1 =========================================
2 TopGit -- A different patch queue manager
3 =========================================
9 TopGit aims to make handling of large amounts of interdependent topic
10 branches easier. In fact, it is designed especially for the case where
11 you maintain a queue of third-party patches on top of another (perhaps
12 Git-controlled) project and want to easily organize, maintain and submit
13 them -- TopGit achieves that by keeping a separate topic branch for each
14 patch and providing some tools to maintain the branches.
18 :REQUIREMENTS_: Installation requirements
19 :USAGE_: Command Line details
20 :`NO UNDO`_: Where's the undo!!!
21 :CONVENTIONS_: Suggestions for organizing your TopGit branches
22 :`EXTRA SETTINGS`_: Various possible "topgit.*" config settings
23 :ALIASES_: Git-like TopGit command aliases
24 :GLOSSARY_: All the TopGit vocabulary in one place
25 :TECHNICAL_: How it works behind the scenes
31 TopGit is a collection of POSIX shell scripts so a POSIX-compliant shell is
32 required along with some standard POSIX-compliant utilities (e.g. sed, awk,
33 cat, etc.). Git version 1.8.5 or later is also required.
35 To use TopGit with linked working trees (the ``git worktree add`` command),
36 at least Git version 2.5.0 (obviously, since that's when the ``git worktree``
37 command first appeared) is needed in which case linked working trees are then
38 fully supported for use with TopGit.
40 The scripts need to be preprocessed and installed and currently the Makefile
41 that does this requires GNU make, but that's an install-time-only requirement.
43 It is possible, however, to use the DESTDIR functionality to install TopGit to
44 a staging area on one machine, archive that and then unarchive it on another
45 machine to perform an install (provided the build prefix and other options are
46 compatible with the final installed location).
52 See the file ``INSTALL``.
58 The TopGit git repository can be found at <http://repo.or.cz/topgit/pro>.
64 Why not use something like StGIT or Guilt or ``rebase -i`` for maintaining
65 your patch queue? The advantage of these tools is their simplicity;
66 they work with patch *series* and defer to the reflog facility for
67 version control of patches (reordering of patches is not
68 version-controlled at all). But there are several disadvantages -- for
69 one, these tools (especially StGIT) do not actually fit well with plain
70 Git at all: it is basically impossible to take advantage of the index
71 effectively when using StGIT. But more importantly, these tools
72 horribly fail in the face of a distributed environment.
74 TopGit has been designed around three main tenets:
76 (i) TopGit is as thin a layer on top of Git as possible. You
77 still maintain your index and commit using Git; TopGit will only
78 automate a few indispensable tasks.
80 (ii) TopGit is anxious about *keeping* your history. It will
81 never rewrite your history, and all metadata is also tracked
82 by Git, smoothly and non-obnoxiously. It is good to have a
83 *single* point when the history is cleaned up, and that is at
84 the point of inclusion in the upstream project; locally, you
85 can see how your patch has evolved and easily return to older
88 (iii) TopGit is specifically designed to work in a
89 distributed environment. You can have several instances of
90 TopGit-aware repositories and smoothly keep them all
91 up-to-date and transfer your changes between them.
93 As mentioned above, the main intended use-case for TopGit is tracking
94 third-party patches, where each patch is effectively a single topic
95 branch. In order to flexibly accommodate even complex scenarios when
96 you track many patches where many are independent but some depend on
97 others, TopGit ignores the ancient Quilt heritage of patch series and
98 instead allows the patches to freely form graphs (DAGs just like Git
99 history itself, only "one level higher"). For now, you have to manually
100 specify which patches the current one depends on, but TopGit might help
101 you with that in the future in a darcs-like fashion.
103 A glossary_ plug: The union (i.e. merge) of patch dependencies is called
104 a *base* of the patch (topic branch).
106 Of course, TopGit is perhaps not the right tool for you:
108 (i) TopGit is not complicated, but StGIT et al. are somewhat
109 simpler, conceptually. If you just want to make a linear
110 purely-local patch queue, deferring to StGIT instead might
113 (ii) When using TopGit, your history can get a little hairy
114 over time, especially with all the merges rippling through.
123 ## Create and evolve a topic branch
124 $ tg create t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
125 tg: Automatically marking dependency on master
126 tg: Creating t/gitweb/pathinfo-action base from master...
132 ## Create another topic branch on top of the former one
133 $ tg create t/gitweb/nifty-links
134 tg: Automatically marking dependency on t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
135 tg: Creating t/gitweb/nifty-links base from t/gitweb/pathinfo-action...
139 ## Create another topic branch on top of master and submit
140 ## the resulting patch upstream
141 $ tg create t/revlist/author-fixed master
142 tg: Creating t/revlist/author-fixed base from master...
146 tg: Sent t/revlist/author-fixed
148 To: git@vger.kernel.org
149 Cc: gitster@pobox.com
150 Subject: [PATCH] Fix broken revlist --author when --fixed-string
152 ## Create another topic branch depending on two others non-trivially
153 $ tg create t/whatever t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
154 tg: Creating t/whatever base from t/revlist/author-fixed...
155 tg: Merging t/whatever base with t/gitweb/nifty-links...
157 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call: tg update --continue
158 tg: It is also safe to abort this operation using `git reset --hard`
159 tg: but please remember you are on the base branch now;
160 tg: you will want to switch to a different branch.
163 $ tg update --continue
167 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes to
169 $ git checkout t/gitweb/nifty-links
172 $ git checkout t/whatever
174 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1 commit)
175 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
177 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
179 t/gitweb/nifty-links (1 commit)
181 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
183 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
184 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
187 $ tg update --continue
188 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
190 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
191 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
194 $ tg update --continue
196 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes
197 ## further through the dependency chain
198 $ git checkout t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
201 $ git checkout t/whatever
203 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1/2 commits)
204 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
206 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
208 t/gitweb/pathinfo-action (<= t/gitweb/nifty-links) (1 commit)
210 tg: Recursing to t/gitweb/nifty-links...
211 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/pathinfo-action changes...
213 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
214 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
217 $ tg update --continue
218 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating t/gitweb/nifty-links against new base...
220 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
221 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
224 $ tg update --continue
225 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
226 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
228 ## Clone a TopGit-controlled repository
231 $ tg remote --populate origin
236 ## Add a TopGit remote to a repository and push to it
237 $ git remote add foo URL
241 ## Update from a non-default TopGit remote
250 When using TopGit there are several common conventions used when working with
251 TopGit branches. None of them are enforced, they are only suggestions.
253 There are three typical uses for a TopGit branch:
256 Normal TopGit branches that represent a single patch. These are known
257 as "patch" TopGit branches.
259 Empty TopGit branches with no dependencies (an empty ``.topdeps`` file)
260 that represent a base upon which other "normal" TopGit branches depend.
261 These are known as "base" TopGit branches (not to be confused with
262 the refs/top-bases/... refs).
264 Empty TopGit branches that serve as a staging area to bring together
265 several other TopGit branches into one place so they can be used/tested
266 all together. These are known as "stage" TopGit branches.
268 An "empty" TopGit branch is one that does not have any changes of its own --
269 it may still have dependencies though ("stage" branches do, "base" branches do
270 not). The ``tg summary`` output shows empty branches with a ``0`` in the
271 listing. Normal "patch" branches that have not been annihilated, "base" and
272 "stage" branches fall into this category. (Annihilated branches are normally
273 omitted from the ``tg summary`` output but can be shown if given explicitly as
274 an argument to the ``tg summary`` command. However, the message line will be
275 incorrect since an annihilated branch has no ``.topmsg`` file of its own.)
277 A "patch" branch name typically starts with ``t/`` whereas "base" and "stage"
278 branch names often do not.
280 A "base" branch is created by using the ``--base`` option of ``tg create``
281 (aka ``--no-deps``) which will automatically suggest a "[BASE]" message prefix
282 rather than "[PATCH]". A "stage" branch is created like a normal patch branch
283 except that the only changes that will ever be made to it are typically to
284 add/remove dependencies. Its subject prefix must be manually changed to
285 "[STAGE]" to reflect its purpose.
287 Since both "base" and "stage" branches typically only have a use for the
288 "Subject:" line from their ``.topmsg`` file, they are quite easily created
289 using the ``--topmsg`` option of ``tg create``.
291 Use of "stage" and "base" branches is completely optional. However, without
292 use of a "stage" branch it will be difficult to test multiple independent
293 patches together all at once. A "base" branch is merely a convenience that
294 provides more explicit control over when a common base for a set of patches
295 gets updated as well as providing a branch that shows in ``tg summary`` output
296 and participates in ``tg remote --populate`` setup.
298 Another advantage to using a "stage" branch is that if a new "patch" branch
299 is created remotely and that new branch is added to a pre-existing "stage"
300 branch on the remote then when the local version of the "stage" branch is
301 updated (after fetching remote updates of course), that new dependency will
302 be merged into the local "stage" branch and the local version of the new remote
303 "patch" branch will be automatically set up at "tg update" time.
305 When using the ``tg tag`` command to create tags that record the current state
306 of one or more TopGit branches, the tags are often created with a name that
309 One last thing, you have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
315 Beware, there is no "undo" after running a ``tg update``!
317 Well, that's not entirely correct. Since ``tg update`` never discards commits
318 an "undo" operation is technically feasible provided the old values of all the
319 refs that were affected by the ``tg update`` operation can be determined and
320 then they are simply changed back to their previous values.
322 In practice though, it can be extremely tedious and error prone looking through
323 log information to try and determine what the correct previous values were.
324 Although, since TopGit tries to make sure reflogs are enabled for top-bases
325 refs, using Git's ``@{date}`` notation on all the refs dumped out by a
326 ``tg tag --refs foo``, where "foo" is the branch that was updated whose update
327 needs to be undone, may work.
