message-Id` header to |
f693b7e9 | 146 | reference. |
30984ed2 TR |
147 | + |
148 | The optional <style> argument can be either `shallow` or `deep`. | |
fd1ff306 | 149 | 'shallow' threading makes every mail a reply to the head of the |
30984ed2 | 150 | series, where the head is chosen from the cover letter, the |
6cf378f0 | 151 | `--in-reply-to`, and the first patch mail, in this order. 'deep' |
f693b7e9 YD |
152 | threading makes every mail a reply to the previous one. |
153 | + | |
ae9f6311 | 154 | The default is `--no-thread`, unless the `format.thread` configuration |
dce5ef14 | 155 | is set. If `--thread` is specified without a style, it defaults to the |
ae9f6311 | 156 | style specified by `format.thread` if any, or else `shallow`. |
f693b7e9 YD |
157 | + |
158 | Beware that the default for 'git send-email' is to thread emails | |
dce5ef14 BG |
159 | itself. If you want `git format-patch` to take care of threading, you |
160 | will want to ensure that threading is disabled for `git send-email`. | |
28ffb898 | 161 | |
c1a6f21c | 162 | --in-reply-to=<message id>:: |
dce5ef14 | 163 | Make the first mail (or all the mails with `--no-thread`) appear as a |
c1a6f21c | 164 | reply to the given <message id>, which avoids breaking threads to |
da56645d JT |
165 | provide a new patch series. |
166 | ||
cc75ad67 DK |
167 | --ignore-if-in-upstream:: |
168 | Do not include a patch that matches a commit in | |
169 | <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable | |
170 | from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the | |
171 | patches being generated, and any patch that matches is | |
172 | ignored. | |
173 | ||
c1a6f21c | 174 | --subject-prefix=<subject prefix>:: |
2d9e4a47 | 175 | Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject |
c1a6f21c | 176 | line, instead use '[<subject prefix>]'. This |
2d9e4a47 | 177 | allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be |
dce5ef14 | 178 | combined with the `--numbered` option. |
2d9e4a47 | 179 | |
68e83a5b JT |
180 | --rfc:: |
181 | Alias for `--subject-prefix="RFC PATCH"`. RFC means "Request For | |
182 | Comments"; use this when sending an experimental patch for | |
183 | discussion rather than application. | |
184 | ||
7952ea66 | 185 | -v <n>:: |
4aad08e0 JH |
186 | --reroll-count=<n>:: |
187 | Mark the series as the <n>-th iteration of the topic. The | |
d614f075 | 188 | output filenames have `v<n>` prepended to them, and the |
4aad08e0 JH |
189 | subject prefix ("PATCH" by default, but configurable via the |
190 | `--subject-prefix` option) has ` v<n>` appended to it. E.g. | |
191 | `--reroll-count=4` may produce `v4-0001-add-makefile.patch` | |
192 | file that has "Subject: [PATCH v4 1/20] Add makefile" in it. | |
193 | ||
ae6c098f SD |
194 | --to=<email>:: |
195 | Add a `To:` header to the email headers. This is in addition | |
196 | to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times. | |
b2cd17b9 TR |
197 | The negated form `--no-to` discards all `To:` headers added so |
198 | far (from config or command line). | |
ae6c098f | 199 | |
736cc67d | 200 | --cc=<email>:: |
dce5ef14 | 201 | Add a `Cc:` header to the email headers. This is in addition |
736cc67d | 202 | to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times. |
b2cd17b9 TR |
203 | The negated form `--no-cc` discards all `Cc:` headers added so |
204 | far (from config or command line). | |
736cc67d | 205 | |
a9080475 JK |
206 | --from:: |
207 | --from=<ident>:: | |
208 | Use `ident` in the `From:` header of each commit email. If the | |
209 | author ident of the commit is not textually identical to the | |
210 | provided `ident`, place a `From:` header in the body of the | |
211 | message with the original author. If no `ident` is given, use | |
212 | the committer ident. | |
213 | + | |
214 | Note that this option is only useful if you are actually sending the | |
215 | emails and want to identify yourself as the sender, but retain the | |
216 | original author (and `git am` will correctly pick up the in-body | |
217 | header). Note also that `git send-email` already handles this | |
218 | transformation for you, and this option should not be used if you are | |
219 | feeding the result to `git send-email`. | |
220 | ||
d7d9c2d0 MH |
221 | --add-header=<header>:: |
222 | Add an arbitrary header to the email headers. This is in addition | |
223 | to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times. | |
b2cd17b9 TR |
