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 :SYNOPSIS_: Command line example session
20 :USAGE_: Command line details
21 :`NO UNDO`_: Where's the undo!!!
22 :CONVENTIONS_: Suggestions for organizing your TopGit branches
23 :`EXTRA SETTINGS`_: Various possible "topgit.*" config settings
24 :ALIASES_: Git-like TopGit command aliases
25 :NAVIGATION_: Getting around with "next" and "prev"
26 :`WAYBACK MACHINE`_: Turn back the clock and then come back
27 :GLOSSARY_: All the TopGit vocabulary in one place
28 :TECHNICAL_: How it works behind the scenes
29 :`TESTING TOPGIT`_: How to run the TopGit test suite
35 TopGit is a collection of POSIX shell scripts so a POSIX-compliant shell is
36 required along with some standard POSIX-compliant utilities (e.g. sed, awk,
37 cat, etc.). Git version 1.8.5 or later is also required.
39 To use TopGit with linked working trees (the ``git worktree add`` command),
40 at least Git version 2.5.0 (obviously, since that's when the ``git worktree``
41 command first appeared) is needed in which case linked working trees are then
42 fully supported for use with TopGit.
44 The scripts need to be preprocessed and installed. The Makefile that does
45 this requires a POSIX make utility (using "``make``" and "``make install``")
46 and some version of ``perl`` in the ``PATH`` somewhere (the ``perl`` binary
47 is needed for correct help text file generation prior to the actual install).
49 Once installed, TopGit uses only POSIX-compliant utilities (except that it
50 also requires, obviously, Git).
52 Running the tests (see `TESTING TOPGIT`_) has the same requirements as for
53 installation (i.e. POSIX plus Perl).
55 It is possible to use the DESTDIR functionality to install TopGit to a
56 staging area on one machine, archive that and then unarchive it on another
57 machine to perform an install (provided the build prefix and other options are
58 compatible with the final installed location).
64 See the file ``INSTALL``.
70 The TopGit git repository can be found at <http://repo.or.cz/topgit/pro>.
76 Why not use something like StGIT or Guilt or ``rebase -i`` for maintaining
77 your patch queue? The advantage of these tools is their simplicity;
78 they work with patch *series* and defer to the reflog facility for
79 version control of patches (reordering of patches is not
80 version-controlled at all). But there are several disadvantages -- for
81 one, these tools (especially StGIT) do not actually fit well with plain
82 Git at all: it is basically impossible to take advantage of the index
83 effectively when using StGIT. But more importantly, these tools
84 horribly fail in the face of a distributed environment.
86 TopGit has been designed around three main tenets:
88 (i) TopGit is as thin a layer on top of Git as possible. You
89 still maintain your index and commit using Git; TopGit will only
90 automate a few indispensable tasks.
92 (ii) TopGit is anxious about *keeping* your history. It will
93 never rewrite your history, and all metadata is also tracked
94 by Git, smoothly and non-obnoxiously. It is good to have a
95 *single* point when the history is cleaned up, and that is at
96 the point of inclusion in the upstream project; locally, you
97 can see how your patch has evolved and easily return to older
100 (iii) TopGit is specifically designed to work in a
101 distributed environment. You can have several instances of
102 TopGit-aware repositories and smoothly keep them all
103 up-to-date and transfer your changes between them.
105 As mentioned above, the main intended use-case for TopGit is tracking
106 third-party patches, where each patch is effectively a single topic
107 branch. In order to flexibly accommodate even complex scenarios when
108 you track many patches where many are independent but some depend on
109 others, TopGit ignores the ancient Quilt heritage of patch series and
110 instead allows the patches to freely form graphs (DAGs just like Git
111 history itself, only "one level higher"). For now, you have to manually
112 specify which patches the current one depends on, but TopGit might help
113 you with that in the future in a darcs-like fashion.
115 A glossary_ plug: The union (i.e. merge) of patch dependencies is called
116 a *base* of the patch (topic branch).
118 Of course, TopGit is perhaps not the right tool for you:
120 (i) TopGit is not complicated, but StGIT et al. are somewhat
121 simpler, conceptually. If you just want to make a linear
122 purely-local patch queue, deferring to StGIT instead might
125 (ii) When using TopGit, your history can get a little hairy
126 over time, especially with all the merges rippling through.
135 ## Create and evolve a topic branch
136 $ tg create t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
137 tg: Automatically marking dependency on master
138 tg: Creating t/gitweb/pathinfo-action base from master...
144 ## Create another topic branch on top of the former one
145 $ tg create t/gitweb/nifty-links
146 tg: Automatically marking dependency on t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
147 tg: Creating t/gitweb/nifty-links base from t/gitweb/pathinfo-action...
151 ## Create another topic branch on top of master and submit
152 ## the resulting patch upstream
153 $ tg create t/revlist/author-fixed master
154 tg: Creating t/revlist/author-fixed base from master...
158 tg: Sent t/revlist/author-fixed
160 To: git@vger.kernel.org
161 Cc: gitster@pobox.com
162 Subject: [PATCH] Fix broken revlist --author when --fixed-string
164 ## Create another topic branch depending on two others non-trivially
165 $ tg create t/whatever t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
166 tg: Creating t/whatever base from t/revlist/author-fixed...
167 tg: Merging t/whatever base with t/gitweb/nifty-links...
169 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call: tg update --continue
170 tg: It is also safe to abort this operation using `git reset --hard`
171 tg: but please remember you are on the base branch now;
172 tg: you will want to switch to a different branch.
175 $ tg update --continue
179 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes to
181 $ git checkout t/gitweb/nifty-links
184 $ git checkout t/whatever
186 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1 commit)
187 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
189 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
191 t/gitweb/nifty-links (1 commit)
193 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
195 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
196 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
199 $ tg update --continue
200 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
202 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
203 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
206 $ tg update --continue
208 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes
209 ## further through the dependency chain
210 $ git checkout t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
213 $ git checkout t/whatever
215 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1/2 commits)
216 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
218 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
220 t/gitweb/pathinfo-action (<= t/gitweb/nifty-links) (1 commit)
222 tg: Recursing to t/gitweb/nifty-links...
223 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/pathinfo-action changes...
225 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
226 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
229 $ tg update --continue
230 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating t/gitweb/nifty-links against new base...
232 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
233 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
236 $ tg update --continue
237 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
238 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
240 ## Clone a TopGit-controlled repository
243 $ tg remote --populate origin
248 ## Add a TopGit remote to a repository and push to it
249 $ git remote add foo URL
253 ## Update from a non-default TopGit remote
262 When using TopGit there are several common conventions used when working with
263 TopGit branches. None of them are enforced, they are only suggestions.
265 There are three typical uses for a TopGit branch:
268 Normal TopGit branches that represent a single patch. These are known
269 as "patch" TopGit branches.
271 Empty TopGit branches with no dependencies (an empty ``.topdeps`` file)
272 that represent a base upon which other "normal" TopGit branches depend.
273 These are known as "base" TopGit branches (not to be confused with
274 the refs/top-bases/... refs).
276 Empty TopGit branches that serve as a staging area to bring together
277 several other TopGit branches into one place so they can be used/tested
278 all together. These are known as "stage" TopGit branches.
280 An "empty" TopGit branch is one that does not have any changes of its own --
281 it may still have dependencies though ("stage" branches do, "base" branches do
282 not). The ``tg summary`` output shows empty branches with a ``0`` in the
283 listing. Normal "patch" branches that have not been annihilated, "base" and
284 "stage" branches fall into this category. (Annihilated branches are normally
285 omitted from the ``tg summary`` output but can be shown if given explicitly as
286 an argument to the ``tg summary`` command. However, the message line will be
287 incorrect since an annihilated branch has no ``.topmsg`` file of its own.)
289 A "patch" branch name typically starts with ``t/`` whereas "base" and "stage"
290 branch names often do not.
292 A "base" branch is created by using the ``--base`` option of ``tg create``
293 (aka ``--no-deps``) which will automatically suggest a "[BASE]" message prefix
294 rather than "[PATCH]". A "stage" branch is created like a normal patch branch
295 except that the only changes that will ever be made to it are typically to
296 add/remove dependencies. Its subject prefix must be manually changed to
297 "[STAGE]" to reflect its purpose.
299 Since both "base" and "stage" branches typically only have a use for the
300 "Subject:" line from their ``.topmsg`` file, they are quite easily created
301 using the ``--topmsg`` option of ``tg create``.
303 Use of "stage" and "base" branches is completely optional. However, without
304 use of a "stage" branch it will be difficult to test multiple independent
305 patches together all at once. A "base" branch is merely a convenience that
306 provides more explicit control over when a common base for a set of patches
307 gets updated as well as providing a branch that shows in ``tg summary`` output
308 and participates in ``tg remote --populate`` setup.
310 Occasionally the functionality of a "base" branch is needed but it may not
311 be possible to add any ``.topdeps`` or ``.topmsg`` files to the desired branch
312 (perhaps it's externally controlled). `BARE BRANCHES`_ can be used in this
313 case, but while TopGit allows them it deliberately does not provide assistance
316 Another advantage to using a "stage" branch is that if a new "patch" branch
317 is created remotely and that new branch is added to a pre-existing "stage"
318 branch on the remote then when the local version of the "stage" branch is
319 updated (after fetching remote updates of course), that new dependency will
320 be merged into the local "stage" branch and the local version of the new remote
321 "patch" branch will be automatically set up at "tg update" time.
323 When using the ``tg tag`` command to create tags that record the current state
324 of one or more TopGit branches, the tags are often created with a name that
327 One last thing, you have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
333 Beware, there is no "undo" after running a ``tg update``!
335 Well, that's not entirely correct. Since ``tg update`` never discards commits
336 an "undo" operation is technically feasible provided the old values of all the
337 refs that were affected by the ``tg update`` operation can be determined and
338 then they are simply changed back to their previous values.
340 In practice though, it can be extremely tedious and error prone looking through
341 log information to try and determine what the correct previous values were.
342 Although, since TopGit tries to make sure reflogs are enabled for top-bases
343 refs, using Git's ``@{date}`` notation on all the refs dumped out by a
344 ``tg tag --refs foo``, where "foo" is the branch that was updated whose update
345 needs to be undone, may work.
347 Alternatively, ``tg tag --stash`` can be used prior to the update and then
348 ``tg revert`` used after the update to restore the previous state. This
349 assumes, of course, that you remember to run ``tg tag --stash`` first.
351 The ``tg update`` command understands a ``--stash`` option that tells it to
352 automatically run ``tg tag --stash`` before it starts making changes (if
353 everything is up-to-date it won't run the stash command at all).
355 The ``--stash`` option is the default nowadays when running ``tg update``,
356 add the ``--no-stash`` option to turn it off.
358 There is a preference for this. Setting the config value ``topgit.autostash``
359 to ``false`` will implicitly add the ``--no-stash`` option to any ``tg update``
360 command unless an explicit ``--stash`` option is given.
362 If you are likely to ever want to undo a ``tg update``, setting
363 ``topgit.autostash`` to ``false`` is highly discouraged!
365 Note that if you have foolishly disabled the autostash functionality and
366 suddenly find yourself in an emergency "WHERE'S THE UNDO???" situation you
367 *may* be able to use the special ``TG_STASH`` ref. But only if you're quick.
368 It's only set if you've foolishly disabled autostash and it always overwrites
369 the previous ``TG_STASH`` value if there was one (there's no reflog for it)
370 and it will most likely *not* survive a ``git gc`` (even an automatic one) no
371 matter what gc expiration values are used.
373 Note that the tags saved by ``tg tag --stash`` are stored in the
374 ``refs/tgstash`` ref and its reflog. Unfortunately, while Git is happy to
375 maintain the reflog (once it's been enabled which ``tg tag`` guarantees for
376 ``refs/tgstash``), Git is unable to view an annotated/signed tag's reflog!
377 Instead Git dereferences the tag and shows the wrong thing.
379 Use the ``tg tag -g`` command to view the ``refs/tgstash`` reflog instead.
385 After reading about `NO UNDO`_ and the `tg tag`_ command used to provide a
386 semblance of undo in some cases, you have the foundation to understand the
389 The "wayback machine" provides a way to go back to a previous ref state as
390 stored in a TopGit tag created by `tg tag`_. It actually normally returns to a
391 hybrid state as it does not prune (unless you prefix the wayback tag with
392 a ``:``). In other words, any refs that have been newly created since the
393 target tag was made will continue to exist in the "wayback" view of things
394 (unless you used a pruning wayback tag -- one prefixed with a ``:``).
396 Any operations that are read-only and do not require working tree files (e.g.
397 the ``-i`` or ``-w`` options of `tg patch`_) are allowed using the wayback
398 machine. Simply add a global ``-w <tgtag>`` option to the command.
400 This functionality can be extremely useful for quickly examing/querying a
401 previous state recorded some time ago with a `tg tag`_.
403 As the wayback machine uses a separate caching area, expect initial operations
404 to be less speedy, but repeated wayback operations on the same wayback tag
405 should happen at normal speed.
407 One new command exists expressly for use with the wayback machine.
409 The `tg shell`_ command will spawn an interactive shell or run a specific shell
410 command in a temporary writable and non-bare repository that has its ref
411 namespace set to the (possibly pruned if it's a pruning wayback tag) wayback
412 tag's view of the world. This pretty much lifts all wayback restrictions, but
413 read the description for `tg shell`_ for more details. There is an option
414 available to specify the location where this "temporary" directory is created
415 thereby allowing it to persist, but the same warnings then apply as using the
416 ``git clone --shared`` command.