329 Alternatively, ``tg tag --stash`` can be used prior to the update and then
330 ``tg revert`` used after the update to restore the previous state. This
331 assumes, of course, that you remember to run ``tg tag --stash`` first.
333 The ``tg update`` command understands a ``--stash`` option that tells it to
334 automatically run ``tg tag --stash`` before it starts making changes (if
335 everything is up-to-date it won't run the stash command at all).
337 The ``--stash`` option is the default nowadays when running ``tg update``,
338 add the ``--no-stash`` option to turn it off.
340 There is a preference for this. Setting the config value ``topgit.autostash``
341 to ``false`` will implicitly add the ``--no-stash`` option to any ``tg update``
342 command unless an explicit ``--stash`` option is given.
344 If you are likely to ever want to undo a ``tg update``, setting
345 ``topgit.autostash`` to ``false`` is highly discouraged!
347 Note that the tags saved by ``tg tag --stash`` are stored in the
348 ``refs/tgstash`` ref and its reflog. Unfortunately, while Git is happy to
349 maintain the reflog (once it's been enabled which ``tg tag`` guarantees for
350 ``refs/tgstash``), Git is unable to view an annotated/signed tag's reflog!
351 Instead Git dereferences the tag and shows the wrong thing. Use the
352 ``tg tag -g`` command to view the ``refs/tgstash`` reflog instead.
358 TopGit supports various config settings:
360 :ALIASES_: ``topgit.alias.*`` for Git-like command aliases
361 :SEQUESTRATION_: ``topgit.sequester`` for sequestration control
362 :`tg migrate-bases`_: ``topgit.top-bases`` for refs bases location
363 :`tg update`_: ``topgit.autostash`` automatic stash control
364 :`REMOTE HANDLING`_: ``topgit.remote`` TopGit's default remote
370 These work exactly like Git's aliases except they are stored under
371 ``topgit.alias.*`` instead. See the ``git help config`` output under
372 the ``alias.*`` section for details. Do note that while alias nesting is
373 explicitly permitted, a maximum nesting depth of 10 is enforced to help
374 detect accidental aliasing loops from wedging the machine.
380 No, this is not a section about budget nonsense. ;)
382 TopGit keeps its metadata in ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files. In an effort
383 to facilitate cherry-picking and other Git activities on the patch changes
384 themselves while ignoring the TopGit metadata, TopGit attempts to keep all
385 changes to ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files limited to commits that do NOT
386 contain changes to any other files.
388 This is a departure from previous TopGit versions that made no such effort.
390 Primarily this affects ``tg create`` and ``tg import`` (which makes use of
391 ``tg create``) as ``tg create`` will commit the initial versions of
392 ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` for a new TopGit-controlled branch in their own
393 commit instead of mixing them in with changes to other files.
395 The ``pre-commit`` hook will also attempt to separate out any ``.topdeps`` and
396 ``.topmsg`` changes from commits that include changes to other files.
398 It is possible to defeat these checks without much effort (``pre-commit`` hooks
399 can easily be bypassed, ``tg create`` has a ``--no-commit`` option, many Git
400 commands simply do not run the ``pre-commit`` hook, etc.).
402 If you really, really, really, really want to change the default back to the
403 old behavior of previous TopGit versions where no such sequestration took
404 place, then set the ``topgit.sequester`` config variable explicitly to the
405 value ``false``. But this is not recommended.
408 AMENDING AND REBASING AND UPDATE-REF'ING
409 ----------------------------------------
413 It is okay to manually update a top-bases/... ref when a) it has no depedencies
414 (i.e. it was created with the ``tg create`` ``--base`` option) and b) the
415 old top-bases/... ref value can be fast-forwarded to the new top-bases/...
416 value OR the new value contains ALL of the changes in the old value through
417 some other mechanism (perhaps they were cherry-picked or otherwise applied to
418 the new top-bases/... ref). The same rules apply to non-TopGit-controlled
419 dependencies. Use the ``tg update --base <branch> <new-ref>`` command to
420 safely make such an update while making it easy to set the merge commit
421 message at the same time.
423 Ignoring this rule and proceeding anyway with a non-fast-forward update to a
424 top-bases/... ref will result in changes present in the new value being merged
425 into the branch (at ``tg update`` time) as expected (possibly with conflicts),
426 but any changes that were contained in the old version of the top-bases/... ref
427 which have been dropped (i.e. are NOT contained in the new version of the
428 top-bases/... ref) will continue to be present in the branch! To get rid of
429 the dropped commits, one or more "revert" commits will have to be manually
430 applied to the tip of the new top-bases/... value (which will then be merged
431 into the branch at next ``tg update`` time).
433 The only time it's safe to amend, rebase, filter or otherwise rewrite commits
434 contained in a TopGit controlled branch or non-TopGit branch is when those
435 commits are NOT reachable via any other ref!
437 Furthermore, while it is safe to rewrite merge commits (provided they meet the
438 same conditions) the merge commits themselves and the branches they are merging
439 in must be preserved during the rewrite and that can be rather tricky to get
440 right so it's not recommended.
442 For example, if, while working on a TopGit-controlled branch ``foo``, a bad
443 typo is noticed, it's okay to ammend/rebase to fix that provided neither
444 ``tg update`` nor ``tg create`` has already been used to cause some other ref
445 to be able to reach the commit with the typo.
447 If an amend or rerwite is done anyway even though the commit with the typo is
448 reachable from some other ref, the typo won't really be removed. What will
449 happen instead is that the new version without the typo will ultimately be
450 merged into the other ref(s) (at ``tg update`` time) likely causing a conflict
451 that will have to be manually resolved and the commit with the typo will
452 continue to be reachable from those other refs!
454 Instead just make a new commit to fix the typo. The end result will end up
455 being the same but without the merge conflicts.
457 See also the discussion in the `NO UNDO`_ section.
463 TopGit needs to check many things to determine whether a TopGit branch is
464 up-to-date or not. This can involve a LOT of git commands for a complex
465 dependency tree. In order to speed things up, TopGit keeps a cache of results
466 in a ``tg-cache`` subdirectory in the ``.git`` directory.
468 Results are tagged with the original hash values used to get that result so
469 that items which have not been changed return their results quickly and items
470 which have been changed compute their new result and cache it for future use.
472 The ``.git/tg-cache`` directory may be removed at any time and the cache will
473 simply be recreated in an on-demand fashion as needed, at some speed penalty,
474 until it's fully rebuilt.
476 To force the cache to be fully pre-loaded, run the ``tg summary`` command
477 without any arguments. Otherwise, normal day-to-day TopGit operations should
478 keep it more-or-less up-to-date.
480 While each TopGit command is running, it uses a temporary subdirectory also
481 located in the ``.git`` directory. These directories are named
482 ``tg-tmp.XXXXXX`` where the ``XXXXXX`` part will be random letters and digits.
484 These temporary directories should always be removed automatically after each
485 TopGit command finishes running. As long as you are not in a subshell as a
486 result of a TopGit command stopping and waiting for a manual merge resolution,
487 it's safe to remove any of these directories that may have somehow accidentally
488 been left behind as a result of some failure that occurred while running a
489 TopGit command (provided, of course, it's not actually being used by a TopGit
490 command currently running in another terminal window or by another user on the
496 ``tg [-C <dir>] [-r <remote> | -u] [-c <name>=<val>] <subcommand> [<subcommand option/argument>...]``
498 -C <dir> Change directory to <dir> before doing anything
499 -r <remote> Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is set to <remote>
500 -u Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is not set
501 -c <name=val> Pass config option to git, may be repeated
503 The ``tg`` tool has several subcommands:
505 :`tg annihilate`_: Mark a TopGit-controlled branch as defunct
506 :`tg base`_: Show base commit for one or more TopGit branches
507 :`tg checkout`_: Shortcut for git checkout with name matching
508 :`tg contains`_: Which TopGit-controlled branch contains the commit
509 :`tg create`_: Create a new TopGit-controlled branch
510 :`tg delete`_: Delete a TopGit-controlled branch cleanly
511 :`tg depend`_: Add a new dependency to a TopGit-controlled branch
512 :`tg export`_: Export TopGit branch patches to files or a branch
513 :`tg files`_: Show files changed by a TopGit branch
514 :`tg help`_: Show TopGit help optionally using a browser
515 :`tg import`_: Import commit(s) to separate TopGit branches
516 :`tg info`_: Show status information about a TopGit branch
517 :`tg log`_: Run git log limiting revisions to a TopGit branch
518 :`tg mail`_: Shortcut for git send-email with ``tg patch`` output
519 :`tg migrate-bases`_: Transition top-bases to new location
520 :`tg next`_: Show branches directly depending on a TopGit branch
521 :`tg patch`_: Generate a patch file for a TopGit branch
522 :`tg prev`_: Show non-annihilated TopGit dependencies for a branch
523 :`tg push`_: Run git push on TopGit branch(es) and depedencies
524 :`tg rebase`_: Auto continue git rebase if rerere resolves conflicts
525 :`tg remote`_: Set up remote for fetching/pushing TopGit branches
526 :`tg revert`_: Revert ref(s) to a state stored in a ``tg tag``
527 :`tg status`_: Show current TopGit status (e.g. in-progress update)
528 :`tg summary`_: Show various information about TopGit branches
529 :`tg tag`_: Create tag that records current TopGit branch state
530 :`tg update`_: Update TopGit branch(es) with respect to dependencies
534 Our sophisticated integrated help facility. Mostly duplicates
539 # to get help for a particular command:
541 # to get help for a particular command in a browser window:
542 $ tg help -w <command>
543 # to get help on TopGit itself
545 # to get help on TopGit itself in a browser
550 Our sophisticated status facility. Similar to Git's status command
551 but shows any in-progress update that's awaiting a merge resolution
552 or any other on-going TopGit activity (such as a branch creation).