224 | For example, `--add-header="Organization: git-foo"`. |
225 | The negated form `--no-add-header` discards *all* (`To:`, | |
226 | `Cc:`, and custom) headers added so far from config or command | |
227 | line. | |
d7d9c2d0 | 228 | |
2a4c2607 | 229 | --[no-]cover-letter:: |
f4912391 | 230 | In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file |
561d2b79 | 231 | containing the branch description, shortlog and the overall diffstat. You can |
f4912391 | 232 | fill in a description in the file before sending it out. |
a5a27c79 | 233 | |
126facf8 | 234 | --interdiff=<previous>:: |
ee6cbf71 ES |
235 | As a reviewer aid, insert an interdiff into the cover letter, |
236 | or as commentary of the lone patch of a 1-patch series, showing | |
126facf8 ES |
237 | the differences between the previous version of the patch series and |
238 | the series currently being formatted. `previous` is a single revision | |
239 | naming the tip of the previous series which shares a common base with | |
240 | the series being formatted (for example `git format-patch | |
241 | --cover-letter --interdiff=feature/v1 -3 feature/v2`). | |
242 | ||
31e2617a ES |
243 | --range-diff=<previous>:: |
244 | As a reviewer aid, insert a range-diff (see linkgit:git-range-diff[1]) | |
40ce4160 ES |
245 | into the cover letter, or as commentary of the lone patch of a |
246 | 1-patch series, showing the differences between the previous | |
31e2617a | 247 | version of the patch series and the series currently being formatted. |
2e6fd71a ES |
248 | `previous` can be a single revision naming the tip of the previous |
249 | series if it shares a common base with the series being formatted (for | |
31e2617a | 250 | example `git format-patch --cover-letter --range-diff=feature/v1 -3 |
2e6fd71a ES |
251 | feature/v2`), or a revision range if the two versions of the series are |
252 | disjoint (for example `git format-patch --cover-letter | |
253 | --range-diff=feature/v1~3..feature/v1 -3 feature/v2`). | |
d8981c3f JH |
254 | + |
255 | Note that diff options passed to the command affect how the primary | |
256 | product of `format-patch` is generated, and they are not passed to | |
257 | the underlying `range-diff` machinery used to generate the cover-letter | |
258 | material (this may change in the future). | |
31e2617a | 259 | |
8631bf1c ES |
260 | --creation-factor=<percent>:: |
261 | Used with `--range-diff`, tweak the heuristic which matches up commits | |
262 | between the previous and current series of patches by adjusting the | |
263 | creation/deletion cost fudge factor. See linkgit:git-range-diff[1]) | |
264 | for details. | |
265 | ||
e422c0cf | 266 | --notes[=<ref>]:: |
83d9db78 | 267 | --no-notes:: |
e422c0cf JH |
268 | Append the notes (see linkgit:git-notes[1]) for the commit |
269 | after the three-dash line. | |
270 | + | |
271 | The expected use case of this is to write supporting explanation for | |
6454d9f1 PO |
272 | the commit that does not belong to the commit log message proper, |
273 | and include it with the patch submission. While one can simply write | |
274 | these explanations after `format-patch` has run but before sending, | |
2de9b711 | 275 | keeping them as Git notes allows them to be maintained between versions |
6454d9f1 PO |
276 | of the patch series (but see the discussion of the `notes.rewrite` |
277 | configuration options in linkgit:git-notes[1] to use this workflow). | |
13cdf780 DL |
278 | + |
279 | The default is `--no-notes`, unless the `format.notes` configuration is | |
280 | set. | |
e422c0cf | 281 | |
2c7ee986 | 282 | --[no-]signature=<signature>:: |
6622d9c7 SB |
283 | Add a signature to each message produced. Per RFC 3676 the signature |
284 | is separated from the body by a line with '-- ' on it. If the | |
2de9b711 | 285 | signature option is omitted the signature defaults to the Git version |
6622d9c7 SB |
286 | number. |
287 | ||
7022650f JM |
288 | --signature-file=<file>:: |
289 | Works just like --signature except the signature is read from a file. | |
290 | ||
03eeaeae | 291 | --suffix=.<sfx>:: |
917a8f89 | 292 | Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated |
02783075 | 293 | filenames, use specified suffix. A common alternative is |
50710ce4 SB |
294 | `--suffix=.txt`. Leaving this empty will remove the `.patch` |
295 | suffix. | |
03eeaeae | 296 | + |
50710ce4 SB |
297 | Note that the leading character does not have to be a dot; for example, |