422 TopGit supports various config settings:
424 :`tg create`_: ``format.signoff`` template Signed-off-by line
425 :ALIASES_: ``topgit.alias.*`` for Git-like command aliases
426 :`tg update`_: ``topgit.autostash`` automatic stash control
427 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.bcc`` default "Bcc:" value for create
428 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.cc`` default "Cc:" value for create
429 :`tg patch`_: ``topgit.from`` "From:" fixups by ``tg patch``
430 :`REMOTE HANDLING`_: ``topgit.remote`` TopGit's default remote
431 :SEQUESTRATION_: ``topgit.sequester`` for sequestration control
432 :`tg update`_: ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` => ``rerere.autoUpdate``
433 :`tg export`_: ``topgit.subjectMode`` export [...] tag removal
434 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` "[$prefix PATCH] foo"
435 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.to`` default "To:" value for create
436 :`tg migrate-bases`_: ``topgit.top-bases`` for refs bases location
442 These work exactly like Git's aliases except they are stored under
443 ``topgit.alias.*`` instead. See the ``git help config`` output under
444 the ``alias.*`` section for details. Do note that while alias nesting is
445 explicitly permitted, a maximum nesting depth of 10 is enforced to help
446 detect accidental aliasing loops and keep them from wedging the machine.
448 For example, to create an ``lc`` alias for the ``tg log --compact`` command
449 this command may be used:
453 git config --global topgit.alias.lc "log --compact"
455 To make it specific to a particular repository just omit the ``--global``
456 option from the command.
461 From Previous to Next
462 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
464 For this section, consider the following patch series, to be applied
465 in numerical order as shown:
469 0001-F_first-patch.diff
470 0002-G_second-builds-on-F.diff
471 0003-H_third-builds-on-G.diff
472 0004-I_fourth-builds-on-H.diff
473 0005-J_fifth-builds-on-I.diff
474 0006-K_sixth-builds-on-J.diff
475 0007-L_last-patch-needs-K.diff
477 If these were applied to some commit in a Git repository, say commit "A"
478 then a history that looks like this would be created:
482 A---F---G---H---I---J---K---L
484 Where the parent of commit "F" is "A" and so on to where the parent of
485 commit "L" is commit "K".
487 If that commit history, from A through L, was then imported into TopGit, one
488 TopGit branch would be created corresponding to each of the commits F
489 through L. This way, for example, if the fourth patch in the series
490 (``0004-I_...diff``) needs work, the TopGit branch corresponding to its patch
491 can be checked out and changes made and then a new version of its patch
492 created (using ``tg patch``) without disturbing the other patches in the series
493 and when ``tg update`` is run, the patches that "follow" the fourth patch
494 (i.e. 5, 6 and 7) will have their corresponding TopGit branches automatically
495 updated to take into account the changes made to the fourth patch.
497 Okay, enough with the review of TopGit systemology
498 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````
500 Imagine then that you are working on the fourth patch (i.e. you have its
501 branch checked out into the working tree) and you want to move to the following
502 patch in the series because you have a nit to pick with it too.
504 If you can't remember the exact name you might have to fumble around or, you
505 can display the name of the following or "next" patch's branch with the, you
506 guessed it, ``tg next`` command. Think of "next" as the "next" logical patch
507 in the series or the next following patch. If the patches are numbered as in
508 the list above, "next" corresponds to the "+1" (plus one) patch.
510 You might have already guessed there's a corresponding ``tg prev`` command
511 which displays the "-1" (minus one) patch. If these commands (``tg next``
512 and ``tg prev``) are not given a branch name to start at they start at the
513 patch corresponding to the current ``HEAD``.
515 Displaying, however, is not so helpful as actually going there. That's where
516 the ``tg checkout`` command comes in. ``tg checkout next`` does a
517 ``git checkout`` of the ``tg next`` branch and, not surprisingly,
518 ``tg checkout prev`` does a ``git checkout`` of the ``tg prev`` branch. For
519 the lazy a single ``n`` or ``p`` can be used with ``tg checkout`` instead of
520 typing out the entire ``next`` or ``prev``. Or, for the anal, ``previous``
521 will also be accepted for ``prev``.
523 Referring to the A...L commit graph shown above, I is the parent of J and,
524 conversely, J is the child of I. (Git only explicitly records the child to
525 parent links, in other words a "child" points to zero or more "parents", but
526 parents are completely clueless about their own children.)
528 For historical reasons, the ``tg checkout`` command accepts ``child`` as a
529 synonym for ``next`` and ``parent`` as a synonym for ``prev``. However, this
530 terminology can be confusing since Git has "parent" links but ``tg checkout``
531 is referring to the TopGit DAG, not Git's. Best to just avoid using ``child``
532 or ``parent`` to talk about navigating the TopGit DAG and reserve them
533 strictly for discussing the Git DAG.
535 There may be more than one
536 ``````````````````````````
538 In a simple linear history as shown above there's always only one "next" or
539 "prev" patch. However, TopGit does not restrict one to only a linear
540 history (although that can make patch exports just a bushel of fun).
542 Suffice it to say that there is always a single linearized ordering for any
543 TopGit patch series since it's always a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph), but it
544 may not be immediately obvious to the casual observer what that is.
546 The ``tg checkout`` command will display a list to choose from if ``next``
547 or ``prev`` would be ambiguous.
549 Use the ``tg info/checkout --series`` command
550 `````````````````````````````````````````````
552 To see the full, linearized, list of patches with their summary displayed in
553 order from first to last patch in the series, just run the ``tg info --series``
554 command. It takes the name of any patch in the series automatically using
555 ``HEAD`` if none is given. It even provides a nice "YOU ARE HERE" mark in
556 the output list helpful to those who have been absent for a time engaging in
557 otherwise distracting activities and need to be reminded where they are.
559 Using ``tg checkout --series`` can take you there (picking from a list) if
560 you've forgotten the way back to wherever you're supposed to be.
562 Don't get pushy, there's just one more thing
563 ````````````````````````````````````````````
565 For historical reasons, ``tg checkout`` with no arguments whatsoever behaves
566 like ``tg checkout next``. For the same historical reasons, ``tg checkout ..``
567 behaves like ``tg checkout prev`` (think of ``..`` as the "parent" directory
568 and since "parent" means "prev" in this context it will then make sense).
570 Now, for that one more thing. Consider that you have a pristine "upstream"
571 tarball, repository, source dump or otherwise obtained set of unmodified
572 source files that need to be patched. View them like so:
576 +-------------------------------+
577 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
578 | files represented with "A" |
579 +-------------------------------+
581 Now, add the first patch, 0001, to them and view the result like so:
585 +--------------------------+----+
586 | Patch 0001 represented by "F" |
587 +-------------------------------+
588 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
589 | files represented with "A" |
590 +-------------------------------+
592 Not stopping there, "push" patches 2, 3 and 4 onto the stack as well like so:
596 +--------------------------+----+
597 | Patch 0004 represented by "I" |
598 +--------------------------+----+
599 | Patch 0003 represented by "H" |
600 +--------------------------+----+
601 | Patch 0002 represented by "G" |
602 +--------------------------+----+
603 | Patch 0001 represented by "F" |
604 +-------------------------------+
605 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
606 | files represented with "A" |
607 +-------------------------------+
609 In other words, to go to the "next" patch in the series it needs to be "push"ed
610 onto the stack. ``tg checkout`` accepts ``push`` as an alias for ``next``.
612 Similarly to go to the "previous" patch in the series the current one needs
613 to be "pop"ped off the stack. ``tg checkout`` accepts ``pop`` as an alias
616 Unfortunately for these aliases, in Git terminology a "push" has quite a
617 different meaning and the ``tg push`` command does something quite different
618 from ``tg checkout push``. Then there's the matter of using a single letter
619 abbreviation for the lazy -- ``p`` would mean what exactly?
621 ``tg checkout`` continues to accept the ``push`` and ``pop`` aliases for
622 ``next`` and ``prev`` respectively, but it's best to avoid them since
623 ``push`` has an alternate meaning everywhere else in TopGit and Git and that
624 leaves ``pop`` all alone in the dark.
630 No, this is not a section about budget nonsense. ;)
632 TopGit keeps its metadata in ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files. In an effort
633 to facilitate cherry-picking and other Git activities on the patch changes
634 themselves while ignoring the TopGit metadata, TopGit attempts to keep all
635 changes to ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files limited to commits that do NOT
636 contain changes to any other files.
638 This is a departure from previous TopGit versions that made no such effort.
640 Primarily this affects ``tg create`` and ``tg import`` (which makes use of
641 ``tg create``) as ``tg create`` will commit the initial versions of
642 ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` for a new TopGit-controlled branch in their own
643 commit instead of mixing them in with changes to other files.
645 The ``pre-commit`` hook will also attempt to separate out any ``.topdeps`` and
646 ``.topmsg`` changes from commits that include changes to other files.
648 It is possible to defeat these checks without much effort (``pre-commit`` hooks
649 can easily be bypassed, ``tg create`` has a ``--no-commit`` option, many Git
650 commands simply do not run the ``pre-commit`` hook, etc.).
652 If you really, really, really, really want to change the default back to the
653 old behavior of previous TopGit versions where no such sequestration took
654 place, then set the ``topgit.sequester`` config variable explicitly to the
655 value ``false``. But this is not recommended.
658 AMENDING AND REBASING AND UPDATE-REF'ING
659 ----------------------------------------
663 It is okay to manually update a top-bases/... ref when a) it has no depedencies
664 (i.e. it was created with the ``tg create`` ``--base`` option) and b) the
665 old top-bases/... ref value can be fast-forwarded to the new top-bases/...
666 value OR the new value contains ALL of the changes in the old value through
667 some other mechanism (perhaps they were cherry-picked or otherwise applied to
668 the new top-bases/... ref). The same rules apply to non-TopGit-controlled
669 dependencies. Use the ``tg update --base <branch> <new-ref>`` command to
670 safely make such an update while making it easy to set the merge commit
671 message at the same time.
673 Ignoring this rule and proceeding anyway with a non-fast-forward update to a
674 top-bases/... ref will result in changes present in the new value being merged
675 into the branch (at ``tg update`` time) as expected (possibly with conflicts),
676 but any changes that were contained in the old version of the top-bases/... ref
677 which have been dropped (i.e. are NOT contained in the new version of the
678 top-bases/... ref) will continue to be present in the branch! To get rid of
679 the dropped commits, one or more "revert" commits will have to be manually
680 applied to the tip of the new top-bases/... value (which will then be merged
681 into the branch at next ``tg update`` time).
683 The only time it's safe to amend, rebase, filter or otherwise rewrite commits
684 contained in a TopGit controlled branch or non-TopGit branch is when those
685 commits are NOT reachable via any other ref!
687 Furthermore, while it is safe to rewrite merge commits (provided they meet the
688 same conditions) the merge commits themselves and the branches they are merging
689 in must be preserved during the rewrite and that can be rather tricky to get
690 right so it's not recommended.
692 For example, if, while working on a TopGit-controlled branch ``foo``, a bad
693 typo is noticed, it's okay to ammend/rebase to fix that provided neither
694 ``tg update`` nor ``tg create`` has already been used to cause some other ref
695 to be able to reach the commit with the typo.
697 If an amend or rewrite is done anyway even though the commit with the typo is
698 reachable from some other ref, the typo won't really be removed. What will
699 happen instead is that the new version without the typo will ultimately be
700 merged into the other ref(s) (at ``tg update`` time) likely causing a conflict
701 that will have to be manually resolved and the commit with the typo will
702 continue to be reachable from those other refs!
704 Instead just make a new commit to fix the typo. The end result will end up
705 being the same but without the merge conflicts.
707 See also the discussion in the `NO UNDO`_ section.
713 A "TopGit bare branch" (or just "bare branch" for short), refers to a TopGit
714 branch that has neither a ``.topdeps`` nor a ``.topmsg`` file stored in it.
715 And it's neither a new, still-empty empty branch nor an annihilated branch.
717 Such branches are not recommended but are reluctantly accomodated.
719 There are three situtations in which TopGit may encounter a TopGit branch
720 that has neither a ``.topdeps`` nor a ``.topmsg`` file.
722 1. Branch creation with ``--no-commit``
723 Before the initial commit is made, the branch will still be
724 pointing to the same commit as its "top-bases" ref. Branches
725 in this condition (where the branch and top-bases ref point to
726 the same commit) show up as having "No commits" in listings.
728 2. Annihilated branches
729 A branch is annihilated by making a new commit on the branch
730 that makes its tree identical to the tree of its corresponding
731 top-bases ref. Although the trees will be the same, the
732 commits will be different and annihilated branches are
733 distinguished from "No commits" branches in this way.
734 Annihilated branches are generally invisible and do not show up
735 in listings or other status displays. Intentionally so.
738 Any TopGit branch with neither a ``.topdeps`` file nor a
739 ``.topmsg`` file whose branch and top-bases trees differ falls
740 into this category. TopGit will not create such a branch
741 itself nor does it provide any commands to do so.
743 Whenever possible, a TopGit "[BASE]" branch should be preferred to using a
744 "bare branch" because a) it can never be mistaken for an annihilated branch,
745 b) it has a nice subject attached (via its ``.topmsg`` file) that shows
746 up in listings and c) exactly when and which updates are taken can be planned.
748 Nevertheless, situations may arise where it's useful to have TopGit treat a
749 branch as a "TopGit branch" so that it fully participates in all update
750 activities (such as updating local branches based on their remote branches),
751 but it's not feasible to turn it into a real "TopGit branch" as it comes from
752 an external source and rather than controlling exactly when and what updates
753 are picked up from it by TopGit (the precise use case of a "[BASE]" branch),
754 all updates that appear on it are to be assimilated as soon as they occur.
756 For this reason, TopGit will accomodate such "bare branches" but it will not
757 create (nor provide the means to create) them itself.
759 In order to create a "bare branch" all that's required is to create the
760 necessary top-bases ref. The choice of commit for the top-bases ref will
761 affect the output of the "files", "log" and "patch" commands most directly
762 (but all commands will be affected).