554 With a single ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) option include a short status
555 display for any dirty (but not untracked) files. This also causes all
556 non file status lines to be prefixed with "## ".
558 With two (or more) ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) options, additionally
559 show full symbolic ref names and unabbreviated hash values.
561 With the ``--exit-code`` option the exit code will be non-zero if any
562 TopGit or Git operation is currently in progress or the working
567 Create a new TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
568 (required argument) and switch to it. If no dependencies are
569 specified (by extra arguments passed after the first one), the
570 current branch is assumed to be the only dependency.
572 By default ``tg create`` opens an editor on the new ``.topmsg`` file
573 and then commits the new ``.topmsg`` and ``.topdeps`` files
574 automatically with a suitable default commit message.
576 The commit message can be changed with the ``-m`` (or ``--message``) or
577 ``-F`` (or ``--file``) option. The automatic commit can be suppressed
578 by using the ``--no-ccmmit`` option. Running the editor on the new
579 ``.topmsg`` file can be suppressed by using ``-n`` (or ``--no-edit``)
580 (which also suppresses the automatic commit) or by providing an
581 explicit value for the new ``.topmsg`` file using the ``--topmsg`` or
582 ``--topmsg-file`` option. In any case the ``.topmsg`` content will be
583 automatically reformated to have a ``Subject:`` header line if needed.
585 If more than one dependency is listed, the automatic commit will not
586 take place until AFTER all the listed dependencies have been merged
587 into a base commit which will require some manual merge resolutions if
588 conflicts occur during the merge operations.
590 Previous versions of TopGit behaved as though the ``--no-edit`` option
591 was always given on the command line.
593 The default behavior has been changed to promote a separation between
594 commits that modify ``.topmsg`` and/or ``.topdeps`` and commits that
595 modify other files. This facilitates cleaner cherry picking and other
596 patch maintenance activities.
598 You should edit the patch description (contained in the ``.topmsg``
599 file) as appropriate. It will already contain some prefilled bits.
600 You can set the ``topgit.to``, ``topgit.cc`` and ``topgit.bcc``
601 git configuration variables (see ``man git-config``) in order to
602 have ``tg create`` add these headers with the given default values
603 to ``.topmsg`` before invoking the editor.
605 The main task of ``tg create`` is to set up the topic branch base
606 from the dependencies. This may fail due to merge conflicts if more
607 than one dependency is given. In that case, after you commit the
608 conflict resolution, you should call ``tg update --continue`` to
609 finish merging the dependencies into the new topic branch base.
611 With the ``--base`` (aka ``--no-deps``) option at most one dependency
612 may be listed which may be any valid committish (instead of just
613 refs/heads/...) and the newly created TopGit-controlled branch will
614 have an empty ``.topdeps`` file. This may be desirable in order to
615 create a TopGit-controlled branch that has no changes of its own and
616 serves merely to mark the common dependency that all other
617 TopGit-controlled branches in some set of TopGit-controlled branches
618 depend on. A plain, non-TopGit-controlled branch can be used for the
619 same purpose, but the advantage of a TopGit-controlled branch with no
620 dependencies is that it will be pushed with ``tg push``, it will show
621 up in the ``tg summary`` and ``tg info`` output with the subject from
622 its ``.topmsg`` file thereby documenting what it's for and finally it
623 can be set up with ``tg create -r`` and/or ``tg remote --populate`` to
626 For example, ``tg create --base release v2.1`` will create a TopGit-
627 controlled ``release`` branch based off the ``v2.1`` tag that can then
628 be used as a base for creation of other TopGit-controlled branches.
629 Then when the time comes to move the base for an entire set of changes
630 up to ``v2.2`` the command ``tg update --base release v2.2`` can be
631 used followed by ``tg update --all``.
633 Using ``--base`` it's also possible to use ``tg create`` on an
634 unborn branch (omit the dependency name or specify ``HEAD``). The
635 unborn branch itself can be made into the new TopGit branch (rather
636 than being born empty and then having the new TopGit branch based off
637 that) by specifying ``HEAD`` as the new branch's name (which is
638 probably what you normally want to do in this case anyway so you can
639 just run ``tg create --base HEAD`` to accomplish that).
641 In an alternative use case, if ``-r <branch>`` is given instead of a
642 dependency list, the topic branch is created based on the given
643 remote branch. With just ``-r`` the remote branch name is assumed
644 to be the same as the local topic branch being created. Since no
645 new commits are created in this mode (only two refs will be updated)
646 the editor will never be run for this use case. Note that no other
647 options may be combined with ``-r``.
649 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option suppresses most informational
654 Remove a TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
655 (required argument). Normally, this command will remove only an
656 empty branch (base == head) without dependendents; use ``-f`` to
657 remove a non-empty branch or a branch that is depended upon by
660 The ``-f`` option is also useful to force removal of a branch's
661 base, if you used ``git branch -D B`` to remove branch B, and then
662 certain TopGit commands complain, because the base of branch B
665 Normally ``tg delete`` will refuse to delete the current branch.
666 However, giving ``-f`` twice (or more) will force it to do so but it
667 will first detach your HEAD.
669 IMPORTANT: Currently, this command will *NOT* remove the branch
670 from the dependency list in other branches. You need to take
671 care of this *manually*. This is even more complicated in
672 combination with ``-f`` -- in that case, you need to manually
673 unmerge the removed branch's changes from the branches depending
676 See also ``tg annihilate``.
678 | TODO: ``-a`` to delete all empty branches, depfix, revert
682 Make a commit on the current TopGit-controlled topic branch
683 that makes it equal to its base, including the presence or
684 absence of .topmsg and .topdeps. Annihilated branches are not
685 displayed by ``tg summary``, so they effectively get out of your
686 way. However, the branch still exists, and ``tg push`` will
687 push it (except if given the ``-a`` option). This way, you can
688 communicate that the branch is no longer wanted.
690 When annihilating a branch that has dependents (i.e. branches
691 that depend on it), those dependents have the dependencies of
692 the branch being annihilated added to them if they do not already
693 have them as dependencies. Essentially the DAG is repaired to
694 skip over the annihilated branch.
696 Normally, this command will remove only an empty branch
697 (base == head, except for changes to the .top* files); use
698 ``-f`` to annihilate a non-empty branch.
700 After completing the annihilation itself, normally ``tg update``
701 is run on any modified dependents. Use the ``--no-update`` option
702 to suppress running ``tg update``.
706 Change the dependencies of a TopGit-controlled topic branch.
707 This should have several subcommands, but only ``add`` is
710 The ``add`` subcommand takes an argument naming a topic branch to
711 be added, adds it to ``.topdeps``, performs a commit and then
712 updates your topic branch accordingly. If you want to do other
713 things related to the dependency addition, like adjusting
714 ``.topmsg``, use the option ``--no-commit``. Adding the
715 ``--no-update`` (or ``--no-commit``) option will suppress the
716 ``tg update`` normally performed after committing the change.
718 It is safe to run ``tg depend add`` in a dirty worktree, but the
719 normally performed ``tg update`` will be suppressed in that case
720 (even if neither ``--no-update`` nor ``--no-commit`` is given).
722 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
724 | TODO: Subcommand for removing dependencies, obviously
728 List files changed by the current or specified topic branch.
731 -i list files based on index instead of branch
732 -w list files based on working tree instead of branch
736 Show summary information about the current or specified topic
739 Numbers in parenthesis after a branch name such as "(11/3 commits)"
740 indicate how many commits on the branch (11) and how many of those
741 are non-merge commits (3).
743 With ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) include a list of dependents (i.e. other
744 branches that depend on this one). Another ``--verbose`` annotates
745 them with "[needs merge]" if the current tip of branch for which info
746 is being shown has not yet been merged into the base of the dependent.
748 Alternatively, if ``--heads`` is used then which of the independent
749 TopGit branch heads (as output by ``tg summary --topgit-heads``)
750 logically contains the specified commit (which may be any committish --
751 defaults to ``HEAD`` if not given). Zero or more results will be
752 output. Note that "logically" means with regard to the TopGit
753 dependency relationships as established by the ``.topdeps`` file(s).
754 It's the answer that would be given when all the TopGit branches are
755 up-to-date (even though they need not be to use this option) and the
756 ``git branch --contains`` command is run and the output then filtered
757 to only those branches that appear in ``tg summary --topgit-heads``.
758 This computation may require several seconds on complex repositories.
760 If ``--leaves`` is used then the unique list of leaves of the current
761 or specified topic branch is shown as one fully-qualified ref per line.
762 Duplicates are suppressed and a tag name will be used when appropriate.
763 A "leaf" is any dependency that is either not a TopGit branch or is
764 the base of a non-annihilated TopGit branch with no non-annihilated
767 A linearized patch series can only be automatically created for a
768 TopGit topic branch (including its recursive dependencies) when exactly
769 one line is output by ``tg info --leaves <topic-branch>``.
773 Generate a patch from the current or specified topic branch.
774 This means that the diff between the topic branch base and head
775 (latest commit) is shown, appended to the description found in
776 the ``.topmsg`` file.
778 The patch is simply dumped to stdout. In the future, ``tg patch``
779 will be able to automatically send the patches by mail or save
780 them to files. (TODO)
783 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
784 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
785 --binary pass --binary to ``git diff-tree`` to enable generation
787 --diff-opt options after the branch name (and an optional ``--``)
788 are passed directly to ``git diff-tree``
790 In order to pass a sole explicit ``-w`` through to ``git diff-tree`` it
791 must be separated from the ``tg`` options by an explicit ``--``.
