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.
1166 Generate a patch from the current or specified topic branch.
1167 This means that the diff between the topic branch base and head
1168 (latest commit) is shown, appended to the description found in
1169 the ``.topmsg`` file.
1171 The patch is simply dumped to stdout. In the future, ``tg patch``
1172 will be able to automatically send the patches by mail or save
1173 them to files. (TODO)
1176 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1177 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1178 --binary pass --binary to ``git diff-tree`` to enable generation
1180 --quiet be quiet (aka ``-q``) about missing and unfixed From:
1181 --from make sure patch has a From: line, if not add one
1182 --from=<a> <a> or Signed-off-by value or ident value; ``git am``
1183 really gets unhappy with patches missing From: lines;
1184 will NOT replace an existing non-empty From: header
1185 --no-from leave all From: lines alone, missing or not (default)
1186 --diff-opt options after the branch name (and an optional ``--``)
1187 are passed directly to ``git diff-tree``
1189 In order to pass a sole explicit ``-w`` through to ``git diff-tree`` it
1190 must be separated from the ``tg`` options by an explicit ``--``.
1191 Or it can be spelled as ``--ignore-all-space`` to distinguuish it from
1192 ``tg``'s ``-w`` option.
1194 If the config variable ``topgit.from`` is set to a boolean it can be
1195 used to enable or disable the ``--from`` option by default. If it's
1196 set to the special value ``quiet`` the ``--quiet`` option is enabled
1197 and From: lines are left alone by default. Any other non-empty value
1198 is taken as a default ``--from=<value>`` option. The ``--no-from``
1199 option will temporarily disable use of the config value.
1201 If additional non-``tg`` options are passed through to
1202 ``git diff-tree`` (other than ``--binary`` which is fully supported)
1203 the resulting ``tg patch`` output may not be appliable.
1207 Send a patch from the current or specified topic branch as
1210 Takes the patch given on the command line and emails it out.
1211 Destination addresses such as To, Cc and Bcc are taken from the
1214 Since it actually boils down to ``git send-email``, please refer
1215 to the documentation for that for details on how to setup email
1216 for git. You can pass arbitrary options to this command through
1217 the ``-s`` parameter, but you must double-quote everything. The
1218 ``-r`` parameter with a msgid can be used to generate in-reply-to
1219 and reference headers to an earlier mail.
1221 WARNING: be careful when using this command. It easily sends
1222 out several mails. You might want to run::
1224 git config sendemail.confirm always
1226 to let ``git send-email`` ask for confirmation before sending any
1230 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1231 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1233 | TODO: ``tg mail patchfile`` to mail an already exported patch
1234 | TODO: mailing patch series
1235 | TODO: specifying additional options and addresses on command line
1239 Register the given remote as TopGit-controlled. This will create
1240 the namespace for the remote branch bases and teach ``git fetch``
1241 to operate on them. However, from TopGit 0.8 onwards you need to
1242 use ``tg push``, or ``git push --mirror``, for pushing
1243 TopGit-controlled branches.
1245 ``tg remote`` takes an optional remote name argument, and an
1246 optional ``--populate`` switch. Use ``--populate`` for your
1247 origin-style remotes: it will seed the local topic branch system
1248 based on the remote topic branches. ``--populate`` will also make
1249 ``tg remote`` automatically fetch the remote, and ``tg update`` look
1250 at branches of this remote for updates by default.
1252 Using ``--populate`` with a remote name causes the ``topgit.remote``
1253 git configuration variable to be set to the given remote name.
1257 Show overview of all TopGit-tracked topic branches and their
1258 up-to-date status. With a branch name limit output to that branch.
1259 Using ``--deps-only`` or ``--rdeps`` changes the default from all
1260 branches to just the current ``HEAD`` branch but using ``--all`` as
1261 the branch name will show results for all branches instead of ``HEAD``.
1264 marks the current topic branch
1267 indicates that it introduces no changes of its own
1270 indicates respectively whether it is local-only
1271 or has a remote mate
1274 indicates respectively if it is ahead or out-of-date
1275 with respect to its remote mate
1278 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to its
1282 indicates that it has missing dependencies [even if
1283 they are recursive ones]
1286 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to
1290 indicates it is ahead of (and needs to be merged into)
1291 at least one of its dependents -- only computed when
1292 showing all branches or using the (possibly implied)
1293 ``--with-deps`` option.
1295 This can take a longish time to accurately determine all the
1296 relevant information about each branch; you can pass ``-t`` (or ``-l``
1297 or ``--list``) to get just a terse list of topic branch names quickly.
1298 Also adding ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) includes the subjects too.
1299 Adding a second ``--verbose`` includes annihilated branches as well.
1301 Passing ``--heads`` shows independent topic branch names and when
1302 combined with ``--rdeps`` behaves as though ``--rdeps`` were run with
1303 the output of ``--heads``.
1305 The ``--heads-independent`` option works just like ``--heads`` except
1306 that it computes the heads using ``git merge-base --independent``
1307 rather than examining the TopGit ``.topdeps`` relationships. If the
1308 TopGit branches are all up-to-date (as shown in ``tg summary``) then
1309 both ``--heads`` and ``--heads-independent`` should compute the same
1310 list of heads (unless some overlapping TopGit branches have been
1311 manually created). If not all the TopGit branches are up-to-date then
1312 the ``--heads-independent`` results may have extra items in it, but
1313 occasionally that's what's needed; usually it's the wrong answer.
1314 (Note that ``--topgit-heads`` is accepted as an alias for ``--heads``
1317 Using ``--heads-only`` behaves as though the output of ``--heads`` was
1318 passed as the list of branches along with ``--without-deps``.
1320 Alternatively, you can pass ``--graphviz`` to get a dot-suitable output
1321 for drawing a dependency graph between the topic branches.
1323 You can also use the ``--sort`` option to sort the branches using
1324 a topological sort. This is especially useful if each
1325 TopGit-tracked topic branch depends on a single parent branch,
1326 since it will then print the branches in the dependency order.
1327 In more complex scenarios, a text graph view would be much more
1328 useful, but that has not yet been implemented.
1330 The ``--deps`` option outputs dependency information between
1331 branches in a machine-readable format. Feed this to ``tsort`` to
1332 get the output from --sort.
1334 The ``--deps-only`` option outputs a sorted list of the unique branch
1335 names given on the command line plus all of their recursive
1336 dependencies (subject to ``--exclude`` of course). When
1337 ``--deps-only`` is given the default is to just display information for
1338 ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by using ``--all`` as the branch
1339 name. Each branch name will appear only once in the output no matter
1340 how many times it's visited while tracing the dependency graph or how
1341 many branch names are given on the command line to process.
1343 The ``--rdeps`` option outputs dependency information in an indented
1344 text format that clearly shows all the dependencies and their
1345 relationships to one another. When ``--rdeps`` is given the default is
1346 to just display information for ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by
1347 using ``--all`` as the branch name or by adding the ``--heads`` option.
1348 Note that ``tg summary --rdeps --heads`` can be particularly helpful in
1349 seeing all the TopGit-controlled branches in the repository and their
1350 relationships to one another.
1352 Note that ``--rdeps`` has two flavors. The first (and default) is
1353 ``--rdeps-once`` which only shows the dependencies of a branch when
1354 it's first visited. For example, if D depends on several other
1355 branches perhaps recursively and both branch A and B depend on D, then
1356 whichever of A or B is shown first will show the entire dependency
1357 chain for D underneath it and the other one will just show a line for
1358 D itself with a "^" appended to indicate that the rest of the deps for
1359 D can be found above. This can make the output a bit more compact
1360 without actually losing any information which is why it's the default.
1361 However, using the ``--rdeps-full`` variant will repeat the full
1362 dependency chain every time it's encountered.
1364 Adding ``--with-deps`` replaces the given list of branches (which will
1365 default to ``HEAD`` if none are given) with the result of running
1366 ``tg summary --deps-only --tgish`` on the list of branches. This can
1367 be helpful in limiting ``tg summary`` output to only the list of given
1368 branches and their dependencies when many TopGit-controlled branches
1369 are present in the repository. Use ``--without-deps`` to switch back
1370 to the old behavior.
1372 The ``--with-related`` option extends (and therefore implies)
1373 ``--with-deps``. First the list of branches (which will default to
1374 ``HEAD`` if none are given) is replaced with the result of running
1375 ``tg summary --heads`` (aka ``--topgit-heads``) and the result is then
1376 processed as though it had been specified using ``--with-deps``.
1378 When it would be allowed, ``--with-deps`` is now the default. But,
1379 if in addition, exactly one branch is specified (either explicitly
1380 or implicitly) and it's spelled *exactly* as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` then
1381 the default ``--with-deps`` will be promoted to a default
1382 ``--with-related`` instead. Since duplicate branches are removed
1383 before processing, explicitly listing ``@`` twice provides an easy way
1384 to defeat this automatic promotion and ask for ``--with-deps`` on the
1385 ``HEAD`` symbolic ref with minimal typing when ``--with-related`` isn't
1386 really wanted and typing the full ``--with-deps`` option is too hard.
1388 With ``--exclude branch``, branch can be excluded from the output
1389 meaning it will be skipped and its name will be omitted from any
1390 dependency output. The ``--exclude`` option may be repeated to omit
1391 more than one branch from the output. Limiting the output to a single
1392 branch that has been excluded will result in no output at all.
1394 The ``--tgish-only`` option behaves as though any non-TopGit-controlled
1395 dependencies encountered during processing had been listed after an
1396 ``--exclude`` option.
1398 Note that the branch name can be specified as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` as a
1399 shortcut for the TopGit-controlled branch that ``HEAD`` is a
1400 symbolic ref to. The ``tg summary @`` and ``tg summary @ @`` commands
1401 can be quite useful.
1404 -i Use TopGit metadata from the index instead of the branch
1405 -w Use TopGit metadata from the working tree instead of the branch
1409 Search all TopGit-controlled branches (and optionally their remotes)
1410 to find which TopGit-controlled branch contains the specified commit.
1412 This is more than just basic branch containment as provided for by the
1413 ``git branch --contains`` command. While the shown branch name(s)
1414 will, indeed, be one (or more) of those output by the
1415 ``git branch --contains`` command, the result(s) will exclude any
1416 TopGit-controlled branches from the result(s) that have one (or more)
1417 of their TopGit dependencies (either direct or indirect) appearing in
1418 the ``git branch --contains`` output.
1420 Normally the result will be only the one, single TopGit-controlled
1421 branch for which the specified committish appears in the ``tg log``
1422 output for that branch (unless the committish lies outside the
1423 TopGit-controlled portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was used).
1425 Unless ``--annihilated-okay`` (or ``--ann`` or ``--annihilated``) is
1426 used then annihilated branches will be immediately removed from the
1427 ``git branch --contains`` output before doing anything else. This
1428 means a committish that was originally located in a now-annihilated
1429 branch will show up in whatever branch picked up the annihilated
1430 branch's changes (if there is one). This is usually the correct
1431 answer, but occasionally it's not; hence this option. If this option
1432 is used together with ``--verbose`` then annihilated branches will
1433 be shown as "[:annihilated:]".
1435 In other words, if a ``tg patch`` is generated for the found branch
1436 (assuming one was found and a subsequent commit in the same branch
1437 didn't then revert or otherwise back out the change), then that patch
1438 will include the changes introduced by the specified committish
1439 (unless, of course, that committish is outside the TopGit-controlled
1440 portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was given).
1442 This can be very helpful when, for example, a bug is discovered and
1443 then after using ``git bisect`` (or some other tool) to find the
1444 offending commit it's time to commit the fix. But because the
1445 TopGit merging history can be quite complicated and maybe the one
1446 doing the fix wasn't the bug's author (or the author's memory is just
1447 going), it can sometimes be rather tedious to figure out which
1448 TopGit branch the fix belongs in. The ``tg contains`` command can
1449 quickly tell you the answer to that question.
1451 With the ``--remotes`` (or ``-r``) option a TopGit-controlled remote
1452 branch name may be reported as the result but only if there is no
1453 non-remote branch containing the committish (this can only happen
1454 if at least one of the TopGit-controlled local branches are not yet
1455 up-to-date with their remotes).
1457 With the ``--verbose`` option show which TopGit DAG head(s) (one or
1458 more of the TopGit-controlled branch names output by
1459 ``tg summary --heads``) have the result as a dependency (either direct
1460 or indirect). Using this option will noticeably increase running time.
1462 With the default ``--strict`` option, results for which the base of the
1463 TopGit-controlled branch contains the committish will be suppressed.
1464 For example, if the committish was deep-down in the master branch
1465 history somewhere far outside of the TopGit-controlled portion of
1466 the DAG, with ``--no-strict``, whatever TopGit-controlled branch(es)
1467 first picked up history containing that committish will be shown.
1468 While this is a useful result it's usually not the desired result
1469 which is why it's not the default.
1471 To summarize, even with ``--remotes``, remote results are only shown
1472 if there are no non-remote results. Without ``--no-strict`` (because
1473 ``--strict`` is the default) results outside the TopGit-controlled
1474 portion of the DAG are never shown and even with ``--no-strict`` they
1475 will only be shown if there are no ``--strict`` results. Finally,
1476 the TopGit head info shown with ``--verbose`` only ever appears for
1477 local (i.e. not a remote branch) results. Annihilated branches are
1478 never considered possible matches without ``--annihilated-okay``.
1482 Switch to a topic branch. You can use ``git checkout <branch>``
1483 to get the same effect, but this command helps you navigate
1484 the dependency graph, or allows you to match the topic branch
1485 name using a regular expression, so it can be more convenient.
1487 The ``--branch`` (or ``-b`` or ``--branch=<name>``) option changes
1488 the default starting point from ``HEAD`` to the specified branch.
1490 For the "next" and "previous" commands, the ``<steps>`` value may
1491 be ``--all`` (or ``-a``) to take "As many steps As possible" or
1492 "step ALL the way" or "ALL steps at once" (or make something better
1495 The following subcommands are available:
1497 ``tg checkout next [<steps>]``
1498 Check out a branch that directly
1499 depends on your current branch.
1500 Move ``<steps>`` (default 1) step(s) in
1501 the "next" direction (AKA ``n``).
1503 ``tg checkout prev [<steps>]``
1504 Check out a branch that this branch
1505 directly depends on. Move ``<steps>``
1506 (default 1) step(s) in the "previous"
1507 direction (AKA ``p`` or ``previous``).
1509 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] <pattern>``
1510 Check out a topic branch that
1511 matches ``<pattern>``. ``<pattern>``
1512 is used as a grep ERE pattern to filter
1513 all the topic branches. Both ``goto`` and
1514 ``--`` may be omitted provided ``<pattern>``
1515 is not ``-a``, ``--all``, ``-h``, ``--help``,
1516 ``goto``, ``--``, ``n``, ``next``, ``push``,
1517 ``child``, ``p``, ``prev``, ``previous``,
1518 ``pop``, ``parent``, ``+``, ``-`` or ``..``.
1520 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] --series[=<head>]``
1521 Check out a topic branch that belongs to
1522 the current (or ``<head>``) patch series.
1523 A list with descriptions (``tg info --series``)
1524 will be shown to choose from if more than one.
1526 ``tg checkout + [<steps>]``
1527 An alias for ``next``.
1529 ``tg checkout push [<steps>]``
1530 An alias for ``next``.
1532 ``tg checkout child [<steps>]``
1533 Deprecated alias for ``next``.
1536 Semi-deprecated alias for ``next``.
1538 ``tg checkout - [<steps>]``
1539 An alias for ``prev``.
1541 ``tg checkout pop [<steps>]``
1542 An alias for ``prev``.
1544 ``tg checkout parent [<steps>]``
1545 Deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1547 ``tg checkout .. [<steps>]``
1548 Semi-deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1550 If any of the above commands can find more than one possible
1551 branch to switch to, you will be presented with the matches
1552 and asked to select one of them.
1554 If the ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` (or ``--iow``) option is given and
1555 the current Git version is at least 2.5.0 then the full
1556 ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` option will be passed along to the
1557 ``git checkout`` command when it's run (otherwise the option will be
1558 silently ignored and not passed to Git as it would cause an error).
1560 The ``--force`` (or ``-f``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1561 the ``git checkout`` command.
1563 The ``--merge`` (or ``-m``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1564 the ``git checkout`` command.
1566 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1567 the ``git checkout`` command.
1569 The ``<pattern>`` of ``tg checkout goto`` is optional. If you don't
1570 supply it, all the available topic branches are listed and you
1571 can select one of them.
1573 Normally, the ``next`` and ``prev`` commands move one step in
1574 the dependency graph of the topic branches. The ``-a`` option
1575 causes them (and their aliases) to move as far as possible.
1576 That is, ``tg checkout next -a`` moves to a topic branch that
1577 depends (directly or indirectly) on the current branch and
1578 that no other branch depends on. ``tg checkout prev -a``
1579 moves to a topic branch that the current topic branch
1580 depends on (directly or indirectly). If there is more than
1581 one possibility, you will be prompted for your selection.
1583 See also NAVIGATION_.
1587 Export a tidied-up history of the current topic branch and its
1588 dependencies, suitable for feeding upstream. Each topic branch
1589 corresponds to a single commit or patch in the cleaned up
1590 history (corresponding basically exactly to ``tg patch`` output
1591 for the topic branch).
1593 The command has three possible outputs now -- either a Git branch
1594 with the collapsed history, a Git branch with a linearized
1595 history, or a quilt series in new directory.
1597 In the case where you are producing collapsed history in a new
1598 branch, you can use this collapsed structure either for
1599 providing a pull source for upstream, or for further
1600 linearization e.g. for creation of a quilt series using git log::
1602 git log --pretty=email -p --topo-order origin..exported
1604 To better understand the function of ``tg export``, consider this
1605 dependency structure::
1607 origin/master - t/foo/blue - t/foo/red - master
1608 `- t/bar/good <,----------'
1609 `- t/baz ------------'
1611 (where each of the branches may have a hefty history). Then::
1613 master$ tg export for-linus
1615 will create this commit structure on the branch ``for-linus``::
1617 origin/master - t/foo/blue -. merge - t/foo/red -.. merge - master
1618 `- t/bar/good <,-------------------'/
1619 `- t/baz ---------------------'
1621 In this mode, ``tg export`` works on the current topic branch, and
1622 can be called either without an option (in that case,
1623 ``--collapse`` is assumed), or with the ``--collapse`` option, and
1624 with one mandatory argument: the name of the branch where the
1625 exported result will be stored.
1627 Both the ``--collapse`` and ``--linearize`` modes also accept a
1628 ``-s <mode>`` option to specify subject handling behavior for the
1629 freshly created commits. There are five possible modes:
1631 :keep: Like ``git mailinfo -k``
1632 :mailinfo: Like ``git mailinfo``
1633 :patch: Remove first ``[PATCH*]`` if any
1634 :topgit: Remove first [PATCH*], [BASE], [ROOT] or [STAGE]
1635 :trim: Trim runs of spaces/tabs to a single space
1637 The ``topgit`` (aka ``tg``) mode is the default (quelle surprise) and
1638 like the ``patch`` mode will only strip the first square brackets tag
1639 (if there is one) provided it's a TopGit-known tag (the ``patch``
1640 variation will only strip a PATCH tag but still just the first one).
1641 Note that TopGit does understand ``[RELEASE]`` in ``topgit`` mode.
1642 With ``trim`` (aka ``ws``) internal runs of spaces/tabs are converted
1643 to a single space, but no square brackets tags are removed. The ``ws``
1644 mode should generally be preferred instead of using ``keep`` mode.
1645 All modes always remove leading/trailing spaces and tabs and if the
1646 ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` value (see `tg create`_) has been set both the
1647 ``topgit`` and ``patch`` modes will match tags with that prefix too.
1649 Setting the config variable ``topgit.subjectMode`` to one of the mode
1650 values shown above will change the default to that mode.
1652 When using the linearize mode::
1654 master$ tg export --linearize for-linus
1656 you get a linear history respecting the dependencies of your
1657 patches in a new branch ``for-linus``. The result should be more
1658 or less the same as using quilt mode and then reimporting it
1659 into a Git branch. (More or less because the topological order
1660 can usually be extended in more than one way into a total order,
1661 and the two methods may choose different ones.) The result
1662 might be more appropriate for merging upstream, as it contains
1665 Note that you might get conflicts during linearization because
1666 the patches are reordered to get a linear history. If linearization
1667 would produce conflicts then using ``--quilt`` will also likely result
1668 in conflicts when the exported quilt series is applied. Since the
1669 ``--quilt`` mode simply runs a series of ``tg patch`` commands to
1670 generate the patches in the exported quilt series and those patches
1671 will end up being applied linearly, the same conflicts that would be
1672 produced by the ``--linearize`` option will then occur at that time.
1674 To avoid conflicts produced by ``--linearize`` (or by applying the
1675 ``--quilt`` output), use the default ``--collapse`` mode and then use
1676 ``tg rebase`` (or ``git rebase -m`` directly) on the collapsed branch
1677 (with a suitable <upstream>) followed by ``git format-patch`` on the
1678 rebased result to produce a conflict-free patch set. A suitable
1679 upstream may be determined with the ``tg info --leaves`` command (if
1680 it outputs more than one line, linearization will be problematic).
1682 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1684 When using the quilt mode::
1686 master$ tg export --quilt for-linus
1688 would create the following directory ``for-linus``::
1690 for-linus/t/foo/blue.diff
1691 for-linus/t/foo/red.diff
1692 for-linus/t/bar/good.diff
1693 for-linus/t/baz.diff
1700 With ``--quilt``, you can also pass the ``-b`` parameter followed
1701 by a comma-separated explicit list of branches to export, or
1702 the ``--all`` parameter (which can be shortened to ``-a``) to
1703 export them all. The ``--binary`` option enables producing Git
1704 binary patches. These options are currently only supported
1707 In ``--quilt`` mode the patches are named like the originating
1708 topgit branch. So usually they end up in subdirectories of the
1709 output directory. With the ``--flatten`` option the names are
1710 mangled so that they end up directly in the output dir (slashes
1711 are replaced with underscores). With the ``--strip[=N]`` option
1712 the first ``N`` subdirectories (all if no ``N`` is given) get
1713 stripped off. Names are always ``--strip``'d before being
1714 ``--flatten``'d. With the option ``--numbered`` (which implies
1715 ``--flatten``) the patch names get a number as prefix to allow
1716 getting the order without consulting the series file, which
1717 eases sending out the patches.
1719 Note that ``tg export`` is fully compatible with the `wayback machine`_
1720 and when used with the ``--collapse`` or ``--linearize`` options will
1721 "push" the resulting branch back into the main repository when used in
1724 | TODO: Make stripping of non-essential headers configurable
1725 | TODO: ``--mbox`` option to export instead as an mbox file
1726 | TODO: support ``--all`` option in other modes of operation
1727 | TODO: For quilt exporting, export the linearized history created in
1728 a temporary branch--this would allow producing conflict-less
1733 Import commits within the given revision range(s) into TopGit,
1734 creating one topic branch per commit. The dependencies are set
1735 up to form a linear sequence starting on your current branch --
1736 or a branch specified by the ``-d`` parameter, if present.
1738 The branch names are auto-guessed from the commit messages and
1739 prefixed by ``t/`` by default; use ``-p <prefix>`` to specify an
1740 alternative prefix (even an empty one).
1742 Each "<range>" must be of the form <rev1>..<rev2> where either
1743 <rev1> or <rev2> can be omitted to mean HEAD. Additionally the
1744 shortcut <rev>^! (see ``git help revisions``) is permitted as a
1745 "<range>" to select the single commit <rev> but only if the
1746 commit <rev> has *exactly* one parent. This is really just a
1747 shortcut for <rev>^..<rev> but somewhat safer since it will fail
1748 if <rev> has other than one parent.
1750 Alternatively, you can use the ``-s NAME`` parameter to specify
1751 the name of the target branch; the command will then take one
1752 more argument describing a *single* commit to import (which may
1753 have any number of parents).
1757 Update the current, specified or all topic branches with respect
1758 to changes in the branches they depend on and remote branches.
1759 This is performed in two phases -- first, changes within the
1760 dependencies are merged to the base, then the base is merged
1761 into the topic branch. The output will guide you on what to do
1762 next in case of conflicts.
1764 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1766 The ``--[no-]auto[-update]`` options together with the
1767 ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` config item control whether or not TopGit
1768 will automatically temporarily set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1769 running ``tg update``. The default is true. Note that this does not
1770 enable Git's ``rerere`` feature, it merely makes it automatically stage
1771 any previously resolved conflicts. The ``rerere.enabled`` setting must
1772 still be separately enabled (i.e. set to ``true``) for the ``rerere``
1773 feature to do anything at all.
1775 Using ``--auto[-update]`` makes ``tg update`` always temporarily set
1776 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to ``true`` while running ``tg update``. The
1777 ``--no-auto[-update]`` option prevents ``tg update`` from changing the
1778 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` setting, but if ``rerere.autoUpdate`` has already
1779 been enabled in a config file, ``tg update`` never disables it even
1780 with ``--no-auto``. If ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` is unset or set to
1781 ``true`` then ``tg update`` implicitly does ``--auto``, otherwise it
1782 does ``--no-auto``. An explicit command line ``--[no-]auto[-update]``
1783 option causes the ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` setting to be ignored.
1785 When both ``rerere.enabled`` and ``rerere.autoUpdate`` are set to true
1786 then ``tg update`` will be able to automatically continue an update
1787 whenever ``git rerere`` resolves all the conflicts during a merge.
1788 This can be such a huge time saver. That's why the default is to have
1789 TopGit automatically set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1790 ``tg update`` is running (but remember, unless ``rerere.enabled`` has
1791 been set to ``true`` it won't make any difference).
1793 When ``-a`` (or ``--all``) is specified, updates all topic branches
1794 matched by ``<pattern>``'s (see ``git-for-each-ref(1)`` for details),
1795 or all if no ``<pattern>`` is given. Any topic branches with missing
1796 dependencies will be skipped entirely unless ``--skip-missing`` is
1799 When ``--skip-missing`` is specified, an attempt is made to update topic
1800 branches with missing dependencies by skipping only the dependencies
1801 that are missing. Caveat utilitor.
1803 When ``--stash`` is specified (or the ``topgit.autostash`` config
1804 value is set to ``true``), a ref stash will be automatically created
1805 just before beginning updates if any are needed. The ``--no-stash``
1806 option may be used to disable a ``topgit.autostash=true`` setting.
1807 See the ``tg tag`` ``--stash`` option for details.
1809 After the update, if a single topic branch was specified, it is
1810 left as the current one; if ``-a`` was specified, it returns to
1811 the branch which was current at the beginning.
1813 If your dependencies are not up-to-date, ``tg update`` will first
1814 recurse into them and update them.
1816 If a remote branch update brings in dependencies on branches
1817 that are not yet instantiated locally, you can either bring in
1818 all the new branches from the remote using ``tg remote
1819 --populate``, or only pick out the missing ones using ``tg create
1820 -r`` (``tg summary`` will point out branches with incomplete
1821 dependencies by showing an ``!`` next to them). TopGit will attempt to
1822 instantiate just the missing ones automatically for you, if possible,
1823 when ``tg update`` merges in the new dependencies from the remote.
1825 Using the alternative ``--base`` mode, ``tg update`` will update
1826 the base of a specified ``[BASE]`` branch (which is a branch created
1827 by ``tg create`` using the ``--base`` option) to the specified
1828 committish (the second argument) and then immediately merge that into
1829 the branch itself using the specified message for the merge commit.
1830 If no message is specified on the command line, an editor will open.
1831 Unless ``--force`` is used the new value for the base must contain
1832 the old value (i.e. be a fast-forward update). This is for safety.
1834 This mode makes updates to ``[BASE]`` branches quick and easy.
1836 | TODO: ``tg update -a -c`` to autoremove (clean) up-to-date branches
1840 If ``-a`` or ``--all`` was specified, pushes all non-annihilated
1841 TopGit-controlled topic branches, to a remote repository.
1842 Otherwise, pushes the specified topic branches -- or the
1843 current branch, if you don't specify which. By default, the
1844 remote gets all the dependencies (both TopGit-controlled and
1845 non-TopGit-controlled) and bases pushed to it too. If
1846 ``--tgish-only`` was specified, only TopGit-controlled
1847 dependencies will be pushed, and if ``--no-deps`` was specified,
1848 no dependencies at all will be pushed.
1850 The ``--dry-run`` and ``--force`` options are passed directly to
1851 ``git push`` if given.
1853 The remote may be specified with the ``-r`` option. If no remote
1854 was specified, the configured default TopGit remote will be
1859 Prints the base commit of each of the named topic branches, or
1860 the current branch if no branches are named. Prints an error
1861 message and exits with exit code 1 if the named branch is not
1866 Prints the git log of the named topgit branch -- or the current
1867 branch, if you don't specify a name.
1869 This is really just a convenient shortcut for:
1871 ``git log --first-parent --no-merges $(tg base <name>)..<name>``
1873 where ``<name>`` is the name of the TopGit topic branch (or omitted
1874 for the current branch).
1876 However, if ``<name>`` is a ``[BASE]`` branch the ``--no-merges``
1879 If ``--compact`` is used then ``git log-compact`` will be used instead
1880 of ``git log``. The ``--command=<git-alias>`` option can be used to
1881 replace "log" with any non-whitespace-containing command alias name,
1882 ``--compact`` is just a shortcut for ``--command=log-compact``. The
1883 ``git-log-compact`` tool may be found on its project page located at:
1885 https://mackyle.github.io/git-log-compact
1887 Note that the ``--compact`` or ``--command=`` option must be used
1888 before any ``--`` or ``git log`` options to be recognized.
1890 NOTE: if you have merged changes from a different repository, this
1891 command might not list all interesting commits.
1895 Creates a TopGit annotated/signed tag or lists the reflog of one.
1897 A TopGit annotated tag records the current state of one or more TopGit
1898 branches and their dependencies and may be used to revert to the tagged
1899 state at any point in the future.
1901 When reflogs are enabled (the default in a non-bare repository) and
1902 combined with the ``--force`` option a single tag name may be used as a
1903 sort of TopGit branch state stash. The special branch name ``--all``
1904 may be used to tag the state of all current TopGit branches to
1905 facilitate this function and has the side-effect of suppressing the
1906 out-of-date check allowing out-of-date branches to be included.
1908 As a special feature, ``--stash`` may be used as the tag name in which
1909 case ``--all`` is implied if no branch name is listed (instead of the
1910 normal default of ``HEAD``), ``--force`` and ``--no-edit`` (use
1911 ``--edit`` to change that) are automatically activated and the tag will
1912 be saved to ``refs/tgstash`` instead of ``refs/tags/<tagname>``.
1913 The ``--stash`` tag name may also be used with the ``-g``/``--reflog``
1916 The mostly undocumented option ``--allow-outdated`` will bypass the
1917 out-of-date check and is implied when ``--stash`` or ``--all`` is used.
1919 A TopGit annotated/signed tag is simply a Git annotated/signed tag with
1920 a "TOPGIT REFS" section appended to the end of the tag message (and
1921 preceding the signature for signed tags). PEM-style begin and end
1922 lines surround one line per ref where the format of each line is
1923 full-hash SP ref-name. A line will be included for each branch given
1924 on the command line and each ref they depend on either directly or
1927 If more than one TopGit branch is given on the command line, a new
1928 commit will be created that has an empty tree and all of the given
1929 TopGit branches as parents and that commit will be tagged. If a single
1930 TopGit branch is given, then it will be tagged. If the ``--tree``
1931 option is used then it will be used instead of an empty tree (a new
1932 commit will be created if necessary to guarantee the specified tree is
1933 what's in the commit the newly created tag refers to). The argument to
1934 the ``--tree`` option may be any valid treeish.
1936 If exactly one of the branches to be tagged is prefixed with a tilde
1937 (``~``) it will be made the first parent of a consolidation commit if
1938 it is not already the sole commit needing to be tagged. If ``--tree``
1939 is NOT used, its tree will also be used instead of the empty tree for
1940 any new consolidation commit if one is created. Note that if
1941 ``--tree`` is given explicitly it's tree is always used but that does
1942 not in any way affect the choice of first parent. Beware that the
1943 ``~`` may need to be quoted to prevent the shell from misinterpreting
1944 it into something else.
1946 All the options for creating a tag serve the same purpose as their Git
1947 equivalents except for two. The ``--refs`` option suppresses tag
1948 creation entirely and emits the "TOPGIT REFS" section that would have
1949 been included with the tag. If the ``--no-edit`` option is given and
1950 no message is supplied (via the ``-m`` or ``-F`` option) then the
1951 default message created by TopGit will be used without running the
1954 With ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` show the reflog for a tag. With the
1955 ``--reflog-message`` option the message from the reflog is shown.
1956 With the ``--commit-message`` option the first line of the tag's
1957 message (if the object is a tag) or the commit message (if the object
1958 is a commit) falling back to the reflog message for tree and blob
1959 objects is shown. The default is ``--reflog-message`` unless the
1960 ``--stash`` (``refs/tgstash``) is being shown in which case the default
1961 is then ``--commit-message``. Just add either option explicitly to
1962 override the default.
1964 When showing reflogs, non-tag entries are annotated with their type
1965 unless ``--no-type`` is given.
1967 TopGit tags are created with a reflog if core.logallrefupdates is
1968 enabled (the default for non-bare repositories). Unfortunately Git
1969 is incapable of showing an annotated/signed tag's reflog
1970 (using git log -g) as it will first resolve the tag before checking to
1971 see if it has a reflog. Git can, however, show reflogs for lightweight
1972 tags (using git log -g) just fine but that's not helpful here. Use
1973 ``tg tag`` with the ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` option to see the reflog for
1974 an actual tag object. This also works on non-TopGit annotated/signed
1975 tags as well provided they have a reflog.
1977 The number of entries shown may be limited with the ``-n`` option. If
1978 the tagname is omitted then ``--stash`` is assumed.
1980 The ``--delete`` option is a convenience option that runs the
1981 ``git update-ref -d`` command on the specified tag removing it and its
1982 reflog (if it has one).
1984 The ``--clear`` option clears all but the most recent (the ``@{0}``)
1985 reflog entries from the reflog for the specified tag. It's equivalent
1986 to dropping all the higher numbered reflog entries.
1988 The ``--drop`` option drops the specified reflog entry and requires the
1989 given tagname to have an ``@{n}`` suffix where ``n`` is the reflog
1990 entry number to be dropped. This is really just a convenience option
1991 that runs the appropriate ``git reflog delete`` command.
1993 Note that when combined with ``tg revert``, a tag created by ``tg tag``
1994 can be used to transfer TopGit branches. Simply create the tag, push
1995 it somewhere and then have the recipient run ``tg revert`` to recreate
1996 the TopGit branches. This may be helpful in situations where it's not
1997 feasible to push all the refs corresponding to the TopGit-controlled
1998 branches and their top-bases.
2002 Provides a ``git rebase`` rerere auto continue function. It may be
2003 used as a drop-in replacement front-end for ``git rebase -m`` that
2004 automatically continues the rebase when ``git rerere`` information is
2005 sufficient to resolve all conflicts.
2007 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
2009 If the ``-m`` or ``--merge`` option is not present then ``tg rebase``
2010 will complain and not do anything.
2012 When ``git rerere`` is enabled, previously resolved conflicts are
2013 remembered and can be automatically staged (see ``rerere.autoUpdate``).
2015 However, even with auto staging, ``git rebase`` still stops and
2016 requires an explicit ``git rebase --continue`` to keep going.
2018 In the case where ``git rebase -m`` is being used to flatten history
2019 (such as after a ``tg export --collapse`` prior to a
2020 ``git format-patch``), there's a good chance all conflicts have already
2021 been resolved during normal merge maintenance operations so there's no
2022 reason ``git rebase`` could not automatically continue, but there's no
2023 option to make it do so.
2025 The ``tg rebase`` command provides a ``git rebase --auto-continue``
2028 All the same rebase options can be used (they are simply passed through
2029 to Git unchanged). However, the ``rerere.autoUpdate`` option is
2030 automatically temporarily enabled while running ``git rebase`` and
2031 should ``git rebase`` stop asking one to resolve and continue, but all
2032 conflicts have already been resolved and staged using rerere
2033 information, then ``git rebase --continue`` will be automatically run.
2037 Provides the ability to revert one or more TopGit branches and their
2038 dependencies to a previous state contained within a tag created using
2039 the ``tg tag`` command. In addition to the actual revert mode
2040 operation a list mode operation is also provided to examine a tag's ref
2043 The default mode (``-l`` or ``--list``) shows the state of one or more
2044 of the refs/branches stored in the tag data. When no refs are given on
2045 the command line, all refs in the tag data are shown. With the special
2046 ref name ``--heads`` then the indepedent heads contained in the tag
2047 data are shown. The ``--deps`` option shows the specified refs and all
2048 of their dependencies in a single list with no duplicates. The
2049 ``--rdeps`` option shows a display similar to ``tg summary --rdeps``
2050 for each ref or all TopGit heads if no ref is given on the command
2051 line. The standard ``--no-short``, ``--short=n`` etc. options may be
2052 used to override the default ``--short`` output. With ``--hash`` (or
2053 ``--hash-only``) show only the hash in ``--list`` mode in which case
2054 the default is ``--no-short``. The ``--hash`` option can be used much
2055 like the ``git rev-parse --verify`` command to extract a specific hash
2056 value out of a TopGit tag.
2058 Note that unlike `tg summary`_, here ``--heads`` actually does mean the
2059 ``git merge-base --independent`` heads of the stored refs from the tag
2060 data. To see only the independent TopGit topic branch heads stored in
2061 the tag data use the ``--topgit-heads`` option instead. The default
2062 for the ``--rdeps`` option is ``--topgit-heads`` but ``--heads`` can
2063 be given explicitly to change that. (Note that ``--heads-independent``
2064 is accepted as an alias for ``--heads`` as well.)
2066 The revert mode has three submodes, dry-run mode (``-n`` or
2067 ``--dry-run``), force mode (``-f`` or ``--force``) and interactive mode
2068 (``-i`` or ``--interactive``). If ``--dry-run`` (or ``-n``) is given
2069 no ref updates will actually be performed but what would have been
2070 updated is shown instead. If ``--interactive`` (or ``-i``) is given
2071 then the editor is invoked on an instruction sheet allowing manual
2072 selection of the refs to be updated before proceeding. Since revert is
2073 potentially a destructive operation, at least one of the submodes must
2074 be specified explicitly. If no refs are listed on the command line
2075 then all refs in the tag data are reverted. Otherwise the listed refs
2076 and all of their dependencies (unless ``--no-deps`` is given) are
2077 reverted. Unless ``--no-stash`` is given a new stash will be created
2078 using ``tg tag --stash`` (except, of course, in dry-run mode) just
2079 before actually performing the updates to facilitate recovery from
2082 Both modes accept fully-qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) ref
2083 names as well as unqualified names (which will be assumed to be located
2084 under ``refs/heads/``). In revert mode a tgish ref will always have
2085 both its ``refs/heads/`` and ``refs/top-bases/`` values included no
2086 matter how it's listed unless ``--no-deps`` is given and the ref is
2087 fully qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) or one or the other of its
2088 values was removed from the instruction sheet in interactive mode. In
2089 list mode a tgish ref will always have both its ``refs/heads/`` and
2090 ``refs/top-bases/`` values included only when using the ``--deps`` or
2091 ``--rdeps`` options.
2093 The ``--tgish-only`` option excludes non-tgish refs (i.e. refs that do
2094 not have a ``refs/heads/<name>``, ``refs/top-bases/<name>`` pair).
2096 The ``--exclude`` option (which can be repeated) excludes specific
2097 refs. If the name given to ``--exclude`` is not fully-qualified (i.e.
2098 starts with ``refs/``) then it will exclude both members of a tgish ref
2101 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option may be used in revert mode to
2102 suppress non-dry-run ref change status messages.
2104 The special tag name ``--stash`` (as well as with ``@{n}`` suffixes)
2105 can be used to refer to ``refs/tgstash``.
2107 The ``tg revert`` command supports tags of tags that contains TopGit
2108 refs. So, for example, if you do this::
2111 git tag -f -a -m "tag the tag" newtag newtag
2113 Then ``newtag`` will be a tag of a tag containing a ``TOPGIT REFS``
2114 section. ``tg revert`` knows how to dereference the outermost
2115 tag to get to the next (and the next etc.) tag to find the
2116 ``TOPGIT REFS`` section so after the above sequence, the tag ``newtag``
2117 can still be used successfully with ``tg revert``.
2119 NOTE: If HEAD points to a ref that is updated by a revert operation
2120 then NO WARNING whatsoever will be issued, but the index and working
2121 tree will always be left completely untouched (and the reflog for
2122 the pointed-to ref can always be used to find the previous value).
2126 Enter extended `wayback machine`_ mode.
2128 The global ``-w <tgtag>`` option must be specified (but as a special
2129 case for the ``shell`` subcommand a <tgtag> destination of ``:`` may be
2130 used to get a shell with no wayback ref changes).
2132 The "<tgtag>" value must be the name of a tag created by (or known to)
2133 `tg tag`_. However, it may also have a ``:`` prefixed to it to
2134 indicate that it should prune (making it into a "pruning wayback tag").
2135 Use of a "pruning wayback tag" results in a repository that contains
2136 exclusively those refs listed in the specified tag. Otherwise the
2137 wayback repository will just revert those refs while keeping the others
2138 untouched (the default behavior).
2140 The `wayback machine`_ activates as normal for the specified
2141 destination but then a new ``${SHELL:-/bin/sh}`` is spawned in a
2142 temporary non-bare repository directory that shares all the same
2143 objects from the repository but has its own copy of the ref namespace
2144 where the refs specified in the wayback destination have all been
2145 changed to have their wayback values.
2147 If any arguments are given a POSIX shell will be spawned instead
2148 concatenating all the arguments together with a space and passing
2149 them to it via a ``-c`` option. If ``-q`` (or ``--quote``) is given
2150 then each argument will first be separately "quoted" to protect it from
2151 the shell allowing something like this::
2153 tg -w <tgtag> shell -q git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)"
2155 to work without needing to manually add the extra level of quoting that
2156 would otherwise be required due to the parentheses.
2158 Most of the repository configuration will be inherited, but some
2159 will be overridden for safety and for convenience. All "gc" activity
2160 within the wayback repository will be suppressed to avoid accidents
2161 (i.e. no auto gc will run and "gc" commands will complain and not run).
2163 Override and/or bypass this safety protection at your own peril!
2164 Especially *do not run* the ``git prune`` plumbing command in the
2165 wayback repository! If you do so (or bypass any of the other safeties)
2166 be prepared for corruption and loss of data in the repository.
2167 Just *don't do that* in the first place!
2169 Using ``git wayback-tag`` will show the tag used to enter the wayback
2170 machine. Using ``git wayback-updates`` will show ref changes that have
2171 occurred since the wayback tag was created (it will not show refs that
2172 have since been created unless a pruning wayback tag was used).
2173 Finally, ``git wayback-repository`` will show the home repository but
2174 so will ``git remote -v`` in the output displayed for the ``wayback``
2177 The special ``wayback`` remote refers to the original repository and
2178 can be used to push ref changes back to it. Note, however, that all
2179 default push refspecs are disabled for safety and an explicit refspec
2180 will need to be used to do so.
2182 Unlike the normal `wayback machine`_ mode, ``HEAD`` will be detached
2183 to a new commit with an empty tree that contains the message and author
2184 from the wayback tag used. This prevents ugly status displays while
2185 avoiding the need to checkout any files into the temporary working
2186 tree. The parent of this commit will, however, be set to the wayback
2187 tag's commit making it easy to access if desired.
2189 Also unlike the normal `wayback machine`_ mode, there are no
2190 limitations on what can be done in the temporary repository.
2191 And since it will be non-bare and writable, commands that may not have
2192 been allowed in the original repository will work too.
2194 When the shell spawned by this subcommand exits, the temporary wayback
2195 repository and all newly created objects and ref changes made in it, if
2196 any, *will be lost*. If work has been done in it that needs to be
2197 saved, it must be pushed somewhere (even if only back to the original
2198 repository using the special ``wayback`` remote).
2200 Lastly there's the ``--directory`` option. If the ``--directory``
2201 option is used the temporary "wayback repository" will be created at
2202 the specified location (which must either not exist or must be an empty
2203 directory -- no force option available this time as too many things
2204 could easily go wrong in that case). If the ``--directory`` option is
2205 used then the "wayback repository" *will persist* after ``tg shell``
2206 completes allowing it to continue to be used! Be warned though, all
2207 the same warnings that apply to ``git clone --shared`` apply to such
2208 a repository. If it's created using a ``tgstash`` tag those warnings
2209 are especially salient. Use a single argument of either ``:`` (to
2210 just create with no output) or ``pwd`` (to show the full absolute path
2211 to the new "wayback repository") when using the ``--directory`` option
2212 if the sole purpose is just to create the wayback repository for use.
2213 Note that the ``--directory`` option *must* be listed as the first
2214 option after the ``shell`` subcommand name if used.
2218 Output the "previous" branch(es) in the patch series containing the
2219 current or named branch. The "previous" branch(es) being one step
2223 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
2224 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
2225 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "previous" steps (default 1)
2226 --all take as many "previous" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
2227 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
2229 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
2231 To list all dependencies of a branch see the ``--deps`` option of
2232 the `tg info`_ command.
2234 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "previous" steps.
2238 Output tne "next" branch(es) in the patch series containing the current
2239 or named branch. The "next" branch(es) being one step away by default.
2242 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
2243 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
2244 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "next" steps (default 1)
2245 --all take as many "next" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
2246 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
2248 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
2250 To list all dependents of a branch see the ``--dependents`` option of
2251 the `tg info`_ command.
2253 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "next" steps.
2257 Transition top-bases from old location to new location.
2259 Beginning with TopGit release 0.19.4, TopGit has the ability to store
2260 the top-bases refs in either the old ``ref/top-bases/...`` location or
2261 the new ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/...`` location. Starting with TopGit
2262 release 0.20.0, the default is the new location.
2264 By storing the top-bases under heads, Git is less likely to complain
2265 when manipulating them, hosting providers are more likely to provide
2266 access to them and Git prevents them from pointing at anything other
2267 than a commit object. All in all a win for everyone.
2269 TopGit attempts to automatically detect whether the new or old location
2270 is being used for the top-bases and just do the right thing. However,
2271 by explicitly setting the config value ``topgit.top-bases`` to either
2272 ``refs`` for the old location or ``heads`` for the new location the
2273 auto-detection can be bypassed. If no top-bases refs are present in
2274 the repository the default prior to TopGit release 0.20.0 is to use the
2275 old location but starting with TopGit release 0.20.0 the default is to
2276 use the new location.
2278 The ``tg migrate-bases`` command may be used to migrate top-bases refs
2279 from the old location to the new location (or, by using the
2280 undocumented ``--reverse`` option, vice versa).
2282 With few exceptions (``tg create -r`` and ``tg revert``), all top-bases
2283 refs (both local *and* remote refs) are expected to be stored in the
2284 same location (either new or old). A repository's current location for
2285 storing top-bases refs may be shown with the ``tg --top-bases`` command.
2293 TopGit stores all the topic branches in the regular ``refs/heads/``
2294 namespace (so we recommend distinguishing them with the ``t/`` prefix).
2295 Apart from that, TopGit also maintains a set of auxiliary refs in
2296 ``refs/top-*``. Currently, only ``refs/top-bases/`` is used, containing the
2297 current *base* of the given topic branch -- this is basically a merge of
2298 all the branches the topic branch depends on; it is updated during ``tg
2299 update`` and then merged to the topic branch, and it is the base of a
2300 patch generated from the topic branch by ``tg patch``.
2302 All the metadata is tracked within the source tree and history of the
2303 topic branch itself, in ``.top*`` files; these files are kept isolated
2304 within the topic branches during TopGit-controlled merges and are of
2305 course omitted during ``tg patch``. The state of these files in base
2306 commits is undefined; look at them only in the topic branches
2307 themselves. Currently, two files are defined:
2310 Contains the description of the topic branch in a
2311 mail-like format, plus the author information, whatever
2312 Cc headers you choose or the post-three-dashes message.
2313 When mailing out your patch, basically only a few extra
2314 mail headers are inserted and then the patch itself is
2315 appended. Thus, as your patches evolve, you can record
2316 nuances like whether the particular patch should have
2317 To-list / Cc-maintainer or vice-versa and similar
2318 nuances, if your project is into that. ``From`` is
2319 prefilled from your current ``GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT``; other
2320 headers can be prefilled from various optional
2321 ``topgit.*`` git config options.
2324 Contains the one-per-line list of branches this branch
2325 depends on, pre-seeded by ``tg create``. A (continuously
2326 updated) merge of these branches will be the *base* of
2329 IMPORTANT: DO NOT EDIT ``.topdeps`` MANUALLY!!! If you do so, you need to
2330 know exactly what you are doing, since this file must stay in sync with
2331 the Git history information, otherwise very bad things will happen.
2333 TopGit also automagically installs a bunch of custom commit-related
2334 hooks that will verify whether you are committing the ``.top*`` files in a
2335 sane state. It will add the hooks to separate files within the ``hooks/``
2336 subdirectory, and merely insert calls to them to the appropriate hooks
2337 and make them executable (but will make sure the original hook's code is
2338 not called if the hook was not executable beforehand).
2340 Another automagically installed piece is a ``.git/info/attributes``
2341 specifier for an ``ours`` merge strategy for the files ``.topmsg`` and
2342 ``.topdeps``, and the (intuitive) ``ours`` merge strategy definition in
2349 There are two remaining issues with accessing topic branches in remote
2352 (i) Referring to remote topic branches from your local repository
2353 (ii) Developing some of the remote topic branches locally
2355 There are two somewhat contradictory design considerations here:
2357 (a) Hacking on multiple independent TopGit remotes in a single
2359 (b) Having a self-contained topic system in local refs space
2361 To us, (a) does not appear to be very convincing, while (b) is quite
2362 desirable for ``git-log topic`` etc. working, and increased conceptual
2365 Thus, we choose to instantiate all the topic branches of given remote
2366 locally; this is performed by ``tg remote --populate``. ``tg update``
2367 will also check if a branch can be updated from its corresponding remote
2368 branch. The logic needs to be somewhat involved if we are to "do the
2369 right thing". First, we update the base, handling the remote branch as
2370 if it was the first dependency; thus, conflict resolutions made in the
2371 remote branch will be carried over to our local base automagically.
2372 Then, the base is merged into the remote branch and the result is merged
2373 to the local branch -- again, to carry over remote conflict resolutions.
2374 In the future, this order might be adjustable on a per-update basis, in
2375 case local changes happen to be diverging more than the remote ones.
2376 (See the details in `The Update Process`_ for more in depth coverage.)
2378 All commands by default refer to the remote that ``tg remote --populate``
2379 was called on the last time (stored in the ``topgit.remote`` git
2380 configuration variable). You can manually run any command with a
2381 different base remote by passing ``-r REMOTE`` *before* the subcommand
2382 name or passing ``-u`` *before* the subcommand to run without one.
2388 Running the TopGit test suite only requires POSIX compatibile utilities (just
2389 a POSIX compatibile ``make`` will do) AND a ``perl`` binary.
2391 It is *not* necessary to install TopGit in order to run the TopGit test suite.
2393 To run the TopGit test suite, simply execute this from the top-level of a
2394 TopGit checkout or expanded release tarball:
2400 Yup, that's it. But you're probably thinking, "Why have a whole section just
2401 to say 'run make test'?" Am I right?
2403 The simple ``make test`` command produces a lot of output and while it is
2404 summarized at the end there's a better way.
2406 Do you have the ``prove`` utility available? You need ``perl`` to run the
2407 tests and ``prove`` comes with ``perl`` so you almost cerainly do.
2409 Try running the tests like so:
2413 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove test
2416 (For reference, the default value of ``DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET`` is ``test`` which
2417 can be used to override a setting that's been altered using the instructions
2418 shown later on below.)
2420 If that works (you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``), try this next:
2424 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS="-j 4 --timer" test
2426 If that one works (again, you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``) that may end
2427 up being the keeper for running the tests.
2429 However, if you don't have ``prove`` for some reason even though you do have
2430 ``perl``, there's still an alternative for briefer output. Try this:
2434 make TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2436 Much of the normal testing output will be suppressed and there's still a
2437 summary at the end. If you're stuck with this version but your make supports
2438 parallel operation (the ``-j`` *<n>*) option, then you might try this:
2442 make -j 4 TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2444 If your make *does* support the parallel ``-j`` option but still seems to be
2445 only running one test at a time try it like this instead:
2449 make TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS="-j 4" TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2451 The difference is that ``make -j 4`` relies on make to properly pass down the
2452 parallel job option all the way down to the sub-make that runs the individual
2453 tests when not using prove. Putting the options in ``TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS``
2454 passes them directly to that (and only that) particular invocation of make.
2456 The final bit of advice for running the tests is that any of those ``make``
2457 variable settings can be enabled by default in a top-level ``config.mak`` file.
2459 For example, to make the ``prove -j 4 --timer`` (my personal favorite) the
2460 default when running the tests, add these lines (creating the file if it does
2461 not already exist) to the ``config.mak`` file located in the top-level of the
2462 TopGit checkout (or expanded release tarball):
2467 # comments are allowed (if preceded by '#')
2468 # so are blank lines
2470 DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET = prove
2471 TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS = -j 4 --timer
2472 #TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS = --color # force colorized test output
2474 Now simply doing ``make test`` will use those options by default.
2476 There is copious documentation on the testing library and other options in
2477 the various ``README`` files located in the ``t`` subdirectory. The
2478 ``Makefile.mak`` file in the ``t`` subdirectory contains plenty of comments
2479 about possible makefile variable settings as well.
2486 A familiarity with the terms in the GLOSSARY_ is helpful for understanding the
2487 content of this section. See also the IMPLEMENTATION_ section.
2492 When a branch is "updated" using the ``tg update`` command the following steps
2495 1) The branch and all of its dependencies (and theirs recursively)
2496 are checked to see which ones are *out-of-date*. See glossary_.
2498 2) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2499 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) which is out of date is updated
2500 before proceeding (yup, this is a recursive process).
2502 3) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2503 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) that was updated in the previous
2504 step is now merged into the branch's corresponding base. If a
2505 remote is involved, and the branch's corresponding base does NOT
2506 contain the remote branch's corresponding base that remote base is
2507 also merged into the branch's base at this time as well (it will be
2508 the first item merged into the branch's base).
2510 4) If the branch has a corresponding remote branch and the branch
2511 does not already contain it, the branch's base (which was possibly
2512 already updated in step (3) to contain the remote branch's base but
2513 not the remote branch itself) is merged into the remote branch on a
2514 detached HEAD. Yup, this step can be a bit confusing and no, the
2515 updated base from step (3) has not yet been merged into the branch
2516 itself yet either. If there is no remote branch this step does not
2517 apply. Using a detached HEAD allows the contents of the base to be
2518 merged into the remote branch without actually perturbing the base's
2519 or remote branch's refs.
2521 5) If there is a remote branch present then use the result of step (4)
2522 otherwise use the branch's base and merge that into the branch
2525 That's it! Simple, right? ;)
2527 Unless the auto stash option has been disabled (see `no undo`_, `tg update`_
2528 and `tg tag`_), a copy of all the old refs values will be stashed away
2529 immediately after step (1) before starting step (2), but only if anything is
2530 actually found to be out-of-date.
2535 The ``tg update`` command regularly performs merges while executing an update
2536 operation. In order to speed things up, it attempts to do in-index merges
2537 where possible. It accomplishes this by using a separate, temporary index
2538 file and the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command possibly assisted by
2539 the ``git merge-index`` and ``git merge-file`` commands. This combination may
2540 be repeated more than once to perform an octopus in-index merge. If this
2541 fails, the files are checked out and a normal ``git merge`` three-way merge is
2542 performed (possibly multiple times). If the normal ``git merge`` fails then
2543 user intervention is required to resolve the merge conflict(s) and continue.
2545 Since the ``tg annihilate``, ``tg create`` and ``tg depend add`` commands may
2546 end up running the ``tg update`` machinery behind the scenes to complete their
2547 operation they may also result in any of these merge strategies being used.
2549 In addition to the normal Git merge strategies (if the in-index merging fails),
2550 there are four possible TopGit merge strategies that may be shown. Since they
2551 all involve use of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command they are all
2552 variations of a "trivial aggressive" merge. The "trivial" part because all of
2553 the merges done by ``git read-tree -m`` are described as "trivial" and the
2554 "aggressive" part because the ``--aggressive`` option is always used.
2556 1) "trivial aggressive"
2557 Only two heads were involved and all merging was completed by
2558 the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command.
2560 2) "trivial aggressive automatic"
2561 Only two heads were involved but after the
2562 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command completed there were
2563 still unresolved items and ``git merge-index`` had to be run
2564 (using the ``tg index-merge-one-file`` driver) which ultimately
2565 ran ``git merge-file`` at least once to perform a simple
2566 automatic three-way merge. Hence the "automatic" description
2567 and the "Auto-merging ..." output line(s).
2569 3) "trivial aggressive octopus"
2570 This is the same as a "trivial aggressive" merge except that
2571 more than two heads were involved and after merging the first
2572 two heads, the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` step was
2573 repeated again on the result for each additional head. All
2574 merging was completed via multiple
2575 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` commands only.
2576 This beast is relatively rare in the wild.
2578 4) "trivial aggressive automatic octopus"
2579 This is very similar to the "trivial aggressive octopus"
2580 except that at least one of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive``
2581 commands left unresolved items that were handled the same way
2582 as the "trivial aggressive automatic" strategy. This species
2583 is commonly seen in the wild.
2590 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2591 TopGit branch that contains the patch header for a TopGit
2592 branch. See also IMPLEMENTATION_.
2595 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2596 TopGit branch that lists the branch's dependencies one per
2597 line omitting the leading ``refs/heads/`` part. See also
2601 Given two Git commit identifiers (e.g. hashes) C1 and C2,
2602 commit C1 "contains" commit C2 if either they are the same
2603 commit or C2 can be reached from C1 by following one or more
2604 parent links from C1 (perhaps via one or more intermediate
2605 commits along the way). In other words, if C1 contains C2
2606 then C2 is an ancestor of C1 or conversely C1 is a descendant
2607 of C2. Since a TopGit branch name is also the name of a Git
2608 branch (something located under the ``refs/heads`` Git
2609 namespace) and similarly for a TopGit base, they can both be
2610 resolved to a Git commit identifier and then participate in
2611 a branch containment test. An easy mnemonic for this is
2612 "children contain the genes of their parents."
2615 A Basic Regular Expression (BRE) pattern. These are older
2616 style regular expressions but have the advantage that all
2617 characters other than ``\``, ``.``, ``*`` and ``[``
2618 automatically match themselves without need for backslash
2619 quoting (well actually, ``^`` and ``$`` are special at the
2620 beginning and end respectively but otherwise match themselves).
2623 See branch containment.
2626 An Extended Regular Expression (ERE) pattern. These are newer
2627 style regular expressions where all the regular expression
2628 "operator" characters "operate" when NOT preceded by a
2629 backslash and are turned into normal characters with a ``\``.
2630 The backreference atom, however, may not work, but ``?``, ``+``
2631 and ``|`` "operators" do; unlike BREs.
2634 Excellent system for managing a history of changes to one
2635 or more possibly interrelated patches.
2638 A Git branch that has an associated TopGit base. Conceptually
2639 it represents a single patch that is the difference between
2640 the associated TopGit base and the TopGit branch. In other
2641 words ``git diff-tree <TopGit base> <TopGit branch>`` except
2642 that any ``.topdeps`` and/or ``.topmsg`` files are excluded
2643 from the result and the contents of the ``.topmsg`` file from
2644 the TopGit branch is prefixed to the result.
2647 A Git branch whose tree does NOT contain any ``.topdeps`` or
2648 ``.topmsg`` entries at the top-level of the tree. It *does*
2649 always have an associated "TopGit base" ref (otherwise it would
2650 not be a "TopGit" branch). See also `BARE BRANCHES`_.
2653 In TopGit context, "bare branch" almost always refers to a
2654 "TopGit bare branch" and should be understood to mean such even
2655 if the leading "TopGit" has been left off.
2658 A Git branch that records the base upon which a TopGit branch's
2659 single conceptual "patch" is built. The name of the Git branch
2660 is derived from the TopGit branch name by stripping off the
2661 leading ``refs/heads/`` and appending the correct prefix where
2662 all TopGit bases are stored (typically either
2663 ``refs/top-bases/`` or ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/`` -- the
2664 prefix for any given repository can be shown by using the
2665 ``tg --top-bases`` command and updated using the
2666 ``tg migrate-bases`` command).
2668 All of a TopGit branch's dependencies are merged into the
2669 corresponding TopGit base during a ``tg update`` of a branch.
2674 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branch
2675 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[PATCH]``. By
2676 convention these TopGit branches contain a single patch
2677 (equivalent to a single patch file) and have at least one
2678 dependency (i.e. their ``.topdeps`` files are never empty).
2680 TopGit ``[BASE]`` branch
2681 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[BASE]``. By
2682 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain
2683 any changes and their ``.topdeps`` files are empty. They
2684 are used to control a base dependency that another set of
2685 branches depends on. Sometimes these are named ``[RELEASE]``
2686 instead because the base dependency they represent is actually
2687 the formal release of something.
2689 TopGit ``[STAGE]`` branch
2690 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[STAGE]``. By
2691 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain any
2692 changes of their own but do have one or (typically) more
2693 dependencies in their ``.topdeps`` file. These branches are
2694 used to bring together one or (typically) more independent
2695 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branches into a single branch so that
2696 testing and/or evaluation can be performed on the result.
2699 When merging two (or more) heads that touch the same lines in
2700 the file but in different ways the result is a merge conflict
2701 that requires manual intervention. If a merge conflict occurs
2702 with more than two heads (an octopus merge) it's generally
2703 replaced by multiple three-way merges so that by the time a
2704 user sees a merge conflict needing manual resolution, there
2705 will be only two heads involved.
2708 A Git merge strategy (see the "MERGE STRATEGIES" section of
2709 ``git help merge``) or one of the TopGit `merge strategies`_
2710 used to merge two or more heads.
2712 TopGit merge strategy
2713 See the `Merge Strategies`_ section above for details but
2714 basically these are just in-index merges done using the
2715 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command one or more times
2716 possibily assisted by the ``git merge-index`` and the
2717 ``git merge-file`` commands.
2720 In TopGit context the "next" branch refers to the branch that
2721 corresponds to the next (aka following) patch in an ordered
2722 (aka linearized) list of patches created by exporting the
2723 TopGit branches in patch application order.
2726 A merge involving more than two heads. Note that if there are
2727 less than three independent heads the resulting merge that
2728 started out as an octopus will end up not actually being an
2732 A TopGit branch is considered to be "out-of-date" when ANY of
2733 the following are true:
2735 a) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2738 b) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2739 corresponding remote branch (there may not be
2740 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2742 c) The TopGit branch's base does NOT contain its
2743 corresponding remote branch's base (there may not be
2744 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2746 d) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2747 ``.topdeps`` file are NOT contained by the branch.
2748 (See "branch containment" above.)
2750 e) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2751 ``.topdeps`` file are out-of-date.
2753 Note that if a remote branch is present and is NOT out-of-date
2754 then it will contain its own base and (c) is mostly redundant.
2757 In TopGit context the "previous" (or "prev") branch refers to
2758 the branch that corresponds to the previous (aka preceding)
2759 patch in an ordered (aka linearized) list of patches created by
2760 exporting the TopGit branches in patch application order.
2762 remote TopGit branch
2763 A Git branch with the same branch name as a TopGit branch
2764 but living under ``refs/remotes/<some remote>/`` instead
2765 of just ``refs/heads/``.
2768 The TopGit base branch corresponding to a remote TopGit branch,
2769 which lives under ``refs/remotes/`` somewhere (depending on
2770 what the output of ``tg --top-bases`` is for that remote).
2773 A three-way merge takes a common base and two heads (call them
2774 A and B) and creates a new file that is the common base plus
2775 all of the changes made between the common base and head A
2776 *AND* all of the changes made between the common base and
2777 head B. The technique used to accomplish this is called a
2784 The following references are useful to understand the development of
2785 topgit and its subcommands.
2788 http://public-inbox.org/git/36ca99e90904091034m4d4d31dct78acb333612e678@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
2791 THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE
2792 --------------------
2794 The following software understands TopGit branches:
2796 * `magit <http://magit.github.io/>`_ -- a git mode for emacs
2798 IMPORTANT: Magit requires its topgit mode to be enabled first, as
2799 described in its documentation, in the "Activating extensions"
2800 subsection. If this is not done, it will not push TopGit branches
2801 correctly, so it's important to enable it even if you plan to mostly use
2802 TopGit from the command line.