764 To work properly as a "bare branch", the commit the "bare branch"'s base points
765 to should be contained within the branch, be a different commit than the branch
766 tip itself and have a different tree than the branch tip. Simply setting the
767 base to the parent commit of the "bare branch" will usually work, but should
768 that commit at the tip of the "bare branch" end up getting reverted as the next
769 commit, the trees would match and it would appear to be an annihilated branch
770 rather than a "bare branch". That is one of the reasons these branches are not
771 recommended in the first place.
773 Setting the base to the root commit of the branch is more reliable and may
774 be accomplished like so for a local branch named "mybranch":
778 git update-ref $(tg --top-bases)/mybranch \
779 $(git rev-list --first-parent --max-parents=0 mybranch) ""
781 Typically though it's more likely a remote bare branch will be needed. For
782 a remote named "origin" and a remote branch name of "vendor" this will do it:
786 git update-ref $(tg --top-bases -r origin)/vendor \
787 $(git rev-list --first-parent --max-parents=0 origin/vendor) ""
789 Such "bare branches" are not likely ever to receive any more direct support in
790 TopGit than acknowleging they can be useful in some situations and tolerating
791 their existence by functioning properly with them even to the point of the
792 ``pre-commit`` hook tacitly allowing continued commits on such branches without
793 complaints about missing ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files.
795 Note, however, that creating a regular TopGit branch that has no changes of its
796 own with the "bare branch" as its single dependency provides a means to supply
797 some kind of documentation if all other uses of the "bare branch" depend on
798 this "wrapper" branch instead of directly on the "bare branch".
804 TopGit needs to check many things to determine whether a TopGit branch is
805 up-to-date or not. This can involve a LOT of git commands for a complex
806 dependency tree. In order to speed things up, TopGit keeps a cache of results
807 in a ``tg-cache`` subdirectory in the ``.git`` directory.
809 Results are tagged with the original hash values used to get that result so
810 that items which have not been changed return their results quickly and items
811 which have been changed compute their new result and cache it for future use.
813 The ``.git/tg-cache`` directory may be removed at any time and the cache will
814 simply be recreated in an on-demand fashion as needed, at some speed penalty,
815 until it's fully rebuilt.
817 To force the cache to be fully pre-loaded, run the ``tg summary`` command
818 without any arguments. Otherwise, normal day-to-day TopGit operations should
819 keep it more-or-less up-to-date.
821 While each TopGit command is running, it uses a temporary subdirectory also
822 located in the ``.git`` directory. These directories are named
823 ``tg-tmp.XXXXXX`` where the ``XXXXXX`` part will be random letters and digits.
825 These temporary directories should always be removed automatically after each
826 TopGit command finishes running. As long as you are not in a subshell as a
827 result of a TopGit command stopping and waiting for a manual merge resolution,
828 it's safe to remove any of these directories that may have somehow accidentally
829 been left behind as a result of some failure that occurred while running a
830 TopGit command (provided, of course, it's not actually being used by a TopGit
831 command currently running in another terminal window or by another user on the
837 ``tg [global options] <subcommand> [<subcommand option/argument>...]``
841 ``[-C <dir>]... [-r <remote> | -u] [-c <name>=<val>]... [--[no-]pager]``
843 -C <dir> Change directory to <dir> before doing anything more
844 -r <remote> Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is set to <remote>
845 -u Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is not set
846 -c <name=val> Pass config option to git, may be repeated
847 -w <tgtag> Activate `wayback machine`_ using the `tg tag`_ <tgtag>
848 --no-pager Disable use of any pager (by both TopGit and Git)
849 --pager Enable use of a pager (aka ``-p``)
850 --top-bases Show full ``top-bases`` ref prefix and exit
851 --exec-path Show path to subcommand scripts location and exit
852 --help Show brief usage help and exit (aka ``-h``)
854 The ``tg`` tool has several subcommands:
856 :`tg annihilate`_: Mark a TopGit-controlled branch as defunct
857 :`tg base`_: Show base commit for one or more TopGit branches
858 :`tg checkout`_: Shortcut for git checkout with name matching
859 :`tg contains`_: Which TopGit-controlled branch contains the commit
860 :`tg create`_: Create a new TopGit-controlled branch
861 :`tg delete`_: Delete a TopGit-controlled branch cleanly
862 :`tg depend`_: Add a new dependency to a TopGit-controlled branch
863 :`tg export`_: Export TopGit branch patches to files or a branch
864 :`tg files`_: Show files changed by a TopGit branch
865 :`tg help`_: Show TopGit help optionally using a browser
866 :`tg import`_: Import commit(s) to separate TopGit branches
867 :`tg info`_: Show status information about a TopGit branch
868 :`tg log`_: Run git log limiting revisions to a TopGit branch
869 :`tg mail`_: Shortcut for git send-email with ``tg patch`` output
870 :`tg migrate-bases`_: Transition top-bases to new location
871 :`tg next`_: Show branches directly depending on a TopGit branch
872 :`tg patch`_: Generate a patch file for a TopGit branch
873 :`tg prev`_: Show non-annihilated TopGit dependencies for a branch
874 :`tg push`_: Run git push on TopGit branch(es) and depedencies
875 :`tg rebase`_: Auto continue git rebase if rerere resolves conflicts
876 :`tg remote`_: Set up remote for fetching/pushing TopGit branches
877 :`tg revert`_: Revert ref(s) to a state stored in a ``tg tag``
878 :`tg shell`_: Extended `wayback machine`_ mode
879 :`tg status`_: Show current TopGit status (e.g. in-progress update)
880 :`tg summary`_: Show various information about TopGit branches
881 :`tg tag`_: Create tag that records current TopGit branch state
882 :`tg update`_: Update TopGit branch(es) with respect to dependencies
886 Our sophisticated integrated help facility. Mostly duplicates
891 # to get help for a particular command:
893 # to get help for a particular command in a browser window:
894 $ tg help -w <command>
895 # to get help on TopGit itself
897 # to get help on TopGit itself in a browser
902 Our sophisticated status facility. Similar to Git's status command
903 but shows any in-progress update that's awaiting a merge resolution
904 or any other on-going TopGit activity (such as a branch creation).
906 With a single ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) option include a short status
907 display for any dirty (but not untracked) files. This also causes all
908 non file status lines to be prefixed with "## ".
910 With two (or more) ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) options, additionally
911 show full symbolic ref names and unabbreviated hash values.
913 With the ``--exit-code`` option the exit code will be non-zero if any
914 TopGit or Git operation is currently in progress or the working
919 Create a new TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
920 (required argument) and switch to it. If no dependencies are
921 specified (by extra arguments passed after the first one), the
922 current branch is assumed to be the only dependency.
924 By default ``tg create`` opens an editor on the new ``.topmsg`` file
925 and then commits the new ``.topmsg`` and ``.topdeps`` files
926 automatically with a suitable default commit message.
928 The commit message can be changed with the ``-m`` (or ``--message``) or
929 ``-F`` (or ``--file``) option. The automatic commit can be suppressed
930 by using the ``--no-ccmmit`` (or ``-n``) option. Running the editor on
931 the new ``.topmsg`` file can be suppressed by using ``--no-edit``
932 (which does *NOT* suppress the automatic commit unless ``--no-commit``
933 is also given) or by providing an explicit value for the new
934 ``.topmsg`` file using the ``--topmsg`` or ``--topmsg-file`` option.
935 In any case the ``.topmsg`` content will be automatically reformated to
936 have a ``Subject:`` header line if needed.
938 If the ``format.signoff`` config variable (see ``git help config``)
939 has been set to true then the ``Signed-off-by:`` header line added to
940 the end of the initial version of the ``.topmsg`` file will be
941 uncommented by default. Otherwise it will still be there but will be
942 commented out and will be automatically stripped if no action is taken
943 to remove the comment character.
945 If more than one dependency is listed an automatic ``tg update`` runs
946 after the branch has been created to merge in the additional
947 dependencies and bring the branch up-to-date. This can be suppressed
948 with the ``--no-commit`` option (which also suppresses the initial
949 commit) or the ``--no-update`` option (which allows the initial commit
950 while suppressing only the update operation portion).
952 Previous versions of TopGit behaved as though both the ``--no-edit``
953 and ``--no-commit`` options were always given on the command line.
955 The default behavior has been changed to promote a separation between
956 commits that modify ``.topmsg`` and/or ``.topdeps`` and commits that
957 modify other files. This facilitates cleaner cherry picking and other
958 patch maintenance activities.
960 You should edit the patch description (contained in the ``.topmsg``
961 file) as appropriate. It will already contain some prefilled bits.
962 You can set the ``topgit.to``, ``topgit.cc`` and ``topgit.bcc``
963 git configuration variables (see ``man git-config``) in order to
964 have ``tg create`` add these headers with the given default values
965 to ``.topmsg`` before invoking the editor. If the configuration
966 variable ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` is set its value will be inserted
967 *between* the initial ``[`` and the word ``PATCH`` in the subject
968 line (with a space added before the word ``PATCH`` of course).
970 The main task of ``tg create`` is to set up the topic branch base
971 from the dependencies. This may fail due to merge conflicts if more
972 than one dependency is given. In that case, after you commit the
973 conflict resolution, you should call ``tg update --continue`` to
974 finish merging the dependencies into the new topic branch base.
976 With the ``--base`` (aka ``--no-deps``) option at most one dependency
977 may be listed which may be any valid committish (instead of just
978 refs/heads/...) and the newly created TopGit-controlled branch will
979 have an empty ``.topdeps`` file. This may be desirable in order to
980 create a TopGit-controlled branch that has no changes of its own and
981 serves merely to mark the common dependency that all other
982 TopGit-controlled branches in some set of TopGit-controlled branches
983 depend on. A plain, non-TopGit-controlled branch can be used for the
984 same purpose, but the advantage of a TopGit-controlled branch with no
985 dependencies is that it will be pushed with ``tg push``, it will show
986 up in the ``tg summary`` and ``tg info`` output with the subject from
987 its ``.topmsg`` file thereby documenting what it's for and finally it
988 can be set up with ``tg create -r`` and/or ``tg remote --populate`` to
991 For example, ``tg create --base release v2.1`` will create a TopGit-
992 controlled ``release`` branch based off the ``v2.1`` tag that can then
993 be used as a base for creation of other TopGit-controlled branches.
994 Then when the time comes to move the base for an entire set of changes
995 up to ``v2.2`` the command ``tg update --base release v2.2`` can be
996 used followed by ``tg update --all``.
998 Using ``--base`` it's also possible to use ``tg create`` on an
999 unborn branch (omit the dependency name or specify ``HEAD``). The
1000 unborn branch itself can be made into the new TopGit branch (rather
1001 than being born empty and then having the new TopGit branch based off
1002 that) by specifying ``HEAD`` as the new branch's name (which is
1003 probably what you normally want to do in this case anyway so you can
1004 just run ``tg create --base HEAD`` to accomplish that).
1006 In an alternative use case, if ``-r <branch>`` is given instead of a
1007 dependency list, the topic branch is created based on the given
1008 remote branch. With just ``-r`` the remote branch name is assumed
1009 to be the same as the local topic branch being created. Since no
1010 new commits are created in this mode (only two refs will be updated)
1011 the editor will never be run for this use case. Note that no other
1012 options may be combined with ``-r``.
1014 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option suppresses most informational
1019 Remove a TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
1020 (required argument). Normally, this command will remove only an
1021 empty branch (base == head) without dependents; use ``-f`` to
1022 remove a non-empty branch or a branch that is depended upon by
1025 The ``-f`` option is also useful to force removal of a branch's
1026 base, if you used ``git branch -D B`` to remove branch B, and then
1027 certain TopGit commands complain, because the base of branch B
1030 Normally ``tg delete`` will refuse to delete the current branch.
1031 However, giving ``-f`` twice (or more) will force it to do so but it
1032 will first detach your HEAD.
1034 IMPORTANT: Currently, this command will *NOT* remove the branch
1035 from the dependency list in other branches. You need to take
1036 care of this *manually*. This is even more complicated in
1037 combination with ``-f`` -- in that case, you need to manually
1038 unmerge the removed branch's changes from the branches depending
1041 The same ``--stash`` and ``--no-stash`` options are accepted with
1042 the same exact semantics as for `tg update`_.
1044 See also ``tg annihilate``.
1046 | TODO: ``-a`` to delete all empty branches, depfix, revert
1050 Make a commit on the current or given TopGit-controlled topic
1051 branch that makes it equal to its base, including the presence or
1052 absence of .topmsg and .topdeps. Annihilated branches are not
1053 displayed by ``tg summary``, so they effectively get out of your
1054 way. However, the branch still exists, and ``tg push`` will
1055 push it (except if given the ``-a`` option). This way, you can
1056 communicate that the branch is no longer wanted.
1058 When annihilating a branch that has dependents (i.e. branches
1059 that depend on it), those dependents have the dependencies of
1060 the branch being annihilated added to them if they do not already
1061 have them as dependencies. Essentially the DAG is repaired to
1062 skip over the annihilated branch.
1064 Normally, this command will remove only an empty branch
1065 (base == head, except for changes to the .top* files); use
1066 ``-f`` to annihilate a non-empty branch.
1068 After completing the annihilation itself, normally ``tg update``
1069 is run on any modified dependents. Use the ``--no-update`` option
1070 to suppress running ``tg update``.
1072 The same ``--stash`` and ``--no-stash`` options are accepted with
1073 the same exact semantics as for `tg update`_.
1077 Change the dependencies of a TopGit-controlled topic branch.
1078 This should have several subcommands, but only ``add`` is
1079 supported right now.
1081 The ``add`` subcommand takes an argument naming a topic branch to
1082 be added, adds it to ``.topdeps``, performs a commit and then
1083 updates your topic branch accordingly. If you want to do other
1084 things related to the dependency addition, like adjusting
1085 ``.topmsg``, use the option ``--no-commit``. Adding the
1086 ``--no-update`` (or ``--no-commit``) option will suppress the
1087 ``tg update`` normally performed after committing the change.