792 Or it can be spelled as ``--ignore-all-space`` to distinguuish it from
793 ``tg``'s ``-w`` option.
795 If additional non-``tg`` options are passed through to
796 ``git diff-tree`` (other than ``--binary`` which is fully supported)
797 the resulting ``tg patch`` output may not be appliable.
801 Send a patch from the current or specified topic branch as
804 Takes the patch given on the command line and emails it out.
805 Destination addresses such as To, Cc and Bcc are taken from the
808 Since it actually boils down to ``git send-email``, please refer
809 to the documentation for that for details on how to setup email
810 for git. You can pass arbitrary options to this command through
811 the ``-s`` parameter, but you must double-quote everything. The
812 ``-r`` parameter with a msgid can be used to generate in-reply-to
813 and reference headers to an earlier mail.
815 WARNING: be careful when using this command. It easily sends
816 out several mails. You might want to run::
818 git config sendemail.confirm always
820 to let ``git send-email`` ask for confirmation before sending any
824 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
825 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
827 | TODO: ``tg mail patchfile`` to mail an already exported patch
828 | TODO: mailing patch series
829 | TODO: specifying additional options and addresses on command line
833 Register the given remote as TopGit-controlled. This will create
834 the namespace for the remote branch bases and teach ``git fetch``
835 to operate on them. However, from TopGit 0.8 onwards you need to
836 use ``tg push``, or ``git push --mirror``, for pushing
837 TopGit-controlled branches.
839 ``tg remote`` takes an optional remote name argument, and an
840 optional ``--populate`` switch. Use ``--populate`` for your
841 origin-style remotes: it will seed the local topic branch system
842 based on the remote topic branches. ``--populate`` will also make
843 ``tg remote`` automatically fetch the remote, and ``tg update`` look
844 at branches of this remote for updates by default.
846 Using ``--populate`` with a remote name causes the ``topgit.remote``
847 git configuration variable to be set to the given remote name.
851 Show overview of all TopGit-tracked topic branches and their
852 up-to-date status. With a branch name limit output to that branch.
853 Using ``--deps-only`` or ``--rdeps`` changes the default from all
854 branches to just the current ``HEAD`` branch but using ``--all`` as
855 the branch name will show results for all branches instead of ``HEAD``.
858 marks the current topic branch
861 indicates that it introduces no changes of its own
864 indicates respectively whether it is local-only
868 indicates respectively if it is ahead or out-of-date
869 with respect to its remote mate
872 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to its
876 indicates that it has missing dependencies [even if
877 they are recursive ones]
880 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to
884 indicates it is ahead of (and needs to be merged into)
885 at least one of its dependents -- only computed when
886 showing all branches or using the (possibly implied)
887 ``--with-deps`` option.
889 This can take a longish time to accurately determine all the
890 relevant information about each branch; you can pass ``-t`` (or ``-l``
891 or ``--list``) to get just a terse list of topic branch names quickly.
893 Passing ``--heads`` shows independent topic branch names and when
894 combined with ``--rdeps`` behaves as though ``--rdeps`` were run with
895 the output of ``--heads``.
897 The ``--heads-independent`` option works just like ``--heads`` except
898 that it computes the heads using ``git merge-base --independent``
899 rather than examining the TopGit ``.topdeps`` relationships. If the
900 TopGit branches are all up-to-date (as shown in ``tg summary``) then
901 both ``--heads`` and ``--heads-independent`` should compute the same
902 list of heads (unless some overlapping TopGit branches have been
903 manually created). If not all the TopGit branches are up-to-date then
904 the ``--heads-independent`` results may have extra items in it, but
905 occasionally that's what's needed; usually it's the wrong answer.
906 (Note that ``--topgit-heads`` is accepted as an alias for ``--heads``
909 Using ``--heads-only`` behaves as though the output of ``--heads`` was
910 passed as the list of branches along with ``--without-deps``.
912 Alternatively, you can pass ``--graphviz`` to get a dot-suitable output
913 for drawing a dependency graph between the topic branches.
915 You can also use the ``--sort`` option to sort the branches using
916 a topological sort. This is especially useful if each
917 TopGit-tracked topic branch depends on a single parent branch,
918 since it will then print the branches in the dependency order.
919 In more complex scenarios, a text graph view would be much more
920 useful, but that has not yet been implemented.
922 The ``--deps`` option outputs dependency information between
923 branches in a machine-readable format. Feed this to ``tsort`` to
924 get the output from --sort.
926 The ``--deps-only`` option outputs a sorted list of the unique branch
927 names given on the command line plus all of their recursive
928 dependencies (subject to ``--exclude`` of course). When
929 ``--deps-only`` is given the default is to just display information for
930 ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by using ``--all`` as the branch
931 name. Each branch name will appear only once in the output no matter
932 how many times it's visited while tracing the dependency graph or how
933 many branch names are given on the command line to process.
935 The ``--rdeps`` option outputs dependency information in an indented
936 text format that clearly shows all the dependencies and their
937 relationships to one another. When ``--rdeps`` is given the default is
938 to just display information for ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by
939 using ``--all`` as the branch name or by adding the ``--heads`` option.
940 Note that ``tg summary --rdeps --heads`` can be particularly helpful in
941 seeing all the TopGit-controlled branches in the repository and their
942 relationships to one another.
944 Adding ``--with-deps`` replaces the given list of branches (which will
945 default to ``HEAD`` if none are given) with the result of running
946 ``tg summary --deps-only --tgish`` on the list of branches. This can
947 be helpful in limiting ``tg summary`` output to only the list of given
948 branches and their dependencies when many TopGit-controlled branches
949 are present in the repository. When it would be allowed,
950 ``--with-deps`` is now the default. Use ``--without-deps`` to switch
951 back to the old behavior.
953 With ``--exclude branch``, branch can be excluded from the output
954 meaning it will be skipped and its name will be omitted from any
955 dependency output. The ``--exclude`` option may be repeated to omit
956 more than one branch from the output. Limiting the output to a single
957 branch that has been excluded will result in no output at all.
959 The ``--tgish-only`` option behaves as though any non-TopGit-controlled
960 dependencies encountered during processing had been listed after an
961 ``--exclude`` option.
963 Note that the branch name can be specified as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` as a
964 shortcut for the TopGit-controlled branch that ``HEAD`` is a
965 symbolic ref to. The ``tg summary @`` command can be quite useful.
968 -i Use TopGit metadata from the index instead of the branch
969 -w Use TopGit metadata from the working tree instead of the branch
973 Search all TopGit-controlled branches (and optionally their remotes)
974 to find which TopGit-controlled branch contains the specified commit.
976 This is more than just basic branch containment as provided for by the
977 ``git branch --contains`` command. While the shown branch name(s)
978 will, indeed, be one (or more) of those output by the
979 ``git branch --contains`` command, the result(s) will exclude any
980 TopGit-controlled branches from the result(s) that have one (or more)
981 of their TopGit dependencies (either direct or indirect) appearing in
982 the ``git branch --contains`` output.
984 Normally the result will be only the one, single TopGit-controlled
985 branch for which the specified committish appears in the ``tg log``
986 output for that branch (unless the committish lies outside the
987 TopGit-controlled portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was used).
989 Unless ``--annihilated-okay`` (or ``--ann`` or ``--annihilated``) is
990 used then annihilated branches will be immediately removed from the
991 ``git branch --contains`` output before doing anything else. This
992 means a committish that was originally located in a now-annihilated
993 branch will show up in whatever branch picked up the annihilated
994 branch's changes (if there is one). This is usually the correct
995 answer, but occasionally it's not; hence this option. If this option
996 is used together with ``--verbose`` then annihilated branches will
997 be shown as "[:annihilated:]".
999 In other words, if a ``tg patch`` is generated for the found branch
1000 (assuming one was found and a subsequent commit in the same branch
1001 didn't then revert or otherwise back out the change), then that patch
1002 will include the changes introduced by the specified committish
1003 (unless, of course, that committish is outside the TopGit-controlled
1004 portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was given).
1006 This can be very helpful when, for example, a bug is discovered and
1007 then after using ``git bisect`` (or some other tool) to find the
1008 offending commit it's time to commit the fix. But because the
1009 TopGit merging history can be quite complicated and maybe the one
1010 doing the fix wasn't the bug's author (or the author's memory is just
1011 going), it can sometimes be rather tedious to figure out which
1012 TopGit branch the fix belongs in. The ``tg contains`` command can
1013 quickly tell you the answer to that question.
1015 With the ``--remotes`` (or ``-r``) option a TopGit-controlled remote
1016 branch name may be reported as the result but only if there is no
1017 non-remote branch containing the committish (this can only happen
1018 if at least one of the TopGit-controlled local branches are not yet
1019 up-to-date with their remotes).
1021 With the ``--verbose`` option show which TopGit DAG head(s) (one or
1022 more of the TopGit-controlled branch names output by
1023 ``tg summary --heads``) have the result as a dependency (either direct
1024 or indirect). Using this option will noticeably increase running time.
1026 With the default ``--strict`` option, results for which the base of the
1027 TopGit-controlled branch contains the committish will be suppressed.
1028 For example, if the committish was deep-down in the master branch
1029 history somewhere far outside of the TopGit-controlled portion of
1030 the DAG, with ``--no-strict``, whatever TopGit-controlled branch(es)
1031 first picked up history containing that committish will be shown.
1032 While this is a useful result it's usually not the desired result
1033 which is why it's not the default.