298 | you can use `--suffix=-patch` to get `0001-description-of-my-change-patch`. | |
03eeaeae | 299 | |
b7df098c | 300 | -q:: |
b781cfaf CMN |
301 | --quiet:: |
302 | Do not print the names of the generated files to standard output. | |
303 | ||
37c22a4b | 304 | --no-binary:: |
50710ce4 SB |
305 | Do not output contents of changes in binary files, instead |
306 | display a notice that those files changed. Patches generated | |
307 | using this option cannot be applied properly, but they are | |
308 | still useful for code review. | |
37c22a4b | 309 | |
3a30aa17 | 310 | --zero-commit:: |
311 | Output an all-zero hash in each patch's From header instead | |
312 | of the hash of the commit. | |
313 | ||
fa2ab86d XY |
314 | --base=<commit>:: |
315 | Record the base tree information to identify the state the | |
316 | patch series applies to. See the BASE TREE INFORMATION section | |
c1a6f21c DL |
317 | below for details. If <commit> is "auto", a base commit is |
318 | automatically chosen. | |
fa2ab86d | 319 | |
2d266f9d TR |
320 | --root:: |
321 | Treat the revision argument as a <revision range>, even if it | |
322 | is just a single commit (that would normally be treated as a | |
323 | <since>). Note that root commits included in the specified | |
324 | range are always formatted as creation patches, independently | |
325 | of this flag. | |
326 | ||
738e88a2 KW |
327 | --progress:: |
328 | Show progress reports on stderr as patches are generated. | |
329 | ||
96ce6d26 MM |
330 | CONFIGURATION |
331 | ------------- | |
50710ce4 SB |
332 | You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each message, |
333 | defaults for the subject prefix and file suffix, number patches when | |
c1a6f21c DL |
334 | outputting more than one patch, add "To:" or "Cc:" headers, configure |
335 | attachments, change the patch output directory, and sign off patches | |
336 | with configuration variables. | |
96ce6d26 | 337 | |
917a8f89 | 338 | ------------ |
96ce6d26 | 339 | [format] |
7f9d77f2 | 340 | headers = "Organization: git-foo\n" |
da0005b8 | 341 | subjectPrefix = CHANGE |
7f9d77f2 JN |
342 | suffix = .txt |
343 | numbered = auto | |
ae6c098f | 344 | to = <email> |
fe8928e6 | 345 | cc = <email> |
0db5260b | 346 | attach [ = mime-boundary-string ] |
da0005b8 | 347 | signOff = true |
c1a6f21c DL |
348 | outputDirectory = <directory> |
349 | coverLetter = auto | |
917a8f89 | 350 | ------------ |
03eeaeae | 351 | |
96ce6d26 | 352 | |
e0d48279 JN |
353 | DISCUSSION |
354 | ---------- | |
355 | ||
356 | The patch produced by 'git format-patch' is in UNIX mailbox format, | |
357 | with a fixed "magic" time stamp to indicate that the file is output | |
358 | from format-patch rather than a real mailbox, like so: | |
359 | ||
360 | ------------ | |
361 | From 8f72bad1baf19a53459661343e21d6491c3908d3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 | |
362 | From: Tony Luck <tony.luck@intel.com> | |
363 | Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:42:54 -0700 | |
364 | Subject: [PATCH] =?UTF-8?q?[IA64]=20Put=20ia64=20config=20files=20on=20the=20?= | |
365 | =?UTF-8?q?Uwe=20Kleine-K=C3=B6nig=20diet?= | |
366 | MIME-Version: 1.0 | |
367 | Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 | |
368 | Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit | |
369 | ||
370 | arch/arm config files were slimmed down using a python script | |
371 | (See commit c2330e286f68f1c408b4aa6515ba49d57f05beae comment) | |
372 | ||
373 | Do the same for ia64 so we can have sleek & trim looking | |
374 | ... | |
375 | ------------ | |
376 | ||
377 | Typically it will be placed in a MUA's drafts folder, edited to add | |
378 | timely commentary that should not go in the changelog after the three | |
379 | dashes, and then sent as a message whose body, in our example, starts | |
380 | with "arch/arm config files were...". On the receiving end, readers | |
381 | can save interesting patches in a UNIX mailbox and apply them with | |
382 | linkgit:git-am[1]. | |
383 | ||
384 | When a patch is part of an ongoing discussion, the patch generated by | |
385 | 'git format-patch' can be tweaked to take advantage of the 'git am | |
386 | --scissors' feature. After your response to the discussion comes a | |
387 | line that consists solely of "`-- >8 --`" (scissors and perforation), | |
388 | followed by the patch with unnecessary header fields removed: | |
389 | ||
390 | ------------ | |
391 | ... | |
392 | > So we should do such-and-such. | |