1089 It is safe to run ``tg depend add`` in a dirty worktree, but the
1090 normally performed ``tg update`` will be suppressed in that case
1091 (even if neither ``--no-update`` nor ``--no-commit`` is given).
1093 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1095 | TODO: Subcommand for removing dependencies, obviously
1099 List files changed by the current or specified topic branch.
1102 -i list files based on index instead of branch
1103 -w list files based on working tree instead of branch
1107 Show summary information about the current or specified topic
1110 Numbers in parenthesis after a branch name such as "(11/3 commits)"
1111 indicate how many commits on the branch (11) and how many of those
1112 are non-merge commits (3).
1114 With ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) include a list of dependents (i.e. other
1115 branches that depend on this one). Another ``--verbose`` annotates
1116 them with "[needs merge]" if the current tip of branch for which info
1117 is being shown has not yet been merged into the base of the dependent.
1119 Alternatively, if ``--heads`` is used then which of the independent
1120 TopGit branch heads (as output by ``tg summary --topgit-heads``)
1121 logically contains the specified commit (which may be any committish --
1122 defaults to ``HEAD`` if not given). Zero or more results will be
1123 output. Note that "logically" means with regard to the TopGit
1124 dependency relationships as established by the ``.topdeps`` file(s).
1125 It's the answer that would be given when all the TopGit branches are
1126 up-to-date (even though they need not be to use this option) and the
1127 ``git branch --contains`` command is run and the output then filtered
1128 to only those branches that appear in ``tg summary --topgit-heads``.
1129 This computation may require several seconds on complex repositories.
1131 If ``--leaves`` is used then the unique list of leaves of the current
1132 or specified topic branch is shown as one fully-qualified ref per line.
1133 Duplicates are suppressed and a tag name will be used when appropriate.
1134 A "leaf" is any dependency that is either not a TopGit branch or is
1135 the base of a non-annihilated TopGit branch with no non-annihilated
1138 The ``--deps`` option shows non-annihilated TopGit dependencies of the
1139 specified branch (default is ``HEAD``). (It can also be spelled out
1140 as ``--dependencies`` for the pedantically inclined.)
1142 The ``--dependents`` option shows non-annihilated TopGit dependents
1143 (i.e. branches that depend on the specified branch). The default
1144 branch to operate on is again ``HEAD``.
1146 A linearized patch series can only be automatically created for a
1147 TopGit topic branch (including its recursive dependencies) when exactly
1148 one line is output by ``tg info --leaves <topic-branch>``.
1150 With ``--series`` the list of TopGit branches in the order they would
1151 be linearized into a patch series is shown along with the description
1152 of each branch. If the branch name passed to ``tg info`` is not the
1153 last branch in the series a marker column will be provided to quickly
1154 locate it in the list. This same option can be used with `tg checkout`_.
1156 Some patches shown in the list may not actually end up introducing any
1157 changes if exported and be therefore end up being omitted. The ``0``
1158 indicator in ``tg summary`` output can help to identify some of these.
1160 The patches shown in the series in the order they are shown form the
1161 basis for the ``tg next`` and ``tg prev`` operations with the first
1162 patch shown being considered the first and so on up to the last.
1165 -i Use TopGit metadata from the index instead of the branch
1166 -w Use TopGit metadata from the working tree instead of the branch
1170 Generate a patch from the current or specified topic branch.
1171 This means that the diff between the topic branch base and head
1172 (latest commit) is shown, appended to the description found in
1173 the ``.topmsg`` file.
1175 The patch is simply dumped to stdout. In the future, ``tg patch``
1176 will be able to automatically send the patches by mail or save
1177 them to files. (TODO)
1180 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1181 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1182 --binary pass --binary to ``git diff-tree`` to enable generation
1184 --quiet be quiet (aka ``-q``) about missing and unfixed From:
1185 --from make sure patch has a From: line, if not add one
1186 --from=<a> <a> or Signed-off-by value or ident value; ``git am``
1187 really gets unhappy with patches missing From: lines;
1188 will NOT replace an existing non-empty From: header
1189 --no-from leave all From: lines alone, missing or not (default)
1190 --diff-opt options after the branch name (and an optional ``--``)
1191 are passed directly to ``git diff-tree``
1193 In order to pass a sole explicit ``-w`` through to ``git diff-tree`` it
1194 must be separated from the ``tg`` options by an explicit ``--``.
1195 Or it can be spelled as ``--ignore-all-space`` to distinguuish it from
1196 ``tg``'s ``-w`` option.
1198 If the config variable ``topgit.from`` is set to a boolean it can be
1199 used to enable or disable the ``--from`` option by default. If it's
1200 set to the special value ``quiet`` the ``--quiet`` option is enabled
1201 and From: lines are left alone by default. Any other non-empty value
1202 is taken as a default ``--from=<value>`` option. The ``--no-from``
1203 option will temporarily disable use of the config value.
1205 If additional non-``tg`` options are passed through to
1206 ``git diff-tree`` (other than ``--binary`` which is fully supported)
1207 the resulting ``tg patch`` output may not be appliable.
1211 Send a patch from the current or specified topic branch as
1214 Takes the patch given on the command line and emails it out.
1215 Destination addresses such as To, Cc and Bcc are taken from the
1218 Since it actually boils down to ``git send-email``, please refer
1219 to the documentation for that for details on how to setup email
1220 for git. You can pass arbitrary options to this command through
1221 the ``-s`` parameter, but you must double-quote everything. The
1222 ``-r`` parameter with a msgid can be used to generate in-reply-to
1223 and reference headers to an earlier mail.
1225 WARNING: be careful when using this command. It easily sends
1226 out several mails. You might want to run::
1228 git config sendemail.confirm always
1230 to let ``git send-email`` ask for confirmation before sending any
1234 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1235 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1237 | TODO: ``tg mail patchfile`` to mail an already exported patch
1238 | TODO: mailing patch series
1239 | TODO: specifying additional options and addresses on command line
1243 Register the given remote as TopGit-controlled. This will create
1244 the namespace for the remote branch bases and teach ``git fetch``
1245 to operate on them. However, from TopGit 0.8 onwards you need to
1246 use ``tg push``, or ``git push --mirror``, for pushing
1247 TopGit-controlled branches.
1249 ``tg remote`` takes an optional remote name argument, and an
1250 optional ``--populate`` switch. Use ``--populate`` for your
1251 origin-style remotes: it will seed the local topic branch system
1252 based on the remote topic branches. ``--populate`` will also make
1253 ``tg remote`` automatically fetch the remote, and ``tg update`` look
1254 at branches of this remote for updates by default.
1256 Using ``--populate`` with a remote name causes the ``topgit.remote``
1257 git configuration variable to be set to the given remote name.
1261 Show overview of all TopGit-tracked topic branches and their
1262 up-to-date status. With a branch name limit output to that branch.
1263 Using ``--deps-only`` or ``--rdeps`` changes the default from all
1264 branches to just the current ``HEAD`` branch but using ``--all`` as
1265 the branch name will show results for all branches instead of ``HEAD``.
1268 marks the current topic branch
1271 indicates that it introduces no changes of its own
1274 indicates respectively whether it is local-only
1275 or has a remote mate
1278 indicates respectively if it is ahead or out-of-date
1279 with respect to its remote mate
1282 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to its
1286 indicates that it has missing dependencies [even if
1287 they are recursive ones]
1290 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to
1294 indicates it is ahead of (and needs to be merged into)
1295 at least one of its dependents -- only computed when
1296 showing all branches or using the (possibly implied)
1297 ``--with-deps`` option.
1299 This can take a longish time to accurately determine all the
1300 relevant information about each branch; you can pass ``-t`` (or ``-l``
1301 or ``--list``) to get just a terse list of topic branch names quickly.
1302 Also adding ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) includes the subjects too.
1303 Adding a second ``--verbose`` includes annihilated branches as well.
1305 Passing ``--heads`` shows independent topic branch names and when
1306 combined with ``--rdeps`` behaves as though ``--rdeps`` were run with
1307 the output of ``--heads``.
1309 The ``--heads-independent`` option works just like ``--heads`` except
1310 that it computes the heads using ``git merge-base --independent``
1311 rather than examining the TopGit ``.topdeps`` relationships. If the
1312 TopGit branches are all up-to-date (as shown in ``tg summary``) then
1313 both ``--heads`` and ``--heads-independent`` should compute the same
1314 list of heads (unless some overlapping TopGit branches have been
1315 manually created). If not all the TopGit branches are up-to-date then
1316 the ``--heads-independent`` results may have extra items in it, but
1317 occasionally that's what's needed; usually it's the wrong answer.
1318 (Note that ``--topgit-heads`` is accepted as an alias for ``--heads``
1321 Using ``--heads-only`` behaves as though the output of ``--heads`` was
1322 passed as the list of branches along with ``--without-deps``.
1324 Alternatively, you can pass ``--graphviz`` to get a dot-suitable output
1325 for drawing a dependency graph between the topic branches.
1327 You can also use the ``--sort`` option to sort the branches using
1328 a topological sort. This is especially useful if each
1329 TopGit-tracked topic branch depends on a single parent branch,
1330 since it will then print the branches in the dependency order.
1331 In more complex scenarios, a text graph view would be much more
1332 useful, but that has not yet been implemented.
1334 The ``--deps`` option outputs dependency information between
1335 branches in a machine-readable format. Feed this to ``tsort`` to
1336 get the output from --sort.
1338 The ``--deps-only`` option outputs a sorted list of the unique branch
1339 names given on the command line plus all of their recursive
1340 dependencies (subject to ``--exclude`` of course). When
1341 ``--deps-only`` is given the default is to just display information for
1342 ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by using ``--all`` as the branch
1343 name. Each branch name will appear only once in the output no matter
1344 how many times it's visited while tracing the dependency graph or how
1345 many branch names are given on the command line to process.
1347 The ``--rdeps`` option outputs dependency information in an indented
1348 text format that clearly shows all the dependencies and their
1349 relationships to one another. When ``--rdeps`` is given the default is
1350 to just display information for ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by
1351 using ``--all`` as the branch name or by adding the ``--heads`` option.
1352 Note that ``tg summary --rdeps --heads`` can be particularly helpful in
1353 seeing all the TopGit-controlled branches in the repository and their
1354 relationships to one another.
1356 Note that ``--rdeps`` has two flavors. The first (and default) is
1357 ``--rdeps-once`` which only shows the dependencies of a branch when
1358 it's first visited. For example, if D depends on several other
1359 branches perhaps recursively and both branch A and B depend on D, then
1360 whichever of A or B is shown first will show the entire dependency
1361 chain for D underneath it and the other one will just show a line for
1362 D itself with a "^" appended to indicate that the rest of the deps for
1363 D can be found above. This can make the output a bit more compact
1364 without actually losing any information which is why it's the default.
1365 However, using the ``--rdeps-full`` variant will repeat the full
1366 dependency chain every time it's encountered.
1368 Adding ``--with-deps`` replaces the given list of branches (which will
1369 default to ``HEAD`` if none are given) with the result of running
1370 ``tg summary --deps-only --tgish`` on the list of branches. This can
1371 be helpful in limiting ``tg summary`` output to only the list of given
1372 branches and their dependencies when many TopGit-controlled branches
1373 are present in the repository. Use ``--without-deps`` to switch back
1374 to the old behavior.
1376 The ``--with-related`` option extends (and therefore implies)
1377 ``--with-deps``. First the list of branches (which will default to
1378 ``HEAD`` if none are given) is replaced with the result of running
1379 ``tg summary --heads`` (aka ``--topgit-heads``) and the result is then
1380 processed as though it had been specified using ``--with-deps``.
1382 When it would be allowed, ``--with-deps`` is now the default. But,
1383 if in addition, exactly one branch is specified (either explicitly
1384 or implicitly) and it's spelled *exactly* as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` then
1385 the default ``--with-deps`` will be promoted to a default
1386 ``--with-related`` instead. Since duplicate branches are removed
1387 before processing, explicitly listing ``@`` twice provides an easy way
1388 to defeat this automatic promotion and ask for ``--with-deps`` on the
1389 ``HEAD`` symbolic ref with minimal typing when ``--with-related`` isn't
1390 really wanted and typing the full ``--with-deps`` option is too hard.
1392 With ``--exclude branch``, branch can be excluded from the output
1393 meaning it will be skipped and its name will be omitted from any
1394 dependency output. The ``--exclude`` option may be repeated to omit
1395 more than one branch from the output. Limiting the output to a single
1396 branch that has been excluded will result in no output at all.
1398 The ``--tgish-only`` option behaves as though any non-TopGit-controlled
1399 dependencies encountered during processing had been listed after an
1400 ``--exclude`` option.
1402 Note that the branch name can be specified as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` as a
1403 shortcut for the TopGit-controlled branch that ``HEAD`` is a
1404 symbolic ref to. The ``tg summary @`` and ``tg summary @ @`` commands
1405 can be quite useful.
1408 -i Use TopGit metadata from the index instead of the branch
1409 -w Use TopGit metadata from the working tree instead of the branch
1413 Search all TopGit-controlled branches (and optionally their remotes)
1414 to find which TopGit-controlled branch contains the specified commit.
1416 This is more than just basic branch containment as provided for by the
1417 ``git branch --contains`` command. While the shown branch name(s)
1418 will, indeed, be one (or more) of those output by the
1419 ``git branch --contains`` command, the result(s) will exclude any
1420 TopGit-controlled branches from the result(s) that have one (or more)
1421 of their TopGit dependencies (either direct or indirect) appearing in
1422 the ``git branch --contains`` output.
1424 Normally the result will be only the one, single TopGit-controlled
1425 branch for which the specified committish appears in the ``tg log``
1426 output for that branch (unless the committish lies outside the
1427 TopGit-controlled portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was used).
1429 Unless ``--annihilated-okay`` (or ``--ann`` or ``--annihilated``) is
1430 used then annihilated branches will be immediately removed from the
1431 ``git branch --contains`` output before doing anything else. This
1432 means a committish that was originally located in a now-annihilated
1433 branch will show up in whatever branch picked up the annihilated
1434 branch's changes (if there is one). This is usually the correct
1435 answer, but occasionally it's not; hence this option. If this option
1436 is used together with ``--verbose`` then annihilated branches will
1437 be shown as "[:annihilated:]".