1035 To summarize, even with ``--remotes``, remote results are only shown
1036 if there are no non-remote results. Without ``--no-strict`` (because
1037 ``--strict`` is the default) results outside the TopGit-controlled
1038 portion of the DAG are never shown and even with ``--no-strict`` they
1039 will only be shown if there are no ``--strict`` results. Finally,
1040 the TopGit head info shown with ``--verbose`` only ever appears for
1041 local (i.e. not a remote branch) results. Annihilated branches are
1042 never considered possible matches without ``--annihilated-okay``.
1046 Switch to a topic branch. You can use ``git checkout <branch>``
1047 to get the same effect, but this command helps you navigate
1048 the dependency graph, or allows you to match the topic branch
1049 name using a regular expression, so it can be more convenient.
1051 There following subcommands are available:
1053 ``tg checkout push``
1054 Check out a branch that directly
1055 depends on your current branch.
1058 Check out a branch that this branch
1059 directly depends on.
1061 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] <pattern>``
1062 Check out a topic branch that
1063 matches ``<pattern>``. ``<pattern>``
1064 is used as a sed pattern to filter
1065 all the topic branches. Both ``goto`` and
1066 ``--`` may be omitted provided ``<pattern>``
1067 is not ``push``, ``pop``, ``-a``, ``--all``,
1068 ``goto``, ``..``, ``--``, ``next``, ``child``,
1069 ``prev``, ``parent``, ``-h`` or ``--help``.
1071 ``tg checkout next``
1072 An alias for ``push``.
1074 ``tg checkout child``
1075 An alias for ``push``.
1078 An alias for ``push``.
1080 ``tg checkout prev``
1081 An alias for ``pop``.
1083 ``tg checkout parent``
1084 An alias for ``pop``.
1087 An alias for ``pop``.
1089 If any of the above commands can find more than one possible
1090 branch to switch to, you will be presented with the matches
1091 and asked to select one of them.
1093 If the ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` (or ``--iow``) option is given and
1094 the current Git version is at least 2.5.0 then the full
1095 ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` option will be passed along to the
1096 ``git checkout`` command when it's run (otherwise the option will be
1097 silently ignored and not passed to Git as it would cause an error).
1099 The ``--force`` (or ``-f``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1100 the ``git checkout`` command.
1102 The ``<pattern>`` of ``tg checkout goto`` is optional. If you don't
1103 supply it, all the available topic branches are listed and you
1104 can select one of them.
1106 Normally, the ``push`` and ``pop`` commands moves one step in
1107 the dependency graph of the topic branches. The ``-a`` option
1108 causes them (and their aliases) to move as far as possible.
1109 That is, ``tg checkout push -a`` moves to a topic branch that
1110 depends (directly or indirectly) on the current branch and
1111 that no other branch depends on. ``tg checkout pop -a``
1112 moves to a regular branch that the current topic branch
1113 depends on (directly or indirectly). If there is more than
1114 one possibility, you will be prompted for your selection.
1118 Export a tidied-up history of the current topic branch and its
1119 dependencies, suitable for feeding upstream. Each topic branch
1120 corresponds to a single commit or patch in the cleaned up
1121 history (corresponding basically exactly to ``tg patch`` output
1122 for the topic branch).
1124 The command has three possible outputs now -- either a Git branch
1125 with the collapsed history, a Git branch with a linearized
1126 history, or a quilt series in new directory.
1128 In the case where you are producing collapsed history in a new
1129 branch, you can use this collapsed structure either for
1130 providing a pull source for upstream, or for further
1131 linearization e.g. for creation of a quilt series using git log::
1133 git log --pretty=email -p --topo-order origin..exported
1135 To better understand the function of ``tg export``, consider this
1136 dependency structure::
1138 origin/master - t/foo/blue - t/foo/red - master
1139 `- t/bar/good <,----------'
1140 `- t/baz ------------'
1142 (where each of the branches may have a hefty history). Then::
1144 master$ tg export for-linus
1146 will create this commit structure on the branch ``for-linus``::
1148 origin/master - t/foo/blue -. merge - t/foo/red -.. merge - master
1149 `- t/bar/good <,-------------------'/
1150 `- t/baz ---------------------'
1152 In this mode, ``tg export`` works on the current topic branch, and
1153 can be called either without an option (in that case,
1154 ``--collapse`` is assumed), or with the ``--collapse`` option, and
1155 with one mandatory argument: the name of the branch where the
1156 exported result will be stored.
1158 When using the linearize mode::
1160 master$ tg export --linearize for-linus
1162 you get a linear history respecting the dependencies of your
1163 patches in a new branch ``for-linus``. The result should be more
1164 or less the same as using quilt mode and then reimporting it
1165 into a Git branch. (More or less because the topological order
1166 can usually be extended in more than one way into a total order,
1167 and the two methods may choose different ones.) The result
1168 might be more appropriate for merging upstream, as it contains
1171 Note that you might get conflicts during linearization because
1172 the patches are reordered to get a linear history. If linearization
1173 would produce conflicts then using ``--quilt`` will also likely result
1174 in conflicts when the exported quilt series is applied. Since the
1175 ``--quilt`` mode simply runs a series of ``tg patch`` commands to
1176 generate the patches in the exported quilt series and those patches
1177 will end up being applied linearly, the same conflicts that would be
1178 produced by the ``--linearize`` option will then occur at that time.
1180 To avoid conflicts produced by ``--linearize`` (or by applying the
1181 ``--quilt`` output), use the default ``--collapse`` mode and then use
1182 ``tg rebase`` (or ``git rebase -m`` directly) on the collapsed branch
1183 (with a suitable <upstream>) followed by ``git format-patch`` on the
1184 rebased result to produce a conflict-free patch set. A suitable
1185 upstream may be determined with the ``tg info --leaves`` command (if
1186 it outputs more than one line, linearization will be problematic).
1188 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1190 When using the quilt mode::
1192 master$ tg export --quilt for-linus
1194 would create the following directory ``for-linus``::
1196 for-linus/t/foo/blue.diff
1197 for-linus/t/foo/red.diff
1198 for-linus/t/bar/good.diff
1199 for-linus/t/baz.diff
1206 With ``--quilt``, you can also pass the ``-b`` parameter followed
1207 by a comma-separated explicit list of branches to export, or
1208 the ``--all`` parameter (which can be shortened to ``-a``) to
1209 export them all. The ``--binary`` option enables producing Git
1210 binary patches. These options are currently only supported
1213 In ``--quilt`` mode the patches are named like the originating
1214 topgit branch. So usually they end up in subdirectories of the
1215 output directory. With the ``--flatten`` option the names are
1216 mangled so that they end up directly in the output dir (slashes
1217 are replaced with underscores). With the ``--strip[=N]`` option
1218 the first ``N`` subdirectories (all if no ``N`` is given) get
1219 stripped off. Names are always ``--strip``'d before being
1220 ``--flatten``'d. With the option ``--numbered`` (which implies
1221 ``--flatten``) the patch names get a number as prefix to allow
1222 getting the order without consulting the series file, which
1223 eases sending out the patches.
1225 | TODO: Make stripping of non-essential headers configurable
1226 | TODO: Make stripping of [PATCH] and other prefixes configurable
1227 | TODO: ``--mbox`` option to export instead as an mbox file
1228 | TODO: support ``--all`` option in other modes of operation
1229 | TODO: For quilt exporting, export the linearized history created in
1230 a temporary branch--this would allow producing conflict-less
1235 Import commits within the given revision range into TopGit,
1236 creating one topic branch per commit. The dependencies are set
1237 up to form a linear sequence starting on your current branch --
1238 or a branch specified by the ``-d`` parameter, if present.
1240 The branch names are auto-guessed from the commit messages and
1241 prefixed by ``t/`` by default; use ``-p <prefix>`` to specify an
1242 alternative prefix (even an empty one).
1244 Alternatively, you can use the ``-s NAME`` parameter to specify
1245 the name of the target branch; the command will then take one
1246 more argument describing a *single* commit to import.
1250 Update the current, specified or all topic branches with respect
1251 to changes in the branches they depend on and remote branches.
1252 This is performed in two phases -- first, changes within the
1253 dependencies are merged to the base, then the base is merged
1254 into the topic branch. The output will guide you on what to do
1255 next in case of conflicts.
1257 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1259 If you also enable the ``rerere.autoUpdate`` mode then ``tg update``
1260 will be able to automatically continue an update when ``git rerere``
1261 resolves all the conflicts and then stages the results in the index.
1262 This can be a big time saver.
1264 When ``-a`` (or ``--all``) is specifed, updates all topic branches
1265 matched by ``<pattern>``'s (see ``git-for-each-ref(1)`` for details),
1266 or all if no ``<pattern>`` is given. Any topic branches with missing
1267 dependencies will be skipped entirely unless ``--skip-missing`` is
1270 When ``--skip-missing`` is specifed, an attempt is made to update topic
1271 branches with missing dependencies by skipping only the dependencies
1272 that are missing. Caveat utilitor.
1274 When ``--stash`` is specified (or the ``topgit.autostash`` config
1275 value is set to ``true``), a ref stash will be automatically created
1276 just before beginning updates if any are needed. The ``--no-stash``
1277 option may be used to disable a ``topgit.autostash=true`` setting.
1278 See the ``tg tag`` ``--stash`` option for details.
1280 After the update, if a single topic branch was specified, it is
1281 left as the current one; if ``-a`` was specified, it returns to
1282 the branch which was current at the beginning.
1284 If your dependencies are not up-to-date, ``tg update`` will first
1285 recurse into them and update them.
1287 If a remote branch update brings in dependencies on branches
1288 that are not yet instantiated locally, you can either bring in
1289 all the new branches from the remote using ``tg remote
1290 --populate``, or only pick out the missing ones using ``tg create
1291 -r`` (``tg summary`` will point out branches with incomplete
1292 dependencies by showing an ``!`` next to them). TopGit will attempt to
1293 instantiate just the missing ones automatically for you, if possible,
1294 when ``tg update`` merges in the new dependencies from the remote.
1296 Using the alternative ``--base`` mode, ``tg update`` will update
1297 the base of a specified ``[BASE]`` branch (which is a branch created
1298 by ``tg create`` using the ``--base`` option) to the specified
1299 committish (the second argument) and then immediately merge that into
1300 the branch itself using the specified message for the merge commit.
1301 If no message is specified on the command line, an editor will open.
1302 Unless ``--force`` is used the new value for the base must contain
1303 the old value (i.e. be a fast-forward update). This is for safety.
1305 This mode makes updates to ``[BASE]`` branches quick and easy.
1307 | TODO: ``tg update -a -c`` to autoremove (clean) up-to-date branches
1311 If ``-a`` or ``--all`` was specified, pushes all non-annihilated
1312 TopGit-controlled topic branches, to a remote repository.
1313 Otherwise, pushes the specified topic branches -- or the
1314 current branch, if you don't specify which. By default, the
1315 remote gets all the dependencies (both TopGit-controlled and
1316 non-TopGit-controlled) and bases pushed to it too. If
1317 ``--tgish-only`` was specified, only TopGit-controlled
1318 dependencies will be pushed, and if ``--no-deps`` was specified,
1319 no dependencies at all will be pushed.
1321 The ``--dry-run`` and ``--force`` options are passed directly to
1322 ``git push`` if given.
1324 The remote may be specified with the ``-r`` option. If no remote
1325 was specified, the configured default TopGit remote will be
1330 Prints the base commit of each of the named topic branches, or
1331 the current branch if no branches are named. Prints an error
1332 message and exits with exit code 1 if the named branch is not
1337 Prints the git log of the named topgit branch -- or the current
1338 branch, if you don't specify a name.
1340 This is really just a convenient shortcut for:
1342 ``git log --first-parent --no-merges $(tg base <name>)..<name>``
1344 where ``<name>`` is the name of the TopGit topic branch (or omitted
1345 for the current branch).
1347 However, if ``<name>`` is a ``[BASE]`` branch the ``--no-merges``
1350 If ``--compact`` is used then ``git log-compact`` will be used instead
1351 of ``git log``. The ``--command=<git-alias>`` option can be used to
1352 replace "log" with any non-whitespace-containing command alias name,
1353 ``--compact`` is just a shortcut for ``--command=log-compact``. The
1354 ``git-log-compact`` tool may be found on its project page located at:
1356 https://mackyle.github.io/git-log-compact
1358 Note that the ``--compact`` or ``--command=`` option must be used
1359 before any ``--`` or ``git log`` options to be recognized.
1361 NOTE: if you have merged changes from a different repository, this
1362 command might not list all interesting commits.
1366 Creates a TopGit annotated/signed tag or lists the reflog of one.
1368 A TopGit annotated tag records the current state of one or more TopGit
1369 branches and their dependencies and may be used to revert to the tagged
1370 state at any point in the future.
1372 When reflogs are enabled (the default in a non-bare repository) and
1373 combined with the ``--force`` option a single tag name may be used as a
1374 sort of TopGit branch state stash. The special branch name ``--all``
1375 may be used to tag the state of all current TopGit branches to
1376 facilitate this function and has the side-effect of suppressing the
1377 out-of-date check allowing out-of-date branches to be included.
1379 As a special feature, ``--stash`` may be used as the tag name in which
1380 case ``--all`` is implied if no branch name is listed (instead of the
1381 normal default of ``HEAD``), ``--force`` and ``--no-edit`` (use
1382 ``--edit`` to change that) are automatically activated and the tag will
1383 be saved to ``refs/tgstash`` instead of ``refs/tags/<tagname>``.
1384 The ``--stash`` tag name may also be used with the ``-g``/``--reflog``
1387 The mostly undocumented option ``--allow-outdated`` will bypass the
1388 out-of-date check and is implied when ``--stash`` or ``--all`` is used.
1390 A TopGit annotated/signed tag is simply a Git annotated/signed tag with
1391 a "TOPGIT REFS" section appended to the end of the tag message (and
1392 preceding the signature for signed tags). PEM-style begin and end
1393 lines surround one line per ref where the format of each line is
1394 full-hash SP ref-name. A line will be included for each branch given
1395 on the command line and each ref they depend on either directly or
1398 If more than one TopGit branch is given on the command line, a new
1399 commit will be created that has an empty tree and all of the given
1400 TopGit branches as parents and that commit will be tagged. If a single
1401 TopGit branch is given, then it will be tagged. If the ``--tree``
1402 option is used then it will be used instead of an empty tree (a new
1403 commit will be created if necessary to guarantee the specified tree is
1404 what's in the commit the newly created tag refers to). The argument to
1405 the ``--tree`` option may be any valid treeish.
1407 All the options for creating a tag serve the same purpose as their Git
1408 equivalents except for two. The ``--refs`` option suppresses tag
1409 creation entirely and emits the "TOPGIT REFS" section that would have
1410 been included with the tag. If the ``--no-edit`` option is given and
1411 no message is supplied (via the ``-m`` or ``-F`` option) then the
1412 default message created by TopGit will be used without running the
1415 With ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` show the reflog for a tag. With the
1416 ``--reflog-message`` option the message from the reflog is shown.
1417 With the ``--commit-message`` option the first line of the tag's
1418 message (if the object is a tag) or the commit message (if the object
1419 is a commit) falling back to the reflog message for tree and blob
1420 objects is shown. The default is ``--reflog-message`` unless the
1421 ``--stash`` (``refs/tgstash``) is being shown in which case the default
1422 is then ``--commit-message``. Just add either option explicitly to
1423 override the default.
1425 When showing reflogs, non-tag entries are annotated with their type
1426 unless ``--no-type`` is given.
1428 TopGit tags are created with a reflog if core.logallrefupdates is
1429 enabled (the default for non-bare repositories). Unfortunately Git
1430 is incapable of showing an annotated/signed tag's reflog
1431 (using git log -g) as it will first resolve the tag before checking to
1432 see if it has a reflog. Git can, however, show reflogs for lightweight
1433 tags (using git log -g) just fine but that's not helpful here. Use
1434 ``tg tag`` with the ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` option to see the reflog for
1435 an actual tag object. This also works on non-TopGit annotated/signed
1436 tags as well provided they have a reflog.
1438 The number of entries shown may be limited with the ``-n`` option. If
1439 the tagname is omitted then ``--stash`` is assumed.
1441 The ``--delete`` option is a convenience option that runs the
1442 ``git update-ref -d`` command on the specified tag removing it and its
1443 reflog (if it has one).
1445 The ``--clear`` option clears all but the most recent (the ``@{0}``)
1446 reflog entries from the reflog for the specified tag. It's equivalent
1447 to dropping all the higher numbered reflog entries.
1449 The ``--drop`` option drops the specified reflog entry and requires the
1450 given tagname to have an ``@{n}`` suffix where ``n`` is the reflog
1451 entry number to be dropped. This is really just a convenience option
1452 that runs the appropriate ``git reflog delete`` command.
1454 Note that when combined with ``tg revert``, a tag created by ``tg tag``
1455 can be used to transfer TopGit branches. Simply create the tag, push
1456 it somewhere and then have the recipient run ``tg revert`` to recreate
1457 the TopGit branches. This may be helpful in situations where it's not
1458 feasible to push all the refs corresponding to the TopGit-controlled
1459 branches and their top-bases.
1463 Provides a ``git rebase`` rerere auto continue function. It may be
1464 used as a drop-in replacement front-end for ``git rebase -m`` that
1465 automatically continues the rebase when ``git rerere`` information is
1466 sufficient to resolve all conflicts.
1468 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1470 If the ``-m`` or ``--merge`` option is not present then ``tg rebase``
1471 will complain and not do anything.
1473 When ``git rerere`` is enabled, previously resolved conflicts are
1474 remembered and can be automatically staged (see ``rerere.autoUpdate``).
1476 However, even with auto staging, ``git rebase`` still stops and
1477 requires an explicit ``git rebase --continue`` to keep going.
1479 In the case where ``git rebase -m`` is being used to flatten history
1480 (such as after a ``tg export --collapse`` prior to a
1481 ``git format-patch``), there's a good chance all conflicts have already
1482 been resolved during normal merge maintenance operations so there's no
1483 reason ``git rebase`` could not automatically continue, but there's no
1484 option to make it do so.
1486 The ``tg rebase`` command provides a ``git rebase --auto-continue``
1489 All the same rebase options can be used (they are simply passed through
1490 to Git unchanged). However, the ``rerere.autoUpdate`` option is
1491 automatically temporarily enabled while running ``git rebase`` and
1492 should ``git rebase`` stop asking one to resolve and continue, but all
1493 conflicts have already been resolved and staged using rerere
1494 information, then ``git rebase --continue`` will be automatically run.
1498 Provides the ability to revert one or more TopGit branches and their
1499 dependencies to a previous state contained within a tag created using
1500 the ``tg tag`` command. In addition to the actual revert mode
1501 operation a list mode operation is also provided to examine a tag's ref
1504 The default mode (``-l`` or ``--list``) shows the state of one or more
1505 of the refs/branches stored in the tag data. When no refs are given on
1506 the command line, all refs in the tag data are shown. With the special
1507 ref name ``--heads`` then the indepedent heads contained in the tag
1508 data are shown. The ``--deps`` option shows the specified refs and all
1509 of their dependencies in a single list with no duplicates. The
1510 ``--rdeps`` option shows a display similar to ``tg summary --rdeps``
1511 for each ref or all TopGit heads if no ref is given on the command
1512 line. The standard ``--no-short``, ``--short=n`` etc. options may be
1513 used to override the default ``--short`` output. With ``--hash`` (or
1514 ``--hash-only``) show only the hash in ``--list`` mode in which case
1515 the default is ``--no-short``. The ``--hash`` option can be used much
1516 like the ``git rev-parse --verify`` command to extract a specific hash
1517 value out of a TopGit tag.
1519 Note that unlike `tg summary`_, here ``--heads`` actually does mean the
1520 ``git merge-base --independent`` heads of the stored refs from the tag
1521 data. To see only the independent TopGit topic branch heads stored in
1522 the tag data use the ``--topgit-heads`` option instead. The default
1523 for the ``--rdeps`` option is ``--topgit-heads`` but ``--heads`` can
1524 be given explicitly to change that. (Note that ``--heads-independent``
1525 is accepted as an alias for ``--heads`` as well.)
1527 The revert mode has three submodes, dry-run mode (``-n`` or
1528 ``--dry-run``), force mode (``-f`` or ``--force``) and interactive mode
1529 (``-i`` or ``--interactive``). If ``--dry-run`` (or ``-n``) is given
1530 no ref updates will actually be performed but what would have been
1531 updated is shown instead. If ``--interactive`` (or ``-i``) is given
1532 then the editor is invoked on an instruction sheet allowing manual
1533 selection of the refs to be updated before proceeding. Since revert is
1534 potentially a destructive operation, at least one of the submodes must
1535 be specified explicitly. If no refs are listed on the command line
1536 then all refs in the tag data are reverted. Otherwise the listed refs
1537 and all of their dependencies (unless ``--no-deps`` is given) are
1538 reverted. Unless ``--no-stash`` is given a new stash will be created
1539 using ``tg tag --stash`` (except, of course, in dry-run mode) just
1540 before actually performing the updates to facilitate recovery from
1543 Both modes accept fully-qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) ref
1544 names as well as unqualified names (which will be assumed to be located
1545 under ``refs/heads/``). In revert mode a tgish ref will always have
1546 both its ``refs/heads/`` and ``refs/top-bases/`` values included no
1547 matter how it's listed unless ``--no-deps`` is given and the ref is
1548 fully qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) or one or the other of its
1549 values was removed from the instruction sheet in interactive mode. In
1550 list mode a tgish ref will always have both its ``refs/heads/`` and
1551 ``refs/top-bases/`` values included only when using the ``--deps`` or
1552 ``--rdeps`` options.
1554 The ``--tgish-only`` option excludes non-tgish refs (i.e. refs that do
1555 not have a ``refs/heads/<name>``, ``refs/top-bases/<name>`` pair).
1557 The ``--exclude`` option (which can be repeated) excludes specific
1558 refs. If the name given to ``--exclude`` is not fully-qualified (i.e.
1559 starts with ``refs/``) then it will exclude both members of a tgish ref
1562 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option may be used in revert mode to
1563 suppress non-dry-run ref change status messages.
1565 The special tag name ``--stash`` (as well as with ``@{n}`` suffixes)
1566 can be used to refer to ``refs/tgstash``.
1568 The ``tg revert`` command supports tags of tags that contains TopGit
1569 refs. So, for example, if you do this::
1572 git tag -f -a -m "tag the tag" newtag newtag
1574 Then ``newtag`` will be a tag of a tag containing a ``TOPGIT REFS``
1575 section. ``tg revert`` knows how to dereference the outermost
1576 tag to get to the next (and the next etc.) tag to find the
1577 ``TOPGIT REFS`` section so after the above sequence, the tag ``newtag``
1578 can still be used successfully with ``tg revert``.
1580 NOTE: If HEAD points to a ref that is updated by a revert operation
1581 then NO WARNING whatsoever will be issued, but the index and working
1582 tree will always be left completely untouched (and the reflog for
1583 the pointed-to ref can always be used to find the previous value).
1587 Outputs the direct dependencies for the current or named branch.
1590 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
1591 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
1595 Outputs all branches which directly depend on the current or
1599 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
1600 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
1604 Transition top-bases from old location to new location.
1606 Beginning with TopGit release 0.19.4, TopGit has the ability to store
1607 the top-bases refs in either the old ``ref/top-bases/...`` location or
1608 the new ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/...`` location. Starting with TopGit
1609 release 0.20.0, the default is the new location.
1611 By storing the top-bases under heads, Git is less likely to complain
1612 when manipulating them, hosting providers are more likely to provide
1613 access to them and Git prevents them from pointing at anything other
1614 than a commit object. All in all a win for everyone.
1616 TopGit attempts to automatically detect whether the new or old location
1617 is being used for the top-bases and just do the right thing. However,
1618 by explicitly setting the config value ``topgit.top-bases`` to either
1619 ``refs`` for the old location or ``heads`` for the new location the
1620 auto-detection can be bypassed. If no top-bases refs are present in
1621 the repository the default prior to TopGit release 0.20.0 is to use the
1622 old location but starting with TopGit release 0.20.0 the default is to
1623 use the new location.
1625 The ``tg migrate-bases`` command may be used to migrate top-bases refs
1626 from the old location to the new location (or, by using the
1627 undocumented ``--reverse`` option, vice versa).
1629 With few exceptions (``tg create -r`` and ``tg revert``), all top-bases
1630 refs (both local *and* remote refs) are expected to be stored in the
1631 same location (either new or old). A repository's current location for
1632 storing top-bases refs may be shown with the ``tg --top-bases`` command.
1640 TopGit stores all the topic branches in the regular ``refs/heads/``
1641 namespace (so we recommend distinguishing them with the ``t/`` prefix).
1642 Apart from that, TopGit also maintains a set of auxiliary refs in
1643 ``refs/top-*``. Currently, only ``refs/top-bases/`` is used, containing the
1644 current *base* of the given topic branch -- this is basically a merge of
1645 all the branches the topic branch depends on; it is updated during ``tg
1646 update`` and then merged to the topic branch, and it is the base of a
1647 patch generated from the topic branch by ``tg patch``.
1649 All the metadata is tracked within the source tree and history of the
1650 topic branch itself, in ``.top*`` files; these files are kept isolated
1651 within the topic branches during TopGit-controlled merges and are of
1652 course omitted during ``tg patch``. The state of these files in base
1653 commits is undefined; look at them only in the topic branches
1654 themselves. Currently, two files are defined:
1657 Contains the description of the topic branch in a
1658 mail-like format, plus the author information, whatever
1659 Cc headers you choose or the post-three-dashes message.
1660 When mailing out your patch, basically only a few extra
1661 mail headers are inserted and then the patch itself is
1662 appended. Thus, as your patches evolve, you can record
1663 nuances like whether the particular patch should have
1664 To-list / Cc-maintainer or vice-versa and similar
1665 nuances, if your project is into that. ``From`` is
1666 prefilled from your current ``GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT``; other
1667 headers can be prefilled from various optional
1668 ``topgit.*`` git config options.
1671 Contains the one-per-line list of branches this branch
1672 depends on, pre-seeded by ``tg create``. A (continuously
1673 updated) merge of these branches will be the *base* of
1676 IMPORTANT: DO NOT EDIT ``.topdeps`` MANUALLY!!! If you do so, you need to
1677 know exactly what you are doing, since this file must stay in sync with
1678 the Git history information, otherwise very bad things will happen.
1680 TopGit also automagically installs a bunch of custom commit-related
1681 hooks that will verify whether you are committing the ``.top*`` files in a
1682 sane state. It will add the hooks to separate files within the ``hooks/``
1683 subdirectory, and merely insert calls to them to the appropriate hooks
1684 and make them executable (but will make sure the original hook's code is
1685 not called if the hook was not executable beforehand).
1687 Another automagically installed piece is a ``.git/info/attributes``
1688 specifier for an ``ours`` merge strategy for the files ``.topmsg`` and
1689 ``.topdeps``, and the (intuitive) ``ours`` merge strategy definition in
1696 There are two remaining issues with accessing topic branches in remote
1699 (i) Referring to remote topic branches from your local repository
1700 (ii) Developing some of the remote topic branches locally
1702 There are two somewhat contradictory design considerations here:
1704 (a) Hacking on multiple independent TopGit remotes in a single
1706 (b) Having a self-contained topic system in local refs space
1708 To us, (a) does not appear to be very convincing, while (b) is quite
1709 desirable for ``git-log topic`` etc. working, and increased conceptual
1712 Thus, we choose to instantiate all the topic branches of given remote
1713 locally; this is performed by ``tg remote --populate``. ``tg update``
1714 will also check if a branch can be updated from its corresponding remote
1715 branch. The logic needs to be somewhat involved if we are to "do the
1716 right thing". First, we update the base, handling the remote branch as
1717 if it was the first dependency; thus, conflict resolutions made in the
1718 remote branch will be carried over to our local base automagically.
1719 Then, the base is merged into the remote branch and the result is merged
1720 to the local branch -- again, to carry over remote conflict resolutions.
1721 In the future, this order might be adjustable on a per-update basis, in
1722 case local changes happen to be diverging more than the remote ones.
1723 (See the details in `The Update Process`_ for more in depth coverage.)
1725 All commands by default refer to the remote that ``tg remote --populate``
1726 was called on the last time (stored in the ``topgit.remote`` git
1727 configuration variable). You can manually run any command with a
1728 different base remote by passing ``-r REMOTE`` *before* the subcommand
1729 name or passing ``-u`` *before* the subcommand to run without one.
1735 A familiarity with the terms in the GLOSSARY_ is helpful for understanding the
1736 content of this sections. See also the IMPLEMENTATION_ section.
1741 When a branch is "updated" using the ``tg update`` command the following steps
1744 1) The branch and all of its dependencies (and theirs recursively)
1745 are checked to see which ones are *out-of-date*. See glossary_.
1747 2) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
1748 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) which is out of date is updated
1749 before proceeding (yup, this is a recursive process).
1751 3) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
1752 the branch's ``.topdes`` file) that was updated in the previous
1753 step is now merged into the branch's corresponding base. If a
1754 remote is involved, and the branch's corresponding base does NOT
1755 contain the remote branch's corresponding base that remote base is
1756 also merged into the branch's base at this time as well (it will be
1757 the first item merged into the branch's base).
1759 4) If the branch has a corresponding remote branch and the branch
1760 does not already contain it, it's merged into the branch's base
1761 (which was possibly already updated in step (3) to contain the
1762 remote branch's base but not the remote branch itself) on a detached
1763 HEAD. Yup, this step can be a bit confusing and no, the updated
1764 base from step (3) has not yet been merged into the branch itself
1765 yet either. If there is no remote branch this step does not apply.
1766 Using a detached HEAD allows the remote branch to be merged into the
1767 contents of the base without actually perturbing the base's ref.
1769 5) If there is a remote branch present then use the result of step (4)
1770 otherwise use the branch's base and merge that into the branch
1773 That's it! Simple, right? ;)
1775 Unless the auto stash option has been disabled (see `no undo`_, `tg update`_
1776 and `tg tag`_), a copy of all the old refs values will be stashed away
1777 immediately after step (1) before starting step (2), but only if anything is
1778 actually found to be out-of-date.
1783 The ``tg update`` command regularly performs merges while executing an update
1784 operation. In order to speed things up, it attempts to do in-index merges
1785 where possible. It accomplishes this by using a separate, temporary index
1786 file and the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command possibly assisted by
1787 the ``git merge-index`` and ``git merge-file`` commands. This combination may
1788 be repeated more than once to perform an octopus in-index merge. If this
1789 fails, the files are checked out and a normal ``git merge`` three-way merge is
1790 performed (possily multiple times). If the normal ``git merge`` fails then
1791 user intervention is required to resolve the merge conflict(s) and continue.
1793 Since the ``tg annihilate``, ``tg create`` and ``tg depend add`` commands may
1794 end up running the ``tg update`` machinery behind the scenes to complete their
1795 operation they may also result in any of these merge strategies being used.
1797 In addition to the normal Git merge strategies (if the in-index merging fails),
1798 there are four possible TopGit merge strategies that may be shown. Since they
1799 all involve use of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command they are all
1800 variations of a "trivial aggressive" merge. The "trivial" part because all of
1801 the merges done by ``git read-tree -m`` are described as "trivial" and the
1802 "aggressive" part because the ``--aggressive`` option is always used.
1804 1) "trivial aggressive"
1805 Only two heads were involved and all merging was completed by
1806 the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command.
1808 2) "trivial aggressive automatic"
1809 Only two heads were involved but after the
1810 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command completed there were
1811 still unresolved items and ``git merge-index`` had to be run
1812 (using the ``tg index-merge-one-file`` driver) which ultimately
1813 ran ``git merge-file`` at least once to perform a simple
1814 automatic three-way merge. Hence the "automatic" description
1815 and the "Auto-merging ..." output line(s).
1817 3) "trivial aggressive octopus"
1818 This is the same as a "trivial aggressive" merge except that
1819 more than two heads were involved and after merging the first
1820 two heads, the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` step was
1821 repeated again on the result for each additional head. All
1822 merging was completed via multiple
1823 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` commands only.
1824 This beast is relatively rare in the wild.
1826 4) "trivial aggressive automatic octopus"
1827 This is very similar to the "trivial aggressive octopus"
1828 except that at least one of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive``
1829 commands left unresolved items that were handled the same way
1830 as the "trivial aggressive automatic" strategy. This species
1831 is commonly seen in the wild.
1838 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
1839 TopGit branch that contains the patch header for a TopGit
1840 branch. See also IMPLEMENTATION_;
1843 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
1844 TopGit branch that lists the branch's dependencies one per
1845 line omitting the leading ``refs/heads/`` part. See also
1849 Given two Git commit identifiers (e.g. hashes) C1 and C2,
1850 commit C1 "contains" commit C2 if either they are the same
1851 commit or C2 can be reached from C1 by following one or more
1852 parent links from C1 (perhaps via one or more intermediate
1853 commits along the way). In other words, if C1 contains C2
1854 then C2 is an ancestor of C1 or conversely C1 is a descendant
1855 of C2. Since a TopGit branch name is also the name of a Git
1856 branch (something located under the ``refs/heads`` Git
1857 namespace) and similarly for a TopGit base, they can both be
1858 resolved to a Git commit identifier and then participate in
1859 a branch containment test. An easy mnemonic for this is
1860 "children contain the genes of their parents."
1863 See branch containment.
1866 Excellent system for managing a history of changes to one
1867 or more possibly interrelated patches.
1870 A Git branch that has an associated TopGit base. Conceptually
1871 it represents a single patch that is the difference between
1872 the associated TopGit base and the TopGit branch. In other
1873 words ``git diff-tree <TopGit base> <TopGit branch>`` except
1874 that any ``.topdeps`` and/or ``.topmsg`` files are excluded
1875 from the result and the contents of the ``.topmsg`` file from
1876 the TopGit branch is prefixed to the result.
1879 A Git branch that records the base upon which a TopGit branch's
1880 single conceptual "patch" is built. The name of the Git branch
1881 is derived from the TopGit branch name by stripping off the
1882 leading ``refs/heads/`` and appending the correct prefix where
1883 all TopGit bases are stored (typically either
1884 ``refs/top-bases/`` or ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/`` -- the
1885 prefix for any given repository can be shown by using the
1886 ``tg --top-bases`` command and updated using the
1887 ``tg migrate-bases`` command).
1889 All of a TopGit branch's dependencies are merged into the
1890 corresponding TopGit base during a ``tg update`` of a branch.
1895 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branch
1896 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[PATCH]``. By
1897 convention these TopGit branches contain a single patch
1898 (equivalent to a single patch file) and have at least one
1899 dependency (i.e. their ``.topdeps`` files are never empty).
1901 TopGit ``[BASE]`` branch
1902 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[BASE]``. By
1903 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain
1904 any changes and their ``.topdeps`` files are empty. They
1905 are used to control a base dependency that another set of
1906 branches depends on.
1908 TopGit ``[STAGE]`` branch
1909 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[STAGE]``. By
1910 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain any
1911 changes of their own but do have one or (typically) more
1912 dependencies in their ``.topdeps`` file. These branches are
1913 used to bring together one or (typically) more independent
1914 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branches into a single branch so that
1915 testing and/or evaluation can be performed on the result.
1918 When merging two (or more) heads that touch the same lines in
1919 the file but in different ways the result is a merge conflict
1920 that requires manual intervention. If a merge conflict occurs
1921 with more than two heads (an octopus merge) it's generally
1922 replaced by multiple three-way merges so that by the time a
1923 user sees a merge conflict needing manual resolution, there
1924 will be only two heads involved.
1927 A Git merge strategy (see the "MERGE STRATEGIES" section of
1928 ``git help merge``) or one of the TopGit `merge strategies`_
1929 used to merge two or more heads.
1931 TopGit merge strategy
1932 See the `Merge Strategies`_ section above for details but
1933 basically these are just in-index merges done using the
1934 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command one or more times
1935 possibily assisted by the ``git merge-index`` and the
1936 ``git merge-file`` commands.
1939 A merge involving more than two heads. Note that if there are
1940 less than three independent heads the resulting merge that
1941 started out as an octopus will end up not actually being an
1945 A TopGit branch is considered to be "out-of-date" when ANY of
1946 the following are true:
1948 a) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
1951 b) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
1952 corresponding remote branch (there may not be
1953 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
1955 c) The TopGit branch's base does NOT contain its
1956 corresponding remote branch's base (there may not be
1957 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
1959 d) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
1960 ``.topdeps`` file are NOT contained by the branch.
1961 (See "branch containment" above.)
1963 e) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
1964 ``.topdeps`` file are out-of-date.
1966 Note that if a remote branch is present and is NOT out-of-date
1967 then it will contain its own base and (c) is mostly redundant.
1969 remote TopGit branch
1970 A Git branch with the same branch name as a TopGit branch
1971 but living under ``refs/remotes/<some remote>/`` instead
1972 of just ``refs/heads/``.
1975 The TopGit base branch corresponding to a remote TopGit branch,
1976 which lives under ``refs/remotes/`` somewhere (depending on
1977 what the output of ``tg --top-bases`` is for that remote).
1980 A three-way merge takes a common base and two heads (call them
1981 A and B) and creates a new file that is the common base plus
1982 all of the changes made between the common base and head A
1983 *AND* all of the changes made between the common base and
1984 head B. The technique used to accomplish this is called a
1991 The following references are useful to understand the development of
1992 topgit and its subcommands.
1995 http://public-inbox.org/git/36ca99e90904091034m4d4d31dct78acb333612e678@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
1998 THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE
1999 --------------------
2001 The following software understands TopGit branches:
2003 * `magit <http://magit.github.io/>`_ -- a git mode for emacs
2005 IMPORTANT: Magit requires its topgit mode to be enabled first, as
2006 described in its documentation, in the "Activating extensions"
2007 subsection. If this is not done, it will not push TopGit branches
2008 correctly, so it's important to enable it even if you plan to mostly use
2009 TopGit from the command line.