393 | ||
394 | Makes sense to me. How about this patch? | |
395 | ||
396 | -- >8 -- | |
397 | Subject: [IA64] Put ia64 config files on the Uwe Kleine-König diet | |
398 | ||
399 | arch/arm config files were slimmed down using a python script | |
400 | ... | |
401 | ------------ | |
402 | ||
403 | When sending a patch this way, most often you are sending your own | |
404 | patch, so in addition to the "`From $SHA1 $magic_timestamp`" marker you | |
405 | should omit `From:` and `Date:` lines from the patch file. The patch | |
406 | title is likely to be different from the subject of the discussion the | |
407 | patch is in response to, so it is likely that you would want to keep | |
408 | the Subject: line, like the example above. | |
409 | ||
57756161 JN |
410 | Checking for patch corruption |
411 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
412 | Many mailers if not set up properly will corrupt whitespace. Here are | |
413 | two common types of corruption: | |
414 | ||
415 | * Empty context lines that do not have _any_ whitespace. | |
416 | ||
417 | * Non-empty context lines that have one extra whitespace at the | |
418 | beginning. | |
419 | ||
420 | One way to test if your MUA is set up correctly is: | |
421 | ||
422 | * Send the patch to yourself, exactly the way you would, except | |
423 | with To: and Cc: lines that do not contain the list and | |
424 | maintainer address. | |
425 | ||
426 | * Save that patch to a file in UNIX mailbox format. Call it a.patch, | |
427 | say. | |
428 | ||
429 | * Apply it: | |
430 | ||
431 | $ git fetch <project> master:test-apply | |
328c6cb8 | 432 | $ git switch test-apply |
80f537f7 | 433 | $ git restore --source=HEAD --staged --worktree :/ |
57756161 JN |
434 | $ git am a.patch |
435 | ||
436 | If it does not apply correctly, there can be various reasons. | |
437 | ||
438 | * The patch itself does not apply cleanly. That is _bad_ but | |
439 | does not have much to do with your MUA. You might want to rebase | |
440 | the patch with linkgit:git-rebase[1] before regenerating it in | |
441 | this case. | |
442 | ||
443 | * The MUA corrupted your patch; "am" would complain that | |
444 | the patch does not apply. Look in the .git/rebase-apply/ subdirectory and | |
445 | see what 'patch' file contains and check for the common | |
446 | corruption patterns mentioned above. | |
447 | ||
448 | * While at it, check the 'info' and 'final-commit' files as well. | |
449 | If what is in 'final-commit' is not exactly what you would want to | |
450 | see in the commit log message, it is very likely that the | |
451 | receiver would end up hand editing the log message when applying | |
452 | your patch. Things like "Hi, this is my first patch.\n" in the | |
453 | patch e-mail should come after the three-dash line that signals | |
454 | the end of the commit message. | |
455 | ||
dc53151f JN |
456 | MUA-SPECIFIC HINTS |
457 | ------------------ | |
458 | Here are some hints on how to successfully submit patches inline using | |
459 | various mailers. | |
460 | ||
36c10e6d JN |
461 | GMail |
462 | ~~~~~ | |
463 | GMail does not have any way to turn off line wrapping in the web | |
464 | interface, so it will mangle any emails that you send. You can however | |
465 | use "git send-email" and send your patches through the GMail SMTP server, or | |
466 | use any IMAP email client to connect to the google IMAP server and forward | |
467 | the emails through that. | |
468 | ||
469 | For hints on using 'git send-email' to send your patches through the | |
470 | GMail SMTP server, see the EXAMPLE section of linkgit:git-send-email[1]. | |
471 | ||
472 | For hints on submission using the IMAP interface, see the EXAMPLE | |
473 | section of linkgit:git-imap-send[1]. | |
474 | ||
dc53151f JN |
475 | Thunderbird |
476 | ~~~~~~~~~~~ | |
477 | By default, Thunderbird will both wrap emails as well as flag | |
478 | them as being 'format=flowed', both of which will make the | |
2de9b711 | 479 | resulting email unusable by Git. |
dc53151f | 480 | |
b8959605 JS |
481 | There are three different approaches: use an add-on to turn off line wraps, |
482 | configure Thunderbird to not mangle patches, or use | |
dc53151f JN |
483 | an external editor to keep Thunderbird from mangling the patches. |
484 | ||
b8959605 JS |
485 | Approach #1 (add-on) |
486 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ | |
487 | ||
488 | Install the Toggle Word Wrap add-on that is available from | |