1439 In other words, if a ``tg patch`` is generated for the found branch
1440 (assuming one was found and a subsequent commit in the same branch
1441 didn't then revert or otherwise back out the change), then that patch
1442 will include the changes introduced by the specified committish
1443 (unless, of course, that committish is outside the TopGit-controlled
1444 portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was given).
1446 This can be very helpful when, for example, a bug is discovered and
1447 then after using ``git bisect`` (or some other tool) to find the
1448 offending commit it's time to commit the fix. But because the
1449 TopGit merging history can be quite complicated and maybe the one
1450 doing the fix wasn't the bug's author (or the author's memory is just
1451 going), it can sometimes be rather tedious to figure out which
1452 TopGit branch the fix belongs in. The ``tg contains`` command can
1453 quickly tell you the answer to that question.
1455 With the ``--remotes`` (or ``-r``) option a TopGit-controlled remote
1456 branch name may be reported as the result but only if there is no
1457 non-remote branch containing the committish (this can only happen
1458 if at least one of the TopGit-controlled local branches are not yet
1459 up-to-date with their remotes).
1461 With the ``--verbose`` option show which TopGit DAG head(s) (one or
1462 more of the TopGit-controlled branch names output by
1463 ``tg summary --heads``) have the result as a dependency (either direct
1464 or indirect). Using this option will noticeably increase running time.
1466 With the default ``--strict`` option, results for which the base of the
1467 TopGit-controlled branch contains the committish will be suppressed.
1468 For example, if the committish was deep-down in the master branch
1469 history somewhere far outside of the TopGit-controlled portion of
1470 the DAG, with ``--no-strict``, whatever TopGit-controlled branch(es)
1471 first picked up history containing that committish will be shown.
1472 While this is a useful result it's usually not the desired result
1473 which is why it's not the default.
1475 To summarize, even with ``--remotes``, remote results are only shown
1476 if there are no non-remote results. Without ``--no-strict`` (because
1477 ``--strict`` is the default) results outside the TopGit-controlled
1478 portion of the DAG are never shown and even with ``--no-strict`` they
1479 will only be shown if there are no ``--strict`` results. Finally,
1480 the TopGit head info shown with ``--verbose`` only ever appears for
1481 local (i.e. not a remote branch) results. Annihilated branches are
1482 never considered possible matches without ``--annihilated-okay``.
1486 Switch to a topic branch. You can use ``git checkout <branch>``
1487 to get the same effect, but this command helps you navigate
1488 the dependency graph, or allows you to match the topic branch
1489 name using a regular expression, so it can be more convenient.
1491 The ``--branch`` (or ``-b`` or ``--branch=<name>``) option changes
1492 the default starting point from ``HEAD`` to the specified branch.
1494 For the "next" and "previous" commands, the ``<steps>`` value may
1495 be ``--all`` (or ``-a``) to take "As many steps As possible" or
1496 "step ALL the way" or "ALL steps at once" (or make something better
1499 The following subcommands are available:
1501 ``tg checkout next [<steps>]``
1502 Check out a branch that directly
1503 depends on your current branch.
1504 Move ``<steps>`` (default 1) step(s) in
1505 the "next" direction (AKA ``n``).
1507 ``tg checkout prev [<steps>]``
1508 Check out a branch that this branch
1509 directly depends on. Move ``<steps>``
1510 (default 1) step(s) in the "previous"
1511 direction (AKA ``p`` or ``previous``).
1513 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] <pattern>``
1514 Check out a topic branch that
1515 matches ``<pattern>``. ``<pattern>``
1516 is used as a grep ERE pattern to filter
1517 all the topic branches. Both ``goto`` and
1518 ``--`` may be omitted provided ``<pattern>``
1519 is not ``-a``, ``--all``, ``-h``, ``--help``,
1520 ``goto``, ``--``, ``n``, ``next``, ``push``,
1521 ``child``, ``p``, ``prev``, ``previous``,
1522 ``pop``, ``parent``, ``+``, ``-`` or ``..``.
1524 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] --series[=<head>]``
1525 Check out a topic branch that belongs to
1526 the current (or ``<head>``) patch series.
1527 A list with descriptions (``tg info --series``)
1528 will be shown to choose from if more than one.
1530 ``tg checkout + [<steps>]``
1531 An alias for ``next``.
1533 ``tg checkout push [<steps>]``
1534 An alias for ``next``.
1536 ``tg checkout child [<steps>]``
1537 Deprecated alias for ``next``.
1540 Semi-deprecated alias for ``next``.
1542 ``tg checkout - [<steps>]``
1543 An alias for ``prev``.
1545 ``tg checkout pop [<steps>]``
1546 An alias for ``prev``.
1548 ``tg checkout parent [<steps>]``
1549 Deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1551 ``tg checkout .. [<steps>]``
1552 Semi-deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1554 If any of the above commands can find more than one possible
1555 branch to switch to, you will be presented with the matches
1556 and asked to select one of them.
1558 If the ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` (or ``--iow``) option is given and
1559 the current Git version is at least 2.5.0 then the full
1560 ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` option will be passed along to the
1561 ``git checkout`` command when it's run (otherwise the option will be
1562 silently ignored and not passed to Git as it would cause an error).
1564 The ``--force`` (or ``-f``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1565 the ``git checkout`` command.
1567 The ``--merge`` (or ``-m``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1568 the ``git checkout`` command.
1570 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1571 the ``git checkout`` command.
1573 The ``<pattern>`` of ``tg checkout goto`` is optional. If you don't
1574 supply it, all the available topic branches are listed and you
1575 can select one of them.
1577 Normally, the ``next`` and ``prev`` commands move one step in
1578 the dependency graph of the topic branches. The ``-a`` option
1579 causes them (and their aliases) to move as far as possible.
1580 That is, ``tg checkout next -a`` moves to a topic branch that
1581 depends (directly or indirectly) on the current branch and
1582 that no other branch depends on. ``tg checkout prev -a``
1583 moves to a topic branch that the current topic branch
1584 depends on (directly or indirectly). If there is more than
1585 one possibility, you will be prompted for your selection.
1587 See also NAVIGATION_.
1591 Export a tidied-up history of the current topic branch and its
1592 dependencies, suitable for feeding upstream. Each topic branch
1593 corresponds to a single commit or patch in the cleaned up
1594 history (corresponding basically exactly to ``tg patch`` output
1595 for the topic branch).
1597 The command has three possible outputs now -- either a Git branch
1598 with the collapsed history, a Git branch with a linearized
1599 history, or a quilt series in new directory.
1601 In the case where you are producing collapsed history in a new
1602 branch, you can use this collapsed structure either for
1603 providing a pull source for upstream, or for further
1604 linearization e.g. for creation of a quilt series using git log::
1606 git log --pretty=email -p --topo-order origin..exported
1608 To better understand the function of ``tg export``, consider this
1609 dependency structure::
1611 origin/master - t/foo/blue - t/foo/red - master
1612 `- t/bar/good <,----------'
1613 `- t/baz ------------'
1615 (where each of the branches may have a hefty history). Then::
1617 master$ tg export for-linus
1619 will create this commit structure on the branch ``for-linus``::
1621 origin/master - t/foo/blue -. merge - t/foo/red -.. merge - master
1622 `- t/bar/good <,-------------------'/
1623 `- t/baz ---------------------'
1625 In this mode, ``tg export`` works on the current topic branch, and
1626 can be called either without an option (in that case,
1627 ``--collapse`` is assumed), or with the ``--collapse`` option, and
1628 with one mandatory argument: the name of the branch where the
1629 exported result will be stored.
1631 Both the ``--collapse`` and ``--linearize`` modes also accept a
1632 ``-s <mode>`` option to specify subject handling behavior for the
1633 freshly created commits. There are five possible modes:
1635 :keep: Like ``git mailinfo -k``
1636 :mailinfo: Like ``git mailinfo``
1637 :patch: Remove first ``[PATCH*]`` if any
1638 :topgit: Remove first [PATCH*], [BASE], [ROOT] or [STAGE]
1639 :trim: Trim runs of spaces/tabs to a single space
1641 The ``topgit`` (aka ``tg``) mode is the default (quelle surprise) and
1642 like the ``patch`` mode will only strip the first square brackets tag
1643 (if there is one) provided it's a TopGit-known tag (the ``patch``
1644 variation will only strip a PATCH tag but still just the first one).
1645 Note that TopGit does understand ``[RELEASE]`` in ``topgit`` mode.
1646 With ``trim`` (aka ``ws``) internal runs of spaces/tabs are converted
1647 to a single space, but no square brackets tags are removed. The ``ws``
1648 mode should generally be preferred instead of using ``keep`` mode.
1649 All modes always remove leading/trailing spaces and tabs and if the
1650 ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` value (see `tg create`_) has been set both the
1651 ``topgit`` and ``patch`` modes will match tags with that prefix too.
1653 Setting the config variable ``topgit.subjectMode`` to one of the mode
1654 values shown above will change the default to that mode.
1656 When using the linearize mode::
1658 master$ tg export --linearize for-linus
1660 you get a linear history respecting the dependencies of your
1661 patches in a new branch ``for-linus``. The result should be more
1662 or less the same as using quilt mode and then reimporting it
1663 into a Git branch. (More or less because the topological order
1664 can usually be extended in more than one way into a total order,
1665 and the two methods may choose different ones.) The result
1666 might be more appropriate for merging upstream, as it contains
1669 Note that you might get conflicts during linearization because
1670 the patches are reordered to get a linear history. If linearization
1671 would produce conflicts then using ``--quilt`` will also likely result
1672 in conflicts when the exported quilt series is applied. Since the
1673 ``--quilt`` mode simply runs a series of ``tg patch`` commands to
1674 generate the patches in the exported quilt series and those patches
1675 will end up being applied linearly, the same conflicts that would be
1676 produced by the ``--linearize`` option will then occur at that time.
1678 To avoid conflicts produced by ``--linearize`` (or by applying the
1679 ``--quilt`` output), use the default ``--collapse`` mode and then use
1680 ``tg rebase`` (or ``git rebase -m`` directly) on the collapsed branch
1681 (with a suitable <upstream>) followed by ``git format-patch`` on the
1682 rebased result to produce a conflict-free patch set. A suitable
1683 upstream may be determined with the ``tg info --leaves`` command (if
1684 it outputs more than one line, linearization will be problematic).
1686 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1688 When using the quilt mode::
1690 master$ tg export --quilt for-linus
1692 would create the following directory ``for-linus``::
1694 for-linus/t/foo/blue.diff
1695 for-linus/t/foo/red.diff
1696 for-linus/t/bar/good.diff
1697 for-linus/t/baz.diff
1704 With ``--quilt``, you can also pass the ``-b`` parameter followed
1705 by a comma-separated explicit list of branches to export, or
1706 the ``--all`` parameter (which can be shortened to ``-a``) to
1707 export them all. The ``--binary`` option enables producing Git
1708 binary patches. These options are currently only supported
1711 In ``--quilt`` mode the patches are named like the originating
1712 topgit branch. So usually they end up in subdirectories of the
1713 output directory. With the ``--flatten`` option the names are
1714 mangled so that they end up directly in the output dir (slashes
1715 are replaced with underscores). With the ``--strip[=N]`` option
1716 the first ``N`` subdirectories (all if no ``N`` is given) get
1717 stripped off. Names are always ``--strip``'d before being
1718 ``--flatten``'d. With the option ``--numbered`` (which implies
1719 ``--flatten``) the patch names get a number as prefix to allow
1720 getting the order without consulting the series file, which
1721 eases sending out the patches.
1723 Note that ``tg export`` is fully compatible with the `wayback machine`_
1724 and when used with the ``--collapse`` or ``--linearize`` options will
1725 "push" the resulting branch back into the main repository when used in
1728 | TODO: Make stripping of non-essential headers configurable
1729 | TODO: ``--mbox`` option to export instead as an mbox file
1730 | TODO: support ``--all`` option in other modes of operation
1731 | TODO: For quilt exporting, export the linearized history created in
1732 a temporary branch--this would allow producing conflict-less
1737 Import commits within the given revision range(s) into TopGit,
1738 creating one topic branch per commit. The dependencies are set
1739 up to form a linear sequence starting on your current branch --
1740 or a branch specified by the ``-d`` parameter, if present.
1742 The branch names are auto-guessed from the commit messages and
1743 prefixed by ``t/`` by default; use ``-p <prefix>`` to specify an
1744 alternative prefix (even an empty one).
1746 Each "<range>" must be of the form <rev1>..<rev2> where either
1747 <rev1> or <rev2> can be omitted to mean HEAD. Additionally the
1748 shortcut <rev>^! (see ``git help revisions``) is permitted as a
1749 "<range>" to select the single commit <rev> but only if the
1750 commit <rev> has *exactly* one parent. This is really just a
1751 shortcut for <rev>^..<rev> but somewhat safer since it will fail
1752 if <rev> has other than one parent.
1754 Alternatively, you can use the ``-s NAME`` parameter to specify
1755 the name of the target branch; the command will then take one
1756 more argument describing a *single* commit to import (which may
1757 have any number of parents).
1761 Update the current, specified or all topic branches with respect
1762 to changes in the branches they depend on and remote branches.
1763 This is performed in two phases -- first, changes within the
1764 dependencies are merged to the base, then the base is merged
1765 into the topic branch. The output will guide you on what to do
1766 next in case of conflicts.
1768 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1770 The ``--[no-]auto[-update]`` options together with the
1771 ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` config item control whether or not TopGit
1772 will automatically temporarily set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1773 running ``tg update``. The default is true. Note that this does not
1774 enable Git's ``rerere`` feature, it merely makes it automatically stage
1775 any previously resolved conflicts. The ``rerere.enabled`` setting must
1776 still be separately enabled (i.e. set to ``true``) for the ``rerere``
1777 feature to do anything at all.
1779 Using ``--auto[-update]`` makes ``tg update`` always temporarily set
1780 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to ``true`` while running ``tg update``. The
1781 ``--no-auto[-update]`` option prevents ``tg update`` from changing the
1782 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` setting, but if ``rerere.autoUpdate`` has already
1783 been enabled in a config file, ``tg update`` never disables it even
1784 with ``--no-auto``. If ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` is unset or set to
1785 ``true`` then ``tg update`` implicitly does ``--auto``, otherwise it
1786 does ``--no-auto``. An explicit command line ``--[no-]auto[-update]``
1787 option causes the ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` setting to be ignored.
1789 When both ``rerere.enabled`` and ``rerere.autoUpdate`` are set to true
1790 then ``tg update`` will be able to automatically continue an update
1791 whenever ``git rerere`` resolves all the conflicts during a merge.
1792 This can be such a huge time saver. That's why the default is to have
1793 TopGit automatically set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1794 ``tg update`` is running (but remember, unless ``rerere.enabled`` has
1795 been set to ``true`` it won't make any difference).
1797 When ``-a`` (or ``--all``) is specified, updates all topic branches
1798 matched by ``<pattern>``'s (see ``git-for-each-ref(1)`` for details),
1799 or all if no ``<pattern>`` is given. Any topic branches with missing
1800 dependencies will be skipped entirely unless ``--skip-missing`` is
1803 When ``--skip-missing`` is specified, an attempt is made to update topic
1804 branches with missing dependencies by skipping only the dependencies
1805 that are missing. Caveat utilitor.
1807 When ``--stash`` is specified (or the ``topgit.autostash`` config
1808 value is set to ``true``), a ref stash will be automatically created
1809 just before beginning updates if any are needed. The ``--no-stash``
1810 option may be used to disable a ``topgit.autostash=true`` setting.
1811 See the ``tg tag`` ``--stash`` option for details.
1813 After the update, if a single topic branch was specified, it is
1814 left as the current one; if ``-a`` was specified, it returns to
1815 the branch which was current at the beginning.
1817 If your dependencies are not up-to-date, ``tg update`` will first
1818 recurse into them and update them.
1820 If a remote branch update brings in dependencies on branches
1821 that are not yet instantiated locally, you can either bring in
1822 all the new branches from the remote using ``tg remote
1823 --populate``, or only pick out the missing ones using ``tg create
1824 -r`` (``tg summary`` will point out branches with incomplete
1825 dependencies by showing an ``!`` next to them). TopGit will attempt to
1826 instantiate just the missing ones automatically for you, if possible,
1827 when ``tg update`` merges in the new dependencies from the remote.
1829 Using the alternative ``--base`` mode, ``tg update`` will update
1830 the base of a specified ``[BASE]`` branch (which is a branch created
1831 by ``tg create`` using the ``--base`` option) to the specified
1832 committish (the second argument) and then immediately merge that into
1833 the branch itself using the specified message for the merge commit.
1834 If no message is specified on the command line, an editor will open.
1835 Unless ``--force`` is used the new value for the base must contain
1836 the old value (i.e. be a fast-forward update). This is for safety.
1838 This mode makes updates to ``[BASE]`` branches quick and easy.
1840 | TODO: ``tg update -a -c`` to autoremove (clean) up-to-date branches
1844 If ``-a`` or ``--all`` was specified, pushes all non-annihilated
1845 TopGit-controlled topic branches, to a remote repository.
1846 Otherwise, pushes the specified topic branches -- or the
1847 current branch, if you don't specify which. By default, the
1848 remote gets all the dependencies (both TopGit-controlled and
1849 non-TopGit-controlled) and bases pushed to it too. If
1850 ``--tgish-only`` was specified, only TopGit-controlled
1851 dependencies will be pushed, and if ``--no-deps`` was specified,
1852 no dependencies at all will be pushed.
1854 The ``--dry-run`` and ``--force`` options are passed directly to
1855 ``git push`` if given.
1857 The remote may be specified with the ``-r`` option. If no remote
1858 was specified, the configured default TopGit remote will be
1863 Prints the base commit of each of the named topic branches, or
1864 the current branch if no branches are named. Prints an error
1865 message and exits with exit code 1 if the named branch is not
1870 Prints the git log of the named topgit branch -- or the current
1871 branch, if you don't specify a name.
1873 This is really just a convenient shortcut for:
1875 ``git log --first-parent --no-merges $(tg base <name>)..<name>``
1877 where ``<name>`` is the name of the TopGit topic branch (or omitted
1878 for the current branch).
1880 However, if ``<name>`` is a ``[BASE]`` branch the ``--no-merges``
1883 If ``--compact`` is used then ``git log-compact`` will be used instead
1884 of ``git log``. The ``--command=<git-alias>`` option can be used to
1885 replace "log" with any non-whitespace-containing command alias name,
1886 ``--compact`` is just a shortcut for ``--command=log-compact``. The
1887 ``git-log-compact`` tool may be found on its project page located at:
1889 https://mackyle.github.io/git-log-compact
1891 Note that the ``--compact`` or ``--command=`` option must be used
1892 before any ``--`` or ``git log`` options to be recognized.
1894 NOTE: if you have merged changes from a different repository, this
1895 command might not list all interesting commits.
1899 Creates a TopGit annotated/signed tag or lists the reflog of one.
1901 A TopGit annotated tag records the current state of one or more TopGit
1902 branches and their dependencies and may be used to revert to the tagged
1903 state at any point in the future.
1905 When reflogs are enabled (the default in a non-bare repository) and
1906 combined with the ``--force`` option a single tag name may be used as a
1907 sort of TopGit branch state stash. The special branch name ``--all``
1908 may be used to tag the state of all current TopGit branches to
1909 facilitate this function and has the side-effect of suppressing the
1910 out-of-date check allowing out-of-date branches to be included.
1912 As a special feature, ``--stash`` may be used as the tag name in which
1913 case ``--all`` is implied if no branch name is listed (instead of the
1914 normal default of ``HEAD``), ``--force`` and ``--no-edit`` (use
1915 ``--edit`` to change that) are automatically activated and the tag will
1916 be saved to ``refs/tgstash`` instead of ``refs/tags/<tagname>``.
1917 The ``--stash`` tag name may also be used with the ``-g``/``--reflog``
1920 The mostly undocumented option ``--allow-outdated`` will bypass the
1921 out-of-date check and is implied when ``--stash`` or ``--all`` is used.
1923 A TopGit annotated/signed tag is simply a Git annotated/signed tag with
1924 a "TOPGIT REFS" section appended to the end of the tag message (and
1925 preceding the signature for signed tags). PEM-style begin and end
1926 lines surround one line per ref where the format of each line is
1927 full-hash SP ref-name. A line will be included for each branch given
1928 on the command line and each ref they depend on either directly or
1931 If more than one TopGit branch is given on the command line, a new
1932 commit will be created that has an empty tree and all of the given
1933 TopGit branches as parents and that commit will be tagged. If a single
1934 TopGit branch is given, then it will be tagged. If the ``--tree``
1935 option is used then it will be used instead of an empty tree (a new
1936 commit will be created if necessary to guarantee the specified tree is
1937 what's in the commit the newly created tag refers to). The argument to
1938 the ``--tree`` option may be any valid treeish.
1940 If exactly one of the branches to be tagged is prefixed with a tilde
1941 (``~``) it will be made the first parent of a consolidation commit if
1942 it is not already the sole commit needing to be tagged. If ``--tree``
1943 is NOT used, its tree will also be used instead of the empty tree for
1944 any new consolidation commit if one is created. Note that if
1945 ``--tree`` is given explicitly its tree is always used but that does
1946 not in any way affect the choice of first parent. Beware that the
1947 ``~`` may need to be quoted to prevent the shell from misinterpreting
1948 it into something else.
1950 All the options for creating a tag serve the same purpose as their Git
1951 equivalents except for two. The ``--refs`` option suppresses tag
1952 creation entirely and emits the "TOPGIT REFS" section that would have
1953 been included with the tag. If the ``--no-edit`` option is given and
1954 no message is supplied (via the ``-m`` or ``-F`` option) then the
1955 default message created by TopGit will be used without running the
1958 With ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` show the reflog for a tag. With the
1959 ``--reflog-message`` option the message from the reflog is shown.
1960 With the ``--commit-message`` option the first line of the tag's
1961 message (if the object is a tag) or the commit message (if the object
1962 is a commit) falling back to the reflog message for tree and blob
1963 objects is shown. The default is ``--reflog-message`` unless the
1964 ``--stash`` (``refs/tgstash``) is being shown in which case the default
1965 is then ``--commit-message``. Just add either option explicitly to
1966 override the default.
1968 When showing reflogs, non-tag entries are annotated with their type
1969 unless ``--no-type`` is given.
1971 TopGit tags are created with a reflog if core.logallrefupdates is
1972 enabled (the default for non-bare repositories). Unfortunately Git
1973 is incapable of showing an annotated/signed tag's reflog
1974 (using git log -g) as it will first resolve the tag before checking to
1975 see if it has a reflog. Git can, however, show reflogs for lightweight
1976 tags (using git log -g) just fine but that's not helpful here. Use
1977 ``tg tag`` with the ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` option to see the reflog for
1978 an actual tag object. This also works on non-TopGit annotated/signed
1979 tags as well provided they have a reflog.
1981 The number of entries shown may be limited with the ``-n`` option. If
1982 the tagname is omitted then ``--stash`` is assumed.
1984 The ``--delete`` option is a convenience option that runs the
1985 ``git update-ref --no-deref -d`` command on the specified tag removing
1986 it and its reflog (if it has one). Note that `HEAD` cannot be removed.
1988 The ``--clear`` option clears all but the most recent (the ``@{0}``)
1989 reflog entries from the reflog for the specified tag. It's equivalent
1990 to dropping all the higher numbered reflog entries.
1992 The ``--drop`` option drops the specified reflog entry and requires the
1993 given tagname to have an ``@{n}`` suffix where ``n`` is the reflog
1994 entry number to be dropped. This is really just a convenience option
1995 that runs the appropriate ``git reflog delete`` command. Note that
1996 even dropping the ...@{0} entry when it's the last entry of a
1997 non-symbolic ref will NOT delete the ref itself (unless the ref was
1998 already somehow set to an invalid object hash); but dropping @{0} of
1999 a non-symbolic ref may have the side effect of removing some stale
2000 reflog entries that were present in the reflog.
2002 Note that when combined with ``tg revert``, a tag created by ``tg tag``
2003 can be used to transfer TopGit branches. Simply create the tag, push
2004 it somewhere and then have the recipient run ``tg revert`` to recreate
2005 the TopGit branches. This may be helpful in situations where it's not
2006 feasible to push all the refs corresponding to the TopGit-controlled
2007 branches and their top-bases.
2011 Provides a ``git rebase`` rerere auto continue function. It may be
2012 used as a drop-in replacement front-end for ``git rebase -m`` that
2013 automatically continues the rebase when ``git rerere`` information is
2014 sufficient to resolve all conflicts.
2016 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
2018 If the ``-m`` or ``--merge`` option is not present then ``tg rebase``
2019 will complain and not do anything.
2021 When ``git rerere`` is enabled, previously resolved conflicts are
2022 remembered and can be automatically staged (see ``rerere.autoUpdate``).
2024 However, even with auto staging, ``git rebase`` still stops and
2025 requires an explicit ``git rebase --continue`` to keep going.
2027 In the case where ``git rebase -m`` is being used to flatten history
2028 (such as after a ``tg export --collapse`` prior to a
2029 ``git format-patch``), there's a good chance all conflicts have already
2030 been resolved during normal merge maintenance operations so there's no
2031 reason ``git rebase`` could not automatically continue, but there's no
2032 option to make it do so.
2034 The ``tg rebase`` command provides a ``git rebase --auto-continue``
2037 All the same rebase options can be used (they are simply passed through
2038 to Git unchanged). However, the ``rerere.autoUpdate`` option is
2039 automatically temporarily enabled while running ``git rebase`` and
2040 should ``git rebase`` stop asking one to resolve and continue, but all
2041 conflicts have already been resolved and staged using rerere
2042 information, then ``git rebase --continue`` will be automatically run.
2046 Provides the ability to revert one or more TopGit branches and their
2047 dependencies to a previous state contained within a tag created using
2048 the ``tg tag`` command. In addition to the actual revert mode
2049 operation a list mode operation is also provided to examine a tag's ref
2052 The default mode (``-l`` or ``--list``) shows the state of one or more
2053 of the refs/branches stored in the tag data. When no refs are given on
2054 the command line, all refs in the tag data are shown. With the special
2055 ref name ``--heads`` then the indepedent heads contained in the tag
2056 data are shown. The ``--deps`` option shows the specified refs and all
2057 of their dependencies in a single list with no duplicates. The
2058 ``--rdeps`` option shows a display similar to ``tg summary --rdeps``
2059 for each ref or all TopGit heads if no ref is given on the command
2060 line. The standard ``--no-short``, ``--short=n`` etc. options may be
2061 used to override the default ``--short`` output. With ``--hash`` (or
2062 ``--hash-only``) show only the hash in ``--list`` mode in which case
2063 the default is ``--no-short``. The ``--hash`` option can be used much
2064 like the ``git rev-parse --verify`` command to extract a specific hash
2065 value out of a TopGit tag.
2067 Note that unlike `tg summary`_, here ``--heads`` actually does mean the
2068 ``git merge-base --independent`` heads of the stored refs from the tag
2069 data. To see only the independent TopGit topic branch heads stored in
2070 the tag data use the ``--topgit-heads`` option instead. The default
2071 for the ``--rdeps`` option is ``--topgit-heads`` but ``--heads`` can
2072 be given explicitly to change that. (Note that ``--heads-independent``
2073 is accepted as an alias for ``--heads`` as well.)
2075 The revert mode has three submodes, dry-run mode (``-n`` or
2076 ``--dry-run``), force mode (``-f`` or ``--force``) and interactive mode
2077 (``-i`` or ``--interactive``). If ``--dry-run`` (or ``-n``) is given
2078 no ref updates will actually be performed but what would have been
2079 updated is shown instead. If ``--interactive`` (or ``-i``) is given
2080 then the editor is invoked on an instruction sheet allowing manual
2081 selection of the refs to be updated before proceeding. Since revert is
2082 potentially a destructive operation, at least one of the submodes must
2083 be specified explicitly. If no refs are listed on the command line
2084 then all refs in the tag data are reverted. Otherwise the listed refs
2085 and all of their dependencies (unless ``--no-deps`` is given) are
2086 reverted. Unless ``--no-stash`` is given a new stash will be created
2087 using ``tg tag --stash`` (except, of course, in dry-run mode) just
2088 before actually performing the updates to facilitate recovery from
2091 Both modes accept fully-qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) ref
2092 names as well as unqualified names (which will be assumed to be located
2093 under ``refs/heads/``). In revert mode a tgish ref will always have
2094 both its ``refs/heads/`` and ``refs/top-bases/`` values included no
2095 matter how it's listed unless ``--no-deps`` is given and the ref is
2096 fully qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) or one or the other of its
2097 values was removed from the instruction sheet in interactive mode. In
2098 list mode a tgish ref will always have both its ``refs/heads/`` and
2099 ``refs/top-bases/`` values included only when using the ``--deps`` or
2100 ``--rdeps`` options.
2102 The ``--tgish-only`` option excludes non-tgish refs (i.e. refs that do
2103 not have a ``refs/heads/<name>``, ``refs/top-bases/<name>`` pair).
2105 The ``--exclude`` option (which can be repeated) excludes specific
2106 refs. If the name given to ``--exclude`` is not fully-qualified (i.e.
2107 starts with ``refs/``) then it will exclude both members of a tgish ref
2110 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option may be used in revert mode to
2111 suppress non-dry-run ref change status messages.
2113 The special tag name ``--stash`` (as well as with ``@{n}`` suffixes)
2114 can be used to refer to ``refs/tgstash``.
2116 The ``tg revert`` command supports tags of tags that contains TopGit
2117 refs. So, for example, if you do this::
2120 git tag -f -a -m "tag the tag" newtag newtag
2122 Then ``newtag`` will be a tag of a tag containing a ``TOPGIT REFS``
2123 section. ``tg revert`` knows how to dereference the outermost
2124 tag to get to the next (and the next etc.) tag to find the
2125 ``TOPGIT REFS`` section so after the above sequence, the tag ``newtag``
2126 can still be used successfully with ``tg revert``.
2128 NOTE: If HEAD points to a ref that is updated by a revert operation
2129 then NO WARNING whatsoever will be issued, but the index and working
2130 tree will always be left completely untouched (and the reflog for
2131 the pointed-to ref can always be used to find the previous value).
2135 Enter extended `wayback machine`_ mode.
2137 The global ``-w <tgtag>`` option must be specified (but as a special
2138 case for the ``shell`` subcommand a <tgtag> destination of ``:`` may be
2139 used to get a shell with no wayback ref changes).
2141 The "<tgtag>" value must be the name of a tag created by (or known to)
2142 `tg tag`_. However, it may also have a ``:`` prefixed to it to
2143 indicate that it should prune (making it into a "pruning wayback tag").
2144 Use of a "pruning wayback tag" results in a repository that contains
2145 exclusively those refs listed in the specified tag. Otherwise the
2146 wayback repository will just revert those refs while keeping the others
2147 untouched (the default behavior).
2149 The `wayback machine`_ activates as normal for the specified
2150 destination but then a new ``${SHELL:-/bin/sh}`` is spawned in a
2151 temporary non-bare repository directory that shares all the same
2152 objects from the repository but has its own copy of the ref namespace
2153 where the refs specified in the wayback destination have all been
2154 changed to have their wayback values.
2156 If any arguments are given a POSIX shell will be spawned instead
2157 concatenating all the arguments together with a space and passing
2158 them to it via a ``-c`` option. If ``-q`` (or ``--quote``) is given
2159 then each argument will first be separately "quoted" to protect it from
2160 the shell allowing something like this::
2162 tg -w <tgtag> shell -q git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)"
2164 to work without needing to manually add the extra level of quoting that
2165 would otherwise be required due to the parentheses.
2167 Most of the repository configuration will be inherited, but some
2168 will be overridden for safety and for convenience. All "gc" activity
2169 within the wayback repository will be suppressed to avoid accidents
2170 (i.e. no auto gc will run and "gc" commands will complain and not run).
2172 Override and/or bypass this safety protection at your own peril!
2173 Especially *do not run* the ``git prune`` plumbing command in the
2174 wayback repository! If you do so (or bypass any of the other safeties)
2175 be prepared for corruption and loss of data in the repository.
2176 Just *don't do that* in the first place!
2178 Using ``git wayback-tag`` will show the tag used to enter the wayback
2179 machine. Using ``git wayback-updates`` will show ref changes that have
2180 occurred since the wayback tag was created (it will not show refs that
2181 have since been created unless a pruning wayback tag was used).
2182 Finally, ``git wayback-repository`` will show the home repository but
2183 so will ``git remote -v`` in the output displayed for the ``wayback``
2186 The special ``wayback`` remote refers to the original repository and
2187 can be used to push ref changes back to it. Note, however, that all
2188 default push refspecs are disabled for safety and an explicit refspec
2189 will need to be used to do so.
2191 Unlike the normal `wayback machine`_ mode, ``HEAD`` will be detached
2192 to a new commit with an empty tree that contains the message and author
2193 from the wayback tag used. This prevents ugly status displays while
2194 avoiding the need to checkout any files into the temporary working
2195 tree. The parent of this commit will, however, be set to the wayback
2196 tag's commit making it easy to access if desired.
2198 Also unlike the normal `wayback machine`_ mode, there are no
2199 limitations on what can be done in the temporary repository.
2200 And since it will be non-bare and writable, commands that may not have
2201 been allowed in the original repository will work too.
2203 When the shell spawned by this subcommand exits, the temporary wayback
2204 repository and all newly created objects and ref changes made in it, if
2205 any, *will be lost*. If work has been done in it that needs to be
2206 saved, it must be pushed somewhere (even if only back to the original
2207 repository using the special ``wayback`` remote).
2209 Lastly there's the ``--directory`` option. If the ``--directory``
2210 option is used the temporary "wayback repository" will be created at
2211 the specified location (which must either not exist or must be an empty
2212 directory -- no force option available this time as too many things
2213 could easily go wrong in that case). If the ``--directory`` option is
2214 used then the "wayback repository" *will persist* after ``tg shell``
2215 completes allowing it to continue to be used! Be warned though, all
2216 the same warnings that apply to ``git clone --shared`` apply to such
2217 a repository. If it's created using a ``tgstash`` tag those warnings
2218 are especially salient. Use a single argument of either ``:`` (to
2219 just create with no output) or ``pwd`` (to show the full absolute path
2220 to the new "wayback repository") when using the ``--directory`` option
2221 if the sole purpose is just to create the wayback repository for use.
2222 Note that the ``--directory`` option *must* be listed as the first
2223 option after the ``shell`` subcommand name if used.
2227 Output the "previous" branch(es) in the patch series containing the
2228 current or named branch. The "previous" branch(es) being one step
2232 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
2233 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
2234 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "previous" steps (default 1)
2235 --all take as many "previous" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
2236 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
2238 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
2240 To list all dependencies of a branch see the ``--deps`` option of
2241 the `tg info`_ command.
2243 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "previous" steps.
2247 Output tne "next" branch(es) in the patch series containing the current
2248 or named branch. The "next" branch(es) being one step away by default.
2251 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
2252 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
2253 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "next" steps (default 1)
2254 --all take as many "next" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
2255 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
2257 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
2259 To list all dependents of a branch see the ``--dependents`` option of
2260 the `tg info`_ command.
2262 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "next" steps.
2266 Transition top-bases from old location to new location.
2268 Beginning with TopGit release 0.19.4, TopGit has the ability to store
2269 the top-bases refs in either the old ``ref/top-bases/...`` location or
2270 the new ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/...`` location. Starting with TopGit
2271 release 0.20.0, the default is the new location.
2273 By storing the top-bases under heads, Git is less likely to complain
2274 when manipulating them, hosting providers are more likely to provide
2275 access to them and Git prevents them from pointing at anything other
2276 than a commit object. All in all a win for everyone.
2278 TopGit attempts to automatically detect whether the new or old location
2279 is being used for the top-bases and just do the right thing. However,
2280 by explicitly setting the config value ``topgit.top-bases`` to either
2281 ``refs`` for the old location or ``heads`` for the new location the
2282 auto-detection can be bypassed. If no top-bases refs are present in
2283 the repository the default prior to TopGit release 0.20.0 is to use the
2284 old location but starting with TopGit release 0.20.0 the default is to
2285 use the new location.
2287 The ``tg migrate-bases`` command may be used to migrate top-bases refs
2288 from the old location to the new location (or, by using the
2289 undocumented ``--reverse`` option, vice versa).
2291 With few exceptions (``tg create -r`` and ``tg revert``), all top-bases
2292 refs (both local *and* remote refs) are expected to be stored in the
2293 same location (either new or old). A repository's current location for
2294 storing top-bases refs may be shown with the ``tg --top-bases`` command.
2302 TopGit stores all the topic branches in the regular ``refs/heads/``
2303 namespace (so we recommend distinguishing them with the ``t/`` prefix).
2304 Apart from that, TopGit also maintains a set of auxiliary refs in
2305 ``refs/top-*``. Currently, only ``refs/top-bases/`` is used, containing the
2306 current *base* of the given topic branch -- this is basically a merge of
2307 all the branches the topic branch depends on; it is updated during ``tg
2308 update`` and then merged to the topic branch, and it is the base of a
2309 patch generated from the topic branch by ``tg patch``.
2311 All the metadata is tracked within the source tree and history of the
2312 topic branch itself, in ``.top*`` files; these files are kept isolated
2313 within the topic branches during TopGit-controlled merges and are of
2314 course omitted during ``tg patch``. The state of these files in base
2315 commits is undefined; look at them only in the topic branches
2316 themselves. Currently, two files are defined:
2319 Contains the description of the topic branch in a
2320 mail-like format, plus the author information, whatever
2321 Cc headers you choose or the post-three-dashes message.
2322 When mailing out your patch, basically only a few extra
2323 mail headers are inserted and then the patch itself is
2324 appended. Thus, as your patches evolve, you can record
2325 nuances like whether the particular patch should have
2326 To-list / Cc-maintainer or vice-versa and similar
2327 nuances, if your project is into that. ``From`` is
2328 prefilled from your current ``GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT``; other
2329 headers can be prefilled from various optional
2330 ``topgit.*`` git config options.
2333 Contains the one-per-line list of branches this branch
2334 depends on, pre-seeded by ``tg create``. A (continuously
2335 updated) merge of these branches will be the *base* of
2338 IMPORTANT: DO NOT EDIT ``.topdeps`` MANUALLY!!! If you do so, you need to
2339 know exactly what you are doing, since this file must stay in sync with
2340 the Git history information, otherwise very bad things will happen.
2342 TopGit also automagically installs a bunch of custom commit-related
2343 hooks that will verify whether you are committing the ``.top*`` files in a
2344 sane state. It will add the hooks to separate files within the ``hooks/``
2345 subdirectory, and merely insert calls to them to the appropriate hooks
2346 and make them executable (but will make sure the original hook's code is
2347 not called if the hook was not executable beforehand).
2349 Another automagically installed piece is a ``.git/info/attributes``
2350 specifier for an ``ours`` merge strategy for the files ``.topmsg`` and
2351 ``.topdeps``, and the (intuitive) ``ours`` merge strategy definition in
2358 There are two remaining issues with accessing topic branches in remote
2361 (i) Referring to remote topic branches from your local repository
2362 (ii) Developing some of the remote topic branches locally
2364 There are two somewhat contradictory design considerations here:
2366 (a) Hacking on multiple independent TopGit remotes in a single
2368 (b) Having a self-contained topic system in local refs space
2370 To us, (a) does not appear to be very convincing, while (b) is quite
2371 desirable for ``git-log topic`` etc. working, and increased conceptual
2374 Thus, we choose to instantiate all the topic branches of given remote
2375 locally; this is performed by ``tg remote --populate``. ``tg update``
2376 will also check if a branch can be updated from its corresponding remote
2377 branch. The logic needs to be somewhat involved if we are to "do the
2378 right thing". First, we update the base, handling the remote branch as
2379 if it was the first dependency; thus, conflict resolutions made in the
2380 remote branch will be carried over to our local base automagically.
2381 Then, the base is merged into the remote branch and the result is merged
2382 to the local branch -- again, to carry over remote conflict resolutions.
2383 In the future, this order might be adjustable on a per-update basis, in
2384 case local changes happen to be diverging more than the remote ones.
2385 (See the details in `The Update Process`_ for more in depth coverage.)
2387 All commands by default refer to the remote that ``tg remote --populate``
2388 was called on the last time (stored in the ``topgit.remote`` git
2389 configuration variable). You can manually run any command with a
2390 different base remote by passing ``-r REMOTE`` *before* the subcommand
2391 name or passing ``-u`` *before* the subcommand to run without one.
2397 Running the TopGit test suite only requires POSIX compatibile utilities (just
2398 a POSIX compatibile ``make`` will do) AND a ``perl`` binary.
2400 It is *not* necessary to install TopGit in order to run the TopGit test suite.
2402 To run the TopGit test suite, simply execute this from the top-level of a
2403 TopGit checkout or expanded release tarball:
2409 Yup, that's it. But you're probably thinking, "Why have a whole section just
2410 to say 'run make test'?" Am I right?
2412 The simple ``make test`` command produces a lot of output and while it is
2413 summarized at the end there's a better way.
2415 Do you have the ``prove`` utility available? You need ``perl`` to run the
2416 tests and ``prove`` comes with ``perl`` so you almost cerainly do.
2418 Try running the tests like so:
2422 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove test
2425 (For reference, the default value of ``DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET`` is ``test`` which
2426 can be used to override a setting that's been altered using the instructions
2427 shown later on below.)
2429 If that works (you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``), try this next:
2433 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS="-j 4 --timer" test
2435 If that one works (again, you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``) that may end
2436 up being the keeper for running the tests.
2438 However, if you don't have ``prove`` for some reason even though you do have
2439 ``perl``, there's still an alternative for briefer output. Try this:
2443 make TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2445 Much of the normal testing output will be suppressed and there's still a
2446 summary at the end. If you're stuck with this version but your make supports
2447 parallel operation (the ``-j`` *<n>*) option, then you might try this:
2451 make -j 4 TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2453 If your make *does* support the parallel ``-j`` option but still seems to be
2454 only running one test at a time try it like this instead:
2458 make TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS="-j 4" TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2460 The difference is that ``make -j 4`` relies on make to properly pass down the
2461 parallel job option all the way down to the sub-make that runs the individual
2462 tests when not using prove. Putting the options in ``TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS``
2463 passes them directly to that (and only that) particular invocation of make.
2465 The final bit of advice for running the tests is that any of those ``make``
2466 variable settings can be enabled by default in a top-level ``config.mak`` file.
2468 For example, to make the ``prove -j 4 --timer`` (my personal favorite) the
2469 default when running the tests, add these lines (creating the file if it does
2470 not already exist) to the ``config.mak`` file located in the top-level of the
2471 TopGit checkout (or expanded release tarball):
2476 # comments are allowed (if preceded by '#')
2477 # so are blank lines
2479 DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET = prove
2480 TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS = -j 4 --timer
2481 #TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS = --color # force colorized test output
2483 Now simply doing ``make test`` will use those options by default.
2485 There is copious documentation on the testing library and other options in
2486 the various ``README`` files located in the ``t`` subdirectory. The
2487 ``Makefile.mak`` file in the ``t`` subdirectory contains plenty of comments
2488 about possible makefile variable settings as well.
2495 A familiarity with the terms in the GLOSSARY_ is helpful for understanding the
2496 content of this section. See also the IMPLEMENTATION_ section.
2501 When a branch is "updated" using the ``tg update`` command the following steps
2504 1) The branch and all of its dependencies (and theirs recursively)
2505 are checked to see which ones are *out-of-date*. See glossary_.
2507 2) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2508 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) which is out of date is updated
2509 before proceeding (yup, this is a recursive process).
2511 3) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2512 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) that was updated in the previous
2513 step is now merged into the branch's corresponding base. If a
2514 remote is involved, and the branch's corresponding base does NOT
2515 contain the remote branch's corresponding base that remote base is
2516 also merged into the branch's base at this time as well (it will be
2517 the first item merged into the branch's base).
2519 4) If the branch has a corresponding remote branch and the branch
2520 does not already contain it, the branch's base (which was possibly
2521 already updated in step (3) to contain the remote branch's base but
2522 not the remote branch itself) is merged into the remote branch on a
2523 detached HEAD. Yup, this step can be a bit confusing and no, the
2524 updated base from step (3) has not yet been merged into the branch
2525 itself yet either. If there is no remote branch this step does not
2526 apply. Using a detached HEAD allows the contents of the base to be
2527 merged into the remote branch without actually perturbing the base's
2528 or remote branch's refs.
2530 5) If there is a remote branch present then use the result of step (4)
2531 otherwise use the branch's base and merge that into the branch
2534 That's it! Simple, right? ;)
2536 Unless the auto stash option has been disabled (see `no undo`_, `tg update`_
2537 and `tg tag`_), a copy of all the old refs values will be stashed away
2538 immediately after step (1) before starting step (2), but only if anything is
2539 actually found to be out-of-date.
2544 The ``tg update`` command regularly performs merges while executing an update
2545 operation. In order to speed things up, it attempts to do in-index merges
2546 where possible. It accomplishes this by using a separate, temporary index
2547 file and the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command possibly assisted by
2548 the ``git merge-index`` and ``git merge-file`` commands. This combination may
2549 be repeated more than once to perform an octopus in-index merge. If this
2550 fails, the files are checked out and a normal ``git merge`` three-way merge is
2551 performed (possibly multiple times). If the normal ``git merge`` fails then
2552 user intervention is required to resolve the merge conflict(s) and continue.
2554 Since the ``tg annihilate``, ``tg create`` and ``tg depend add`` commands may
2555 end up running the ``tg update`` machinery behind the scenes to complete their
2556 operation they may also result in any of these merge strategies being used.
2558 In addition to the normal Git merge strategies (if the in-index merging fails),
2559 there are four possible TopGit merge strategies that may be shown. Since they
2560 all involve use of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command they are all
2561 variations of a "trivial aggressive" merge. The "trivial" part because all of
2562 the merges done by ``git read-tree -m`` are described as "trivial" and the
2563 "aggressive" part because the ``--aggressive`` option is always used.
2565 1) "trivial aggressive"
2566 Only two heads were involved and all merging was completed by
2567 the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command.
2569 2) "trivial aggressive automatic"
2570 Only two heads were involved but after the
2571 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command completed there were
2572 still unresolved items and ``git merge-index`` had to be run
2573 (using the ``tg index-merge-one-file`` driver) which ultimately
2574 ran ``git merge-file`` at least once to perform a simple
2575 automatic three-way merge. Hence the "automatic" description
2576 and the "Auto-merging ..." output line(s).
2578 3) "trivial aggressive octopus"
2579 This is the same as a "trivial aggressive" merge except that
2580 more than two heads were involved and after merging the first
2581 two heads, the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` step was
2582 repeated again on the result for each additional head. All
2583 merging was completed via multiple
2584 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` commands only.
2585 This beast is relatively rare in the wild.
2587 4) "trivial aggressive automatic octopus"
2588 This is very similar to the "trivial aggressive octopus"
2589 except that at least one of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive``
2590 commands left unresolved items that were handled the same way
2591 as the "trivial aggressive automatic" strategy. This species
2592 is commonly seen in the wild.
2599 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2600 TopGit branch that contains the patch header for a TopGit
2601 branch. See also IMPLEMENTATION_.
2604 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2605 TopGit branch that lists the branch's dependencies one per
2606 line omitting the leading ``refs/heads/`` part. See also
2610 Given two Git commit identifiers (e.g. hashes) C1 and C2,
2611 commit C1 "contains" commit C2 if either they are the same
2612 commit or C2 can be reached from C1 by following one or more
2613 parent links from C1 (perhaps via one or more intermediate
2614 commits along the way). In other words, if C1 contains C2
2615 then C2 is an ancestor of C1 or conversely C1 is a descendant
2616 of C2. Since a TopGit branch name is also the name of a Git
2617 branch (something located under the ``refs/heads`` Git
2618 namespace) and similarly for a TopGit base, they can both be
2619 resolved to a Git commit identifier and then participate in
2620 a branch containment test. An easy mnemonic for this is
2621 "children contain the genes of their parents."
2624 A Basic Regular Expression (BRE) pattern. These are older
2625 style regular expressions but have the advantage that all
2626 characters other than ``\``, ``.``, ``*`` and ``[``
2627 automatically match themselves without need for backslash
2628 quoting (well actually, ``^`` and ``$`` are special at the
2629 beginning and end respectively but otherwise match themselves).
2632 See branch containment.
2635 An Extended Regular Expression (ERE) pattern. These are newer
2636 style regular expressions where all the regular expression
2637 "operator" characters "operate" when NOT preceded by a
2638 backslash and are turned into normal characters with a ``\``.
2639 The backreference atom, however, may not work, but ``?``, ``+``
2640 and ``|`` "operators" do; unlike BREs.
2643 Excellent system for managing a history of changes to one
2644 or more possibly interrelated patches.
2647 A Git branch that has an associated TopGit base. Conceptually
2648 it represents a single patch that is the difference between
2649 the associated TopGit base and the TopGit branch. In other
2650 words ``git diff-tree <TopGit base> <TopGit branch>`` except
2651 that any ``.topdeps`` and/or ``.topmsg`` files are excluded
2652 from the result and the contents of the ``.topmsg`` file from
2653 the TopGit branch is prefixed to the result.
2656 A Git branch whose tree does NOT contain any ``.topdeps`` or
2657 ``.topmsg`` entries at the top-level of the tree. It *does*
2658 always have an associated "TopGit base" ref (otherwise it would
2659 not be a "TopGit" branch). See also `BARE BRANCHES`_.
2662 In TopGit context, "bare branch" almost always refers to a
2663 "TopGit bare branch" and should be understood to mean such even
2664 if the leading "TopGit" has been left off.
2667 A Git branch that records the base upon which a TopGit branch's
2668 single conceptual "patch" is built. The name of the Git branch
2669 is derived from the TopGit branch name by stripping off the
2670 leading ``refs/heads/`` and appending the correct prefix where
2671 all TopGit bases are stored (typically either
2672 ``refs/top-bases/`` or ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/`` -- the
2673 prefix for any given repository can be shown by using the
2674 ``tg --top-bases`` command and updated using the
2675 ``tg migrate-bases`` command).
2677 All of a TopGit branch's dependencies are merged into the
2678 corresponding TopGit base during a ``tg update`` of a branch.
2683 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branch
2684 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[PATCH]``. By
2685 convention these TopGit branches contain a single patch
2686 (equivalent to a single patch file) and have at least one
2687 dependency (i.e. their ``.topdeps`` files are never empty).
2689 TopGit ``[BASE]`` branch
2690 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[BASE]``. By
2691 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain
2692 any changes and their ``.topdeps`` files are empty. They
2693 are used to control a base dependency that another set of
2694 branches depends on. Sometimes these are named ``[RELEASE]``
2695 instead because the base dependency they represent is actually
2696 the formal release of something.
2698 TopGit ``[STAGE]`` branch
2699 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[STAGE]``. By
2700 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain any
2701 changes of their own but do have one or (typically) more
2702 dependencies in their ``.topdeps`` file. These branches are
2703 used to bring together one or (typically) more independent
2704 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branches into a single branch so that
2705 testing and/or evaluation can be performed on the result.
2708 When merging two (or more) heads that touch the same lines in
2709 the file but in different ways the result is a merge conflict
2710 that requires manual intervention. If a merge conflict occurs
2711 with more than two heads (an octopus merge) it's generally
2712 replaced by multiple three-way merges so that by the time a
2713 user sees a merge conflict needing manual resolution, there
2714 will be only two heads involved.
2717 A Git merge strategy (see the "MERGE STRATEGIES" section of
2718 ``git help merge``) or one of the TopGit `merge strategies`_
2719 used to merge two or more heads.
2721 TopGit merge strategy
2722 See the `Merge Strategies`_ section above for details but
2723 basically these are just in-index merges done using the
2724 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command one or more times
2725 possibily assisted by the ``git merge-index`` and the
2726 ``git merge-file`` commands.
2729 In TopGit context the "next" branch refers to the branch that
2730 corresponds to the next (aka following) patch in an ordered
2731 (aka linearized) list of patches created by exporting the
2732 TopGit branches in patch application order.
2735 A merge involving more than two heads. Note that if there are
2736 less than three independent heads the resulting merge that
2737 started out as an octopus will end up not actually being an
2741 A TopGit branch is considered to be "out-of-date" when ANY of
2742 the following are true:
2744 a) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2747 b) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2748 corresponding remote branch (there may not be
2749 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2751 c) The TopGit branch's base does NOT contain its
2752 corresponding remote branch's base (there may not be
2753 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2755 d) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2756 ``.topdeps`` file are NOT contained by the branch.
2757 (See "branch containment" above.)
2759 e) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2760 ``.topdeps`` file are out-of-date.
2762 Note that if a remote branch is present and is NOT out-of-date
2763 then it will contain its own base and (c) is mostly redundant.
2766 In TopGit context the "previous" (or "prev") branch refers to
2767 the branch that corresponds to the previous (aka preceding)
2768 patch in an ordered (aka linearized) list of patches created by
2769 exporting the TopGit branches in patch application order.
2771 remote TopGit branch
2772 A Git branch with the same branch name as a TopGit branch
2773 but living under ``refs/remotes/<some remote>/`` instead
2774 of just ``refs/heads/``.
2777 The TopGit base branch corresponding to a remote TopGit branch,
2778 which lives under ``refs/remotes/`` somewhere (depending on
2779 what the output of ``tg --top-bases`` is for that remote).
2782 A three-way merge takes a common base and two heads (call them
2783 A and B) and creates a new file that is the common base plus
2784 all of the changes made between the common base and head A
2785 *AND* all of the changes made between the common base and
2786 head B. The technique used to accomplish this is called a
2793 The following references are useful to understand the development of
2794 topgit and its subcommands.
2797 http://public-inbox.org/git/36ca99e90904091034m4d4d31dct78acb333612e678@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
2800 THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE
2801 --------------------
2803 The following software understands TopGit branches:
2805 * `Magit <https://github.com/magit/magit>`_ - a git mode for emacs
2806 with the `Magit TopGit mode <https://github.com/greenrd/magit-topgit>`_
2807 that may, perhaps, be a bit outdated.
2809 IMPORTANT: Magit requires its topgit mode to be enabled first, as
2810 described in its documentation, in the "Activating extensions"
2811 subsection. If this is not done, it will not push TopGit branches
2812 correctly, so it's important to enable it even if you plan to mostly use
2813 TopGit from the command line.