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 :GLOSSARY_: All the TopGit vocabulary in one place
27 :TECHNICAL_: How it works behind the scenes
28 :`TESTING TOPGIT`_: How to run the TopGit test suite
34 TopGit is a collection of POSIX shell scripts so a POSIX-compliant shell is
35 required along with some standard POSIX-compliant utilities (e.g. sed, awk,
36 cat, etc.). Git version 1.8.5 or later is also required.
38 To use TopGit with linked working trees (the ``git worktree add`` command),
39 at least Git version 2.5.0 (obviously, since that's when the ``git worktree``
40 command first appeared) is needed in which case linked working trees are then
41 fully supported for use with TopGit.
43 The scripts need to be preprocessed and installed. The Makefile that does
44 this only requires a POSIX make utility (using "``make``" and "``make install``").
45 Running the tests (see `TESTING TOPGIT`_) also requires only a POSIX make
46 utility ("``make test``") but does require a ``perl`` binary to be available.
48 It is possible to use the DESTDIR functionality to install TopGit to a
49 staging area on one machine, archive that and then unarchive it on another
50 machine to perform an install (provided the build prefix and other options are
51 compatible with the final installed location).
57 See the file ``INSTALL``.
63 The TopGit git repository can be found at <http://repo.or.cz/topgit/pro>.
69 Why not use something like StGIT or Guilt or ``rebase -i`` for maintaining
70 your patch queue? The advantage of these tools is their simplicity;
71 they work with patch *series* and defer to the reflog facility for
72 version control of patches (reordering of patches is not
73 version-controlled at all). But there are several disadvantages -- for
74 one, these tools (especially StGIT) do not actually fit well with plain
75 Git at all: it is basically impossible to take advantage of the index
76 effectively when using StGIT. But more importantly, these tools
77 horribly fail in the face of a distributed environment.
79 TopGit has been designed around three main tenets:
81 (i) TopGit is as thin a layer on top of Git as possible. You
82 still maintain your index and commit using Git; TopGit will only
83 automate a few indispensable tasks.
85 (ii) TopGit is anxious about *keeping* your history. It will
86 never rewrite your history, and all metadata is also tracked
87 by Git, smoothly and non-obnoxiously. It is good to have a
88 *single* point when the history is cleaned up, and that is at
89 the point of inclusion in the upstream project; locally, you
90 can see how your patch has evolved and easily return to older
93 (iii) TopGit is specifically designed to work in a
94 distributed environment. You can have several instances of
95 TopGit-aware repositories and smoothly keep them all
96 up-to-date and transfer your changes between them.
98 As mentioned above, the main intended use-case for TopGit is tracking
99 third-party patches, where each patch is effectively a single topic
100 branch. In order to flexibly accommodate even complex scenarios when
101 you track many patches where many are independent but some depend on
102 others, TopGit ignores the ancient Quilt heritage of patch series and
103 instead allows the patches to freely form graphs (DAGs just like Git
104 history itself, only "one level higher"). For now, you have to manually
105 specify which patches the current one depends on, but TopGit might help
106 you with that in the future in a darcs-like fashion.
108 A glossary_ plug: The union (i.e. merge) of patch dependencies is called
109 a *base* of the patch (topic branch).
111 Of course, TopGit is perhaps not the right tool for you:
113 (i) TopGit is not complicated, but StGIT et al. are somewhat
114 simpler, conceptually. If you just want to make a linear
115 purely-local patch queue, deferring to StGIT instead might
118 (ii) When using TopGit, your history can get a little hairy
119 over time, especially with all the merges rippling through.
128 ## Create and evolve a topic branch
129 $ tg create t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
130 tg: Automatically marking dependency on master
131 tg: Creating t/gitweb/pathinfo-action base from master...
137 ## Create another topic branch on top of the former one
138 $ tg create t/gitweb/nifty-links
139 tg: Automatically marking dependency on t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
140 tg: Creating t/gitweb/nifty-links base from t/gitweb/pathinfo-action...
144 ## Create another topic branch on top of master and submit
145 ## the resulting patch upstream
146 $ tg create t/revlist/author-fixed master
147 tg: Creating t/revlist/author-fixed base from master...
151 tg: Sent t/revlist/author-fixed
153 To: git@vger.kernel.org
154 Cc: gitster@pobox.com
155 Subject: [PATCH] Fix broken revlist --author when --fixed-string
157 ## Create another topic branch depending on two others non-trivially
158 $ tg create t/whatever t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
159 tg: Creating t/whatever base from t/revlist/author-fixed...
160 tg: Merging t/whatever base with t/gitweb/nifty-links...
162 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call: tg update --continue
163 tg: It is also safe to abort this operation using `git reset --hard`
164 tg: but please remember you are on the base branch now;
165 tg: you will want to switch to a different branch.
168 $ tg update --continue
172 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes to
174 $ git checkout t/gitweb/nifty-links
177 $ git checkout t/whatever
179 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1 commit)
180 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
182 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
184 t/gitweb/nifty-links (1 commit)
186 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
188 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
189 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
192 $ tg update --continue
193 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
195 tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
196 tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
199 $ tg update --continue
201 ## Update a single topic branch and propagate the changes
202 ## further through the dependency chain
203 $ git checkout t/gitweb/pathinfo-action
206 $ git checkout t/whatever
208 Topic Branch: t/whatever (1/2 commits)
209 Subject: [PATCH] Whatever patch
211 Depends: t/revlist/author-fixed t/gitweb/nifty-links
213 t/gitweb/pathinfo-action (<= t/gitweb/nifty-links) (1 commit)
215 tg: Recursing to t/gitweb/nifty-links...
216 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/pathinfo-action changes...
218 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Please commit merge resolution and call `tg update --continue`
219 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: (use `tg status` to see more options)
222 $ tg update --continue
223 [t/gitweb/nifty-links] tg: Updating t/gitweb/nifty-links against new base...
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 tg: Updating base with t/gitweb/nifty-links changes...
231 tg: Updating t/whatever against new base...
233 ## Clone a TopGit-controlled repository
236 $ tg remote --populate origin
241 ## Add a TopGit remote to a repository and push to it
242 $ git remote add foo URL
246 ## Update from a non-default TopGit remote
255 When using TopGit there are several common conventions used when working with
256 TopGit branches. None of them are enforced, they are only suggestions.
258 There are three typical uses for a TopGit branch:
261 Normal TopGit branches that represent a single patch. These are known
262 as "patch" TopGit branches.
264 Empty TopGit branches with no dependencies (an empty ``.topdeps`` file)
265 that represent a base upon which other "normal" TopGit branches depend.
266 These are known as "base" TopGit branches (not to be confused with
267 the refs/top-bases/... refs).
269 Empty TopGit branches that serve as a staging area to bring together
270 several other TopGit branches into one place so they can be used/tested
271 all together. These are known as "stage" TopGit branches.
273 An "empty" TopGit branch is one that does not have any changes of its own --
274 it may still have dependencies though ("stage" branches do, "base" branches do
275 not). The ``tg summary`` output shows empty branches with a ``0`` in the
276 listing. Normal "patch" branches that have not been annihilated, "base" and
277 "stage" branches fall into this category. (Annihilated branches are normally
278 omitted from the ``tg summary`` output but can be shown if given explicitly as
279 an argument to the ``tg summary`` command. However, the message line will be
280 incorrect since an annihilated branch has no ``.topmsg`` file of its own.)
282 A "patch" branch name typically starts with ``t/`` whereas "base" and "stage"
283 branch names often do not.
285 A "base" branch is created by using the ``--base`` option of ``tg create``
286 (aka ``--no-deps``) which will automatically suggest a "[BASE]" message prefix
287 rather than "[PATCH]". A "stage" branch is created like a normal patch branch
288 except that the only changes that will ever be made to it are typically to
289 add/remove dependencies. Its subject prefix must be manually changed to
290 "[STAGE]" to reflect its purpose.
292 Since both "base" and "stage" branches typically only have a use for the
293 "Subject:" line from their ``.topmsg`` file, they are quite easily created
294 using the ``--topmsg`` option of ``tg create``.
296 Use of "stage" and "base" branches is completely optional. However, without
297 use of a "stage" branch it will be difficult to test multiple independent
298 patches together all at once. A "base" branch is merely a convenience that
299 provides more explicit control over when a common base for a set of patches
300 gets updated as well as providing a branch that shows in ``tg summary`` output
301 and participates in ``tg remote --populate`` setup.
303 Another advantage to using a "stage" branch is that if a new "patch" branch
304 is created remotely and that new branch is added to a pre-existing "stage"
305 branch on the remote then when the local version of the "stage" branch is
306 updated (after fetching remote updates of course), that new dependency will
307 be merged into the local "stage" branch and the local version of the new remote
308 "patch" branch will be automatically set up at "tg update" time.
310 When using the ``tg tag`` command to create tags that record the current state
311 of one or more TopGit branches, the tags are often created with a name that
314 One last thing, you have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
320 Beware, there is no "undo" after running a ``tg update``!
322 Well, that's not entirely correct. Since ``tg update`` never discards commits
323 an "undo" operation is technically feasible provided the old values of all the
324 refs that were affected by the ``tg update`` operation can be determined and
325 then they are simply changed back to their previous values.
327 In practice though, it can be extremely tedious and error prone looking through
328 log information to try and determine what the correct previous values were.
329 Although, since TopGit tries to make sure reflogs are enabled for top-bases
330 refs, using Git's ``@{date}`` notation on all the refs dumped out by a
331 ``tg tag --refs foo``, where "foo" is the branch that was updated whose update
332 needs to be undone, may work.
334 Alternatively, ``tg tag --stash`` can be used prior to the update and then
335 ``tg revert`` used after the update to restore the previous state. This
336 assumes, of course, that you remember to run ``tg tag --stash`` first.
338 The ``tg update`` command understands a ``--stash`` option that tells it to
339 automatically run ``tg tag --stash`` before it starts making changes (if
340 everything is up-to-date it won't run the stash command at all).
342 The ``--stash`` option is the default nowadays when running ``tg update``,
343 add the ``--no-stash`` option to turn it off.
345 There is a preference for this. Setting the config value ``topgit.autostash``
346 to ``false`` will implicitly add the ``--no-stash`` option to any ``tg update``
347 command unless an explicit ``--stash`` option is given.
349 If you are likely to ever want to undo a ``tg update``, setting
350 ``topgit.autostash`` to ``false`` is highly discouraged!
352 Note that the tags saved by ``tg tag --stash`` are stored in the
353 ``refs/tgstash`` ref and its reflog. Unfortunately, while Git is happy to
354 maintain the reflog (once it's been enabled which ``tg tag`` guarantees for
355 ``refs/tgstash``), Git is unable to view an annotated/signed tag's reflog!
356 Instead Git dereferences the tag and shows the wrong thing. Use the
357 ``tg tag -g`` command to view the ``refs/tgstash`` reflog instead.
363 TopGit supports various config settings:
365 :ALIASES_: ``topgit.alias.*`` for Git-like command aliases
366 :`tg update`_: ``topgit.autostash`` automatic stash control
367 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.bcc`` default "Bcc:" value for create
368 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.cc`` default "Cc:" value for create
369 :`tg patch`_: ``topgit.from`` "From:" fixups by ``tg patch``
370 :`REMOTE HANDLING`_: ``topgit.remote`` TopGit's default remote
371 :SEQUESTRATION_: ``topgit.sequester`` for sequestration control
372 :`tg update`_: ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` => ``rerere.autoUpdate``
373 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` "[$prefix PATCH] foo"
374 :`tg create`_: ``topgit.to`` default "To:" value for create
375 :`tg migrate-bases`_: ``topgit.top-bases`` for refs bases location
381 These work exactly like Git's aliases except they are stored under
382 ``topgit.alias.*`` instead. See the ``git help config`` output under
383 the ``alias.*`` section for details. Do note that while alias nesting is
384 explicitly permitted, a maximum nesting depth of 10 is enforced to help
385 detect accidental aliasing loops from wedging the machine.
387 For example, to create an ``lc`` alias for the ``tg log --compact`` command
388 this command may be used:
392 git config --global topgit.alias.lc "log --compact"
394 To make it specific to a particular repository just omit the ``--global``
395 option from the command.
400 From Previous to Next
401 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
403 For this section, consider the following patch series, to be applied
404 in numerical order as shown:
408 0001-F_first-patch.diff
409 0002-G_second-builds-on-F.diff
410 0003-H_third-builds-on-G.diff
411 0004-I_fourth-builds-on-H.diff
412 0005-J_fifth-builds-on-I.diff
413 0006-K_sixth-builds-on-J.diff
414 0007-L_last-patch-needs-K.diff
416 If these were applied to some commit in a Git repository, say commit "A"
417 then a history that looks like this would be created:
421 A---F---G---H---I---J---K---L
423 Where the parent of commit "F" is "A" and so on to where the parent of
424 commit "L" is commit "K".
426 If that commit history, from A through L, was then imported into TopGit, one
427 TopGit branch would be created corresponding to each of the commits F
428 through L. This way, for example, if the fourth patch in the series
429 (``0004-I_...diff``) needs work, the TopGit branch corresponding to its patch
430 can be checked out and changes made and then a new version of its patch
431 created (using ``tg patch``) without disturbing the other patches in the series
432 and when ``tg update`` is run, the patches that "follow" the fourth patch
433 (i.e. 5, 6 and 7) will have their corresponding TopGit branches automatically
434 updated to take into account the changes made to the fourth patch.
436 Okay, enough with the review of TopGit systemology
437 ``````````````````````````````````````````````````
439 Imagine then that you are working on the fourth patch (i.e. you have its
440 branch checked out into the working tree) and you want to move to the following
441 patch in the series because you have a nit to pick with it too.
443 If you can't remember the exact name you might have to fumble around or, you
444 can display the name of the following or "next" patch's branch with the, you
445 guessed it, ``tg next`` command. Think of "next" as the "next" logical patch
446 in the series or the next following patch. If the patches are numbered as in
447 the list above, "next" corresponds to the "+1" (plus one) patch.
449 You might have already guessed there's a corresponding ``tg prev`` command
450 which displays the "-1" (minus one) patch. If these commands (``tg next``
451 and ``tg prev``) are not given a branch name to start at they start at the
452 patch corresponding to the current ``HEAD``.
454 Displaying, however, is not so helpful as actually going there. That's where
455 the ``tg checkout`` command comes in. ``tg checkout next`` does a
456 ``git checkout`` of the ``tg next`` branch and, not surprisingly,
457 ``tg checkout prev`` does a ``git checkout`` of the ``tg prev`` branch. For
458 the lazy a single ``n`` or ``p`` can be used with ``tg checkout`` instead of
459 typing out the entire ``next`` or ``prev``. Or, for the anal, ``previous``
460 will also be accepted for ``prev``.
462 Referring to the A...L commit graph shown above, I is the parent of J and,
463 conversely, J is the child of I. (Git only explicitly records the child to
464 parent links, in other words a "child" points to zero or more "parents", but
465 parents are completely clueless about their own children.)
467 For historical reasons, the ``tg checkout`` command accepts ``child`` as a
468 synonym for ``next`` and ``parent`` as a synonym for ``prev``. However, this
469 terminology can be confusing since Git has "parent" links but ``tg checkout``
470 is referring to the TopGit DAG, not Git's. Best to just avoid using ``child``
471 or ``parent`` to talk about navigating the TopGit DAG and reserve them
472 strictly for discussing the Git DAG.
474 There may be more than one
475 ``````````````````````````
477 In a simple linear history as shown above there's always only one "next" or
478 "prev" patch. However, TopGit does not restrict one to only a linear
479 history (although that can make patch exports just a bushel of fun).
481 Suffice it to say that there is always a single linearized ordering for any
482 TopGit patch series since it's always a DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph), but it
483 may not be immediately obvious to the casual observer what that is.
485 The ``tg checkout`` command will display a list to choose from if ``next``
486 or ``prev`` would be ambiguous.
488 Use the ``tg info/checkout --series`` command
489 `````````````````````````````````````````````
491 To see the full, linearized, list of patches with their summary displayed in
492 order from first to last patch in the series, just run the ``tg info --series``
493 command. It takes the name of any patch in the series automatically using
494 ``HEAD`` if none is given. It even provides a nice "YOU ARE HERE" mark in
495 the output list helpful to those who have been absent for a time engaging in
496 otherwise distracting activities and need to be reminded where they are.
498 Using ``tg checkout --series`` can take you there (picking from a list) if
499 you've forgotten the way back to wherever you're supposed to be.
501 Don't get pushy, there's just one more thing
502 ````````````````````````````````````````````
504 For historical reasons, ``tg checkout`` with no arguments whatsoever behaves
505 like ``tg checkout next``. For the same historical reasons, ``tg checkout ..``
506 behaves like ``tg checkout prev`` (think of ``..`` as the "parent" directory
507 and since "parent" means "prev" in this context it will then make sense).
509 Now, for that one more thing. Consider that you have a pristine "upstream"
510 tarball, repository, source dump or otherwise obtained set of unmodified
511 source files that need to be patched. View them like so:
515 +-------------------------------+
516 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
517 | files represented with "A" |
518 +-------------------------------+
520 Now, add the first patch, 0001, to them and view the result like so:
524 +--------------------------+----+
525 | Patch 0001 represented by "F" |
526 +-------------------------------+
527 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
528 | files represented with "A" |
529 +-------------------------------+
531 Not stopping there, "push" patches 2, 3 and 4 onto the stack as well like so:
535 +--------------------------+----+
536 | Patch 0004 represented by "I" |
537 +--------------------------+----+
538 | Patch 0003 represented by "H" |
539 +--------------------------+----+
540 | Patch 0002 represented by "G" |
541 +--------------------------+----+
542 | Patch 0001 represented by "F" |
543 +-------------------------------+
544 | Unmodified "upstream" source |
545 | files represented with "A" |
546 +-------------------------------+
548 In other words, to go to the "next" patch in the series it needs to be "push"ed
549 onto the stack. ``tg checkout`` accepts ``push`` as an alias for ``next``.
551 Similarly to go to the "previous" patch in the series the current one needs
552 to be "pop"ped off the stack. ``tg checkout`` accepts ``pop`` as an alias
555 Unfortunately for these aliases, in Git terminology a "push" has quite a
556 different meaning and the ``tg push`` command does something quite different
557 from ``tg checkout push``. Then there's the matter of using a single letter
558 abbreviation for the lazy -- ``p`` would mean what exactly?
560 ``tg checkout`` continues to accept the ``push`` and ``pop`` aliases for
561 ``next`` and ``prev`` respectively, but it's best to avoid them since
562 ``push`` has an alternate meaning everywhere else in TopGit and Git and that
563 leaves ``pop`` all alone in the dark.
569 No, this is not a section about budget nonsense. ;)
571 TopGit keeps its metadata in ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files. In an effort
572 to facilitate cherry-picking and other Git activities on the patch changes
573 themselves while ignoring the TopGit metadata, TopGit attempts to keep all
574 changes to ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` files limited to commits that do NOT
575 contain changes to any other files.
577 This is a departure from previous TopGit versions that made no such effort.
579 Primarily this affects ``tg create`` and ``tg import`` (which makes use of
580 ``tg create``) as ``tg create`` will commit the initial versions of
581 ``.topdeps`` and ``.topmsg`` for a new TopGit-controlled branch in their own
582 commit instead of mixing them in with changes to other files.
584 The ``pre-commit`` hook will also attempt to separate out any ``.topdeps`` and
585 ``.topmsg`` changes from commits that include changes to other files.
587 It is possible to defeat these checks without much effort (``pre-commit`` hooks
588 can easily be bypassed, ``tg create`` has a ``--no-commit`` option, many Git
589 commands simply do not run the ``pre-commit`` hook, etc.).
591 If you really, really, really, really want to change the default back to the
592 old behavior of previous TopGit versions where no such sequestration took
593 place, then set the ``topgit.sequester`` config variable explicitly to the
594 value ``false``. But this is not recommended.
597 AMENDING AND REBASING AND UPDATE-REF'ING
598 ----------------------------------------
602 It is okay to manually update a top-bases/... ref when a) it has no depedencies
603 (i.e. it was created with the ``tg create`` ``--base`` option) and b) the
604 old top-bases/... ref value can be fast-forwarded to the new top-bases/...
605 value OR the new value contains ALL of the changes in the old value through
606 some other mechanism (perhaps they were cherry-picked or otherwise applied to
607 the new top-bases/... ref). The same rules apply to non-TopGit-controlled
608 dependencies. Use the ``tg update --base <branch> <new-ref>`` command to
609 safely make such an update while making it easy to set the merge commit
610 message at the same time.
612 Ignoring this rule and proceeding anyway with a non-fast-forward update to a
613 top-bases/... ref will result in changes present in the new value being merged
614 into the branch (at ``tg update`` time) as expected (possibly with conflicts),
615 but any changes that were contained in the old version of the top-bases/... ref
616 which have been dropped (i.e. are NOT contained in the new version of the
617 top-bases/... ref) will continue to be present in the branch! To get rid of
618 the dropped commits, one or more "revert" commits will have to be manually
619 applied to the tip of the new top-bases/... value (which will then be merged
620 into the branch at next ``tg update`` time).
622 The only time it's safe to amend, rebase, filter or otherwise rewrite commits
623 contained in a TopGit controlled branch or non-TopGit branch is when those
624 commits are NOT reachable via any other ref!
626 Furthermore, while it is safe to rewrite merge commits (provided they meet the
627 same conditions) the merge commits themselves and the branches they are merging
628 in must be preserved during the rewrite and that can be rather tricky to get
629 right so it's not recommended.
631 For example, if, while working on a TopGit-controlled branch ``foo``, a bad
632 typo is noticed, it's okay to ammend/rebase to fix that provided neither
633 ``tg update`` nor ``tg create`` has already been used to cause some other ref
634 to be able to reach the commit with the typo.
636 If an amend or rerwite is done anyway even though the commit with the typo is
637 reachable from some other ref, the typo won't really be removed. What will
638 happen instead is that the new version without the typo will ultimately be
639 merged into the other ref(s) (at ``tg update`` time) likely causing a conflict
640 that will have to be manually resolved and the commit with the typo will
641 continue to be reachable from those other refs!
643 Instead just make a new commit to fix the typo. The end result will end up
644 being the same but without the merge conflicts.
646 See also the discussion in the `NO UNDO`_ section.
652 TopGit needs to check many things to determine whether a TopGit branch is
653 up-to-date or not. This can involve a LOT of git commands for a complex
654 dependency tree. In order to speed things up, TopGit keeps a cache of results
655 in a ``tg-cache`` subdirectory in the ``.git`` directory.
657 Results are tagged with the original hash values used to get that result so
658 that items which have not been changed return their results quickly and items
659 which have been changed compute their new result and cache it for future use.
661 The ``.git/tg-cache`` directory may be removed at any time and the cache will
662 simply be recreated in an on-demand fashion as needed, at some speed penalty,
663 until it's fully rebuilt.
665 To force the cache to be fully pre-loaded, run the ``tg summary`` command
666 without any arguments. Otherwise, normal day-to-day TopGit operations should
667 keep it more-or-less up-to-date.
669 While each TopGit command is running, it uses a temporary subdirectory also
670 located in the ``.git`` directory. These directories are named
671 ``tg-tmp.XXXXXX`` where the ``XXXXXX`` part will be random letters and digits.
673 These temporary directories should always be removed automatically after each
674 TopGit command finishes running. As long as you are not in a subshell as a
675 result of a TopGit command stopping and waiting for a manual merge resolution,
676 it's safe to remove any of these directories that may have somehow accidentally
677 been left behind as a result of some failure that occurred while running a
678 TopGit command (provided, of course, it's not actually being used by a TopGit
679 command currently running in another terminal window or by another user on the
685 ``tg [global options] <subcommand> [<subcommand option/argument>...]``
689 ``[-C <dir>]... [-r <remote> | -u] [-c <name>=<val>]... [--no-pager]``
691 -C <dir> Change directory to <dir> before doing anything more
692 -r <remote> Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is set to <remote>
693 -u Pretend ``topgit.remote`` is not set
694 -c <name=val> Pass config option to git, may be repeated
695 --no-pager Disable use of any pager (by both TopGit and Git)
696 --top-bases Show full ``top-bases`` ref prefix and exit
697 --exec-path Show path to subcommand scripts location and exit
698 --help Show brief usage help and exit (aka ``-h``)
700 The ``tg`` tool has several subcommands:
702 :`tg annihilate`_: Mark a TopGit-controlled branch as defunct
703 :`tg base`_: Show base commit for one or more TopGit branches
704 :`tg checkout`_: Shortcut for git checkout with name matching
705 :`tg contains`_: Which TopGit-controlled branch contains the commit
706 :`tg create`_: Create a new TopGit-controlled branch
707 :`tg delete`_: Delete a TopGit-controlled branch cleanly
708 :`tg depend`_: Add a new dependency to a TopGit-controlled branch
709 :`tg export`_: Export TopGit branch patches to files or a branch
710 :`tg files`_: Show files changed by a TopGit branch
711 :`tg help`_: Show TopGit help optionally using a browser
712 :`tg import`_: Import commit(s) to separate TopGit branches
713 :`tg info`_: Show status information about a TopGit branch
714 :`tg log`_: Run git log limiting revisions to a TopGit branch
715 :`tg mail`_: Shortcut for git send-email with ``tg patch`` output
716 :`tg migrate-bases`_: Transition top-bases to new location
717 :`tg next`_: Show branches directly depending on a TopGit branch
718 :`tg patch`_: Generate a patch file for a TopGit branch
719 :`tg prev`_: Show non-annihilated TopGit dependencies for a branch
720 :`tg push`_: Run git push on TopGit branch(es) and depedencies
721 :`tg rebase`_: Auto continue git rebase if rerere resolves conflicts
722 :`tg remote`_: Set up remote for fetching/pushing TopGit branches
723 :`tg revert`_: Revert ref(s) to a state stored in a ``tg tag``
724 :`tg status`_: Show current TopGit status (e.g. in-progress update)
725 :`tg summary`_: Show various information about TopGit branches
726 :`tg tag`_: Create tag that records current TopGit branch state
727 :`tg update`_: Update TopGit branch(es) with respect to dependencies
731 Our sophisticated integrated help facility. Mostly duplicates
736 # to get help for a particular command:
738 # to get help for a particular command in a browser window:
739 $ tg help -w <command>
740 # to get help on TopGit itself
742 # to get help on TopGit itself in a browser
747 Our sophisticated status facility. Similar to Git's status command
748 but shows any in-progress update that's awaiting a merge resolution
749 or any other on-going TopGit activity (such as a branch creation).
751 With a single ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) option include a short status
752 display for any dirty (but not untracked) files. This also causes all
753 non file status lines to be prefixed with "## ".
755 With two (or more) ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) options, additionally
756 show full symbolic ref names and unabbreviated hash values.
758 With the ``--exit-code`` option the exit code will be non-zero if any
759 TopGit or Git operation is currently in progress or the working
764 Create a new TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
765 (required argument) and switch to it. If no dependencies are
766 specified (by extra arguments passed after the first one), the
767 current branch is assumed to be the only dependency.
769 By default ``tg create`` opens an editor on the new ``.topmsg`` file
770 and then commits the new ``.topmsg`` and ``.topdeps`` files
771 automatically with a suitable default commit message.
773 The commit message can be changed with the ``-m`` (or ``--message``) or
774 ``-F`` (or ``--file``) option. The automatic commit can be suppressed
775 by using the ``--no-ccmmit`` option. Running the editor on the new
776 ``.topmsg`` file can be suppressed by using ``-n`` (or ``--no-edit``)
777 (which also suppresses the automatic commit) or by providing an
778 explicit value for the new ``.topmsg`` file using the ``--topmsg`` or
779 ``--topmsg-file`` option. In any case the ``.topmsg`` content will be
780 automatically reformated to have a ``Subject:`` header line if needed.
782 If more than one dependency is listed an automatic ``tg update`` runs
783 after the branch has been created to merge in the additional
784 dependencies and bring the branch up-to-date. This can be suppressed
785 with the ``--no-commit`` option (which also suppresses the initial
788 Previous versions of TopGit behaved as though the ``--no-edit`` option
789 was always given on the command line.
791 The default behavior has been changed to promote a separation between
792 commits that modify ``.topmsg`` and/or ``.topdeps`` and commits that
793 modify other files. This facilitates cleaner cherry picking and other
794 patch maintenance activities.
796 You should edit the patch description (contained in the ``.topmsg``
797 file) as appropriate. It will already contain some prefilled bits.
798 You can set the ``topgit.to``, ``topgit.cc`` and ``topgit.bcc``
799 git configuration variables (see ``man git-config``) in order to
800 have ``tg create`` add these headers with the given default values
801 to ``.topmsg`` before invoking the editor. If the configuration
802 variable ``topgit.subjectPrefix`` is set its value will be inserted
803 *between* the initial ``[`` and the word ``PATCH`` in the subject
804 line (with a space added before the word ``PATCH`` of course).
806 The main task of ``tg create`` is to set up the topic branch base
807 from the dependencies. This may fail due to merge conflicts if more
808 than one dependency is given. In that case, after you commit the
809 conflict resolution, you should call ``tg update --continue`` to
810 finish merging the dependencies into the new topic branch base.
812 With the ``--base`` (aka ``--no-deps``) option at most one dependency
813 may be listed which may be any valid committish (instead of just
814 refs/heads/...) and the newly created TopGit-controlled branch will
815 have an empty ``.topdeps`` file. This may be desirable in order to
816 create a TopGit-controlled branch that has no changes of its own and
817 serves merely to mark the common dependency that all other
818 TopGit-controlled branches in some set of TopGit-controlled branches
819 depend on. A plain, non-TopGit-controlled branch can be used for the
820 same purpose, but the advantage of a TopGit-controlled branch with no
821 dependencies is that it will be pushed with ``tg push``, it will show
822 up in the ``tg summary`` and ``tg info`` output with the subject from
823 its ``.topmsg`` file thereby documenting what it's for and finally it
824 can be set up with ``tg create -r`` and/or ``tg remote --populate`` to
827 For example, ``tg create --base release v2.1`` will create a TopGit-
828 controlled ``release`` branch based off the ``v2.1`` tag that can then
829 be used as a base for creation of other TopGit-controlled branches.
830 Then when the time comes to move the base for an entire set of changes
831 up to ``v2.2`` the command ``tg update --base release v2.2`` can be
832 used followed by ``tg update --all``.
834 Using ``--base`` it's also possible to use ``tg create`` on an
835 unborn branch (omit the dependency name or specify ``HEAD``). The
836 unborn branch itself can be made into the new TopGit branch (rather
837 than being born empty and then having the new TopGit branch based off
838 that) by specifying ``HEAD`` as the new branch's name (which is
839 probably what you normally want to do in this case anyway so you can
840 just run ``tg create --base HEAD`` to accomplish that).
842 In an alternative use case, if ``-r <branch>`` is given instead of a
843 dependency list, the topic branch is created based on the given
844 remote branch. With just ``-r`` the remote branch name is assumed
845 to be the same as the local topic branch being created. Since no
846 new commits are created in this mode (only two refs will be updated)
847 the editor will never be run for this use case. Note that no other
848 options may be combined with ``-r``.
850 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option suppresses most informational
855 Remove a TopGit-controlled topic branch of the given name
856 (required argument). Normally, this command will remove only an
857 empty branch (base == head) without dependents; use ``-f`` to
858 remove a non-empty branch or a branch that is depended upon by
861 The ``-f`` option is also useful to force removal of a branch's
862 base, if you used ``git branch -D B`` to remove branch B, and then
863 certain TopGit commands complain, because the base of branch B
866 Normally ``tg delete`` will refuse to delete the current branch.
867 However, giving ``-f`` twice (or more) will force it to do so but it
868 will first detach your HEAD.
870 IMPORTANT: Currently, this command will *NOT* remove the branch
871 from the dependency list in other branches. You need to take
872 care of this *manually*. This is even more complicated in
873 combination with ``-f`` -- in that case, you need to manually
874 unmerge the removed branch's changes from the branches depending
877 The same ``--stash`` and ``--no-stash`` options are accepted with
878 the same exact semantics as for `tg update`_.
880 See also ``tg annihilate``.
882 | TODO: ``-a`` to delete all empty branches, depfix, revert
886 Make a commit on the current or given TopGit-controlled topic
887 branch that makes it equal to its base, including the presence or
888 absence of .topmsg and .topdeps. Annihilated branches are not
889 displayed by ``tg summary``, so they effectively get out of your
890 way. However, the branch still exists, and ``tg push`` will
891 push it (except if given the ``-a`` option). This way, you can
892 communicate that the branch is no longer wanted.
894 When annihilating a branch that has dependents (i.e. branches
895 that depend on it), those dependents have the dependencies of
896 the branch being annihilated added to them if they do not already
897 have them as dependencies. Essentially the DAG is repaired to
898 skip over the annihilated branch.
900 Normally, this command will remove only an empty branch
901 (base == head, except for changes to the .top* files); use
902 ``-f`` to annihilate a non-empty branch.
904 After completing the annihilation itself, normally ``tg update``
905 is run on any modified dependents. Use the ``--no-update`` option
906 to suppress running ``tg update``.
908 The same ``--stash`` and ``--no-stash`` options are accepted with
909 the same exact semantics as for `tg update`_.
913 Change the dependencies of a TopGit-controlled topic branch.
914 This should have several subcommands, but only ``add`` is
917 The ``add`` subcommand takes an argument naming a topic branch to
918 be added, adds it to ``.topdeps``, performs a commit and then
919 updates your topic branch accordingly. If you want to do other
920 things related to the dependency addition, like adjusting
921 ``.topmsg``, use the option ``--no-commit``. Adding the
922 ``--no-update`` (or ``--no-commit``) option will suppress the
923 ``tg update`` normally performed after committing the change.
925 It is safe to run ``tg depend add`` in a dirty worktree, but the
926 normally performed ``tg update`` will be suppressed in that case
927 (even if neither ``--no-update`` nor ``--no-commit`` is given).
929 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
931 | TODO: Subcommand for removing dependencies, obviously
935 List files changed by the current or specified topic branch.
938 -i list files based on index instead of branch
939 -w list files based on working tree instead of branch
943 Show summary information about the current or specified topic
946 Numbers in parenthesis after a branch name such as "(11/3 commits)"
947 indicate how many commits on the branch (11) and how many of those
948 are non-merge commits (3).
950 With ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) include a list of dependents (i.e. other
951 branches that depend on this one). Another ``--verbose`` annotates
952 them with "[needs merge]" if the current tip of branch for which info
953 is being shown has not yet been merged into the base of the dependent.
955 Alternatively, if ``--heads`` is used then which of the independent
956 TopGit branch heads (as output by ``tg summary --topgit-heads``)
957 logically contains the specified commit (which may be any committish --
958 defaults to ``HEAD`` if not given). Zero or more results will be
959 output. Note that "logically" means with regard to the TopGit
960 dependency relationships as established by the ``.topdeps`` file(s).
961 It's the answer that would be given when all the TopGit branches are
962 up-to-date (even though they need not be to use this option) and the
963 ``git branch --contains`` command is run and the output then filtered
964 to only those branches that appear in ``tg summary --topgit-heads``.
965 This computation may require several seconds on complex repositories.
967 If ``--leaves`` is used then the unique list of leaves of the current
968 or specified topic branch is shown as one fully-qualified ref per line.
969 Duplicates are suppressed and a tag name will be used when appropriate.
970 A "leaf" is any dependency that is either not a TopGit branch or is
971 the base of a non-annihilated TopGit branch with no non-annihilated
974 The ``--deps`` option shows non-annihilated TopGit dependencies of the
975 specified branch (default is ``HEAD``).
977 The ``--dependents`` option shows non-annihilated TopGit dependents
978 (i.e. branches that depend on the specified branch). The default
979 branch to operate on is again ``HEAD``.
981 A linearized patch series can only be automatically created for a
982 TopGit topic branch (including its recursive dependencies) when exactly
983 one line is output by ``tg info --leaves <topic-branch>``.
985 With ``--series`` the list of TopGit branches in the order they would
986 be linearized into a patch series is shown along with the description
987 of each branch. If branch name passed to ``tg info`` is not the last
988 branch in the series a marker column will be provided to quickly
989 locate it in the list. This same option can be used with `tg checkout`_.
991 Some patches shown in the list may not actually end up introducing any
992 changes if exported and be therefore end up being omitted. The ``0``
993 indicator in ``tg summary`` output can help to identify some of these.
995 The patches shown in the series in the order they are shown form the
996 basis for the ``tg next`` and ``tg prev`` operations with the first
997 patch shown being considered the first and so on up to the last.
1001 Generate a patch from the current or specified topic branch.
1002 This means that the diff between the topic branch base and head
1003 (latest commit) is shown, appended to the description found in
1004 the ``.topmsg`` file.
1006 The patch is simply dumped to stdout. In the future, ``tg patch``
1007 will be able to automatically send the patches by mail or save
1008 them to files. (TODO)
1011 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1012 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1013 --binary pass --binary to ``git diff-tree`` to enable generation
1015 --quiet be quiet (aka ``-q``) about missing and unfixed From:
1016 --from make sure patch has a From: line, if not add one using
1017 --from=<a> <a> or Signed-off-by value or ident value; ``git am``
1018 really gets unhappy with patches missing From: lines;
1019 will NOT replace an existing non-empty From: header
1020 --no-from leave all From: lines alone, missing or not (default)
1021 --diff-opt options after the branch name (and an optional ``--``)
1022 are passed directly to ``git diff-tree``
1024 In order to pass a sole explicit ``-w`` through to ``git diff-tree`` it
1025 must be separated from the ``tg`` options by an explicit ``--``.
1026 Or it can be spelled as ``--ignore-all-space`` to distinguuish it from
1027 ``tg``'s ``-w`` option.
1029 If the config variable ``topgit.from`` is set to a boolean it can be
1030 used to enable or disable the ``--from`` option by default. If it's
1031 set to the speical value ``quiet`` the ``--quiet`` option is enabled
1032 and From: lines are left alone by default. Any other non-empty value
1033 is taken as a default ``--from=<value>`` option. The ``--no-from``
1034 option will temporarily disable use of the config value.
1036 If additional non-``tg`` options are passed through to
1037 ``git diff-tree`` (other than ``--binary`` which is fully supported)
1038 the resulting ``tg patch`` output may not be appliable.
1042 Send a patch from the current or specified topic branch as
1045 Takes the patch given on the command line and emails it out.
1046 Destination addresses such as To, Cc and Bcc are taken from the
1049 Since it actually boils down to ``git send-email``, please refer
1050 to the documentation for that for details on how to setup email
1051 for git. You can pass arbitrary options to this command through
1052 the ``-s`` parameter, but you must double-quote everything. The
1053 ``-r`` parameter with a msgid can be used to generate in-reply-to
1054 and reference headers to an earlier mail.
1056 WARNING: be careful when using this command. It easily sends
1057 out several mails. You might want to run::
1059 git config sendemail.confirm always
1061 to let ``git send-email`` ask for confirmation before sending any
1065 -i base patch generation on index instead of branch
1066 -w base patch generation on working tree instead of branch
1068 | TODO: ``tg mail patchfile`` to mail an already exported patch
1069 | TODO: mailing patch series
1070 | TODO: specifying additional options and addresses on command line
1074 Register the given remote as TopGit-controlled. This will create
1075 the namespace for the remote branch bases and teach ``git fetch``
1076 to operate on them. However, from TopGit 0.8 onwards you need to
1077 use ``tg push``, or ``git push --mirror``, for pushing
1078 TopGit-controlled branches.
1080 ``tg remote`` takes an optional remote name argument, and an
1081 optional ``--populate`` switch. Use ``--populate`` for your
1082 origin-style remotes: it will seed the local topic branch system
1083 based on the remote topic branches. ``--populate`` will also make
1084 ``tg remote`` automatically fetch the remote, and ``tg update`` look
1085 at branches of this remote for updates by default.
1087 Using ``--populate`` with a remote name causes the ``topgit.remote``
1088 git configuration variable to be set to the given remote name.
1092 Show overview of all TopGit-tracked topic branches and their
1093 up-to-date status. With a branch name limit output to that branch.
1094 Using ``--deps-only`` or ``--rdeps`` changes the default from all
1095 related branches to just the current ``HEAD`` branch but using
1096 ``--all`` as the branch name will show results for all branches
1097 instead of ``HEAD``.
1100 marks the current topic branch
1103 indicates that it introduces no changes of its own
1106 indicates respectively whether it is local-only
1107 or has a remote mate
1110 indicates respectively if it is ahead or out-of-date
1111 with respect to its remote mate
1114 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to its
1118 indicates that it has missing dependencies [even if
1119 they are recursive ones]
1122 indicates that it is out-of-date with respect to
1126 indicates it is ahead of (and needs to be merged into)
1127 at least one of its dependents -- only computed when
1128 showing all branches or using the (possibly implied)
1129 ``--with-deps`` option.
1131 This can take a longish time to accurately determine all the
1132 relevant information about each branch; you can pass ``-t`` (or ``-l``
1133 or ``--list``) to get just a terse list of topic branch names quickly.
1134 Also adding ``--verbose`` (or ``-v``) includes the subjects too.
1136 If no options or arguments are passed, the default is not actually to
1137 show ``--all`` branches (that was the default once upon a time).
1138 Instead, the default is essentially ``--with-deps $(tg info --heads)``
1139 with a fallback to