489 | https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/toggle-word-wrap/ | |
490 | It adds a menu entry "Enable Word Wrap" in the composer's "Options" menu | |
491 | that you can tick off. Now you can compose the message as you otherwise do | |
492 | (cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc), but you have to | |
493 | insert line breaks manually in any text that you type. | |
494 | ||
495 | Approach #2 (configuration) | |
dc53151f JN |
496 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
497 | Three steps: | |
498 | ||
499 | 1. Configure your mail server composition as plain text: | |
500 | Edit...Account Settings...Composition & Addressing, | |
501 | uncheck "Compose Messages in HTML". | |
502 | ||
503 | 2. Configure your general composition window to not wrap. | |
504 | + | |
505 | In Thunderbird 2: | |
506 | Edit..Preferences..Composition, wrap plain text messages at 0 | |
507 | + | |
508 | In Thunderbird 3: | |
509 | Edit..Preferences..Advanced..Config Editor. Search for | |
510 | "mail.wrap_long_lines". | |
f737684d RJ |
511 | Toggle it to make sure it is set to `false`. Also, search for |
512 | "mailnews.wraplength" and set the value to 0. | |
dc53151f JN |
513 | |
514 | 3. Disable the use of format=flowed: | |
ba170517 JNA |
515 | Edit..Preferences..Advanced..Config Editor. Search for |
516 | "mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed". | |
517 | Toggle it to make sure it is set to `false`. | |
dc53151f JN |
518 | |
519 | After that is done, you should be able to compose email as you | |
520 | otherwise would (cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc), | |
521 | and the patches will not be mangled. | |
522 | ||
b8959605 | 523 | Approach #3 (external editor) |
dc53151f JN |
524 | ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ |
525 | ||
526 | The following Thunderbird extensions are needed: | |
527 | AboutConfig from http://aboutconfig.mozdev.org/ and | |
528 | External Editor from http://globs.org/articles.php?lng=en&pg=8 | |
529 | ||
530 | 1. Prepare the patch as a text file using your method of choice. | |
531 | ||
532 | 2. Before opening a compose window, use Edit->Account Settings to | |
533 | uncheck the "Compose messages in HTML format" setting in the | |
534 | "Composition & Addressing" panel of the account to be used to | |
535 | send the patch. | |
536 | ||
537 | 3. In the main Thunderbird window, 'before' you open the compose | |
538 | window for the patch, use Tools->about:config to set the | |
539 | following to the indicated values: | |
540 | + | |
541 | ---------- | |
542 | mailnews.send_plaintext_flowed => false | |
543 | mailnews.wraplength => 0 | |
544 | ---------- | |
545 | ||
546 | 4. Open a compose window and click the external editor icon. | |
547 | ||
548 | 5. In the external editor window, read in the patch file and exit | |
549 | the editor normally. | |
550 | ||
551 | Side note: it may be possible to do step 2 with | |
552 | about:config and the following settings but no one's tried yet. | |
553 | ||
554 | ---------- | |
555 | mail.html_compose => false | |
556 | mail.identity.default.compose_html => false | |
557 | mail.identity.id?.compose_html => false | |
558 | ---------- | |
559 | ||
560 | There is a script in contrib/thunderbird-patch-inline which can help | |
561 | you include patches with Thunderbird in an easy way. To use it, do the | |
562 | steps above and then use the script as the external editor. | |
563 | ||
967ab8ef JN |
564 | KMail |
565 | ~~~~~ | |
566 | This should help you to submit patches inline using KMail. | |
567 | ||
568 | 1. Prepare the patch as a text file. | |
569 | ||
570 | 2. Click on New Mail. | |
571 | ||
572 | 3. Go under "Options" in the Composer window and be sure that | |
573 | "Word wrap" is not set. | |
574 | ||
575 | 4. Use Message -> Insert file... and insert the patch. | |
576 | ||
577 | 5. Back in the compose window: add whatever other text you wish to the | |
578 | message, complete the addressing and subject fields, and press send. | |
579 | ||
fa2ab86d XY |
580 | BASE TREE INFORMATION |
581 | --------------------- | |
582 | ||
583 | The base tree information block is used for maintainers or third party | |
584 | testers to know the exact state the patch series applies to. It consists | |
585 | of the 'base commit', which is a well-known commit that is part of the | |
586 | stable part of the project history everybody else works off of, and zero | |
587 | or more 'prerequisite patches', which are well-known patches in flight | |
588 | that is not yet part of the 'base commit' that need to be applied on top | |
589 | of 'base commit' in topological order before the patches can be applied. | |
590 | ||
591 | The 'base commit' is shown as "base-commit: " followed by the 40-hex of | |
592 | the commit object name. A 'prerequisite patch' is shown as | |
593 | "prerequisite-patch-id: " followed by the 40-hex 'patch id', which can | |
594 | be obtained by passing the patch through the `git patch-id --stable` | |
595 | command. | |
596 | ||
597 | Imagine that on top of the public commit P, you applied well-known | |
598 | patches X, Y and Z from somebody else, and then built your three-patch | |
599 | series A, B, C, the history would be like: | |
600 | ||
601 | ................................................ | |
602 | ---P---X---Y---Z---A---B---C | |
603 | ................................................ | |
604 | ||
605 | With `git format-patch --base=P -3 C` (or variants thereof, e.g. with | |
7ba1ceef | 606 | `--cover-letter` or using `Z..C` instead of `-3 C` to specify the |
fa2ab86d XY |
607 | range), the base tree information block is shown at the end of the |
608 | first message the command outputs (either the first patch, or the | |
609 | cover letter), like this: | |
610 | ||
611 | ------------ | |
612 | base-commit: P | |
613 | prerequisite-patch-id: X | |
614 | prerequisite-patch-id: Y | |
615 | prerequisite-patch-id: Z | |
616 | ------------ | |
617 | ||
618 | For non-linear topology, such as | |
619 | ||
620 | ................................................ | |
621 | ---P---X---A---M---C | |
622 | \ / | |
623 | Y---Z---B | |
624 | ................................................ | |
625 | ||
626 | You can also use `git format-patch --base=P -3 C` to generate patches | |
627 | for A, B and C, and the identifiers for P, X, Y, Z are appended at the | |
628 | end of the first message. | |
e0d48279 | 629 | |
3de66517 XY |
630 | If set `--base=auto` in cmdline, it will track base commit automatically, |
631 | the base commit will be the merge base of tip commit of the remote-tracking | |
632 | branch and revision-range specified in cmdline. | |
633 | For a local branch, you need to track a remote branch by `git branch | |
634 | --set-upstream-to` before using this option. | |
635 | ||
28ffb898 JH |
636 | EXAMPLES |
637 | -------- | |
638 | ||
921177f5 | 639 | * Extract commits between revisions R1 and R2, and apply them on top of |
ba170517 | 640 | the current branch using 'git am' to cherry-pick them: |
921177f5 CC |
641 | + |
642 | ------------ | |
467c0197 | 643 | $ git format-patch -k --stdout R1..R2 | git am -3 -k |
921177f5 CC |
644 | ------------ |
645 | ||
646 | * Extract all commits which are in the current branch but not in the | |
ba170517 | 647 | origin branch: |
921177f5 CC |
648 | + |
649 | ------------ | |
650 | $ git format-patch origin | |
651 | ------------ | |
652 | + | |
653 | For each commit a separate file is created in the current directory. | |
654 | ||
655 | * Extract all commits that lead to 'origin' since the inception of the | |
ba170517 | 656 | project: |
921177f5 CC |
657 | + |
658 | ------------ | |
9c67c757 | 659 | $ git format-patch --root origin |
921177f5 CC |
660 | ------------ |
661 | ||
662 | * The same as the previous one: | |
663 | + | |
664 | ------------ | |
665 | $ git format-patch -M -B origin | |
666 | ------------ | |
667 | + | |
668 | Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites | |
669 | intelligently to produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces | |
50710ce4 | 670 | the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review. |
2de9b711 TA |
671 | Note that non-Git "patch" programs won't understand renaming patches, so |
672 | use it only when you know the recipient uses Git to apply your patch. | |
921177f5 CC |
673 | |
674 | * Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them | |
ba170517 | 675 | as e-mailable patches: |
921177f5 CC |
676 | + |
677 | ------------ | |
678 | $ git format-patch -3 | |
679 | ------------ | |
28ffb898 | 680 | |
56ae8df5 | 681 | SEE ALSO |
28ffb898 | 682 | -------- |
5162e697 | 683 | linkgit:git-am[1], linkgit:git-send-email[1] |
28ffb898 | 684 | |
7fc9d69f JH |
685 | GIT |
686 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 687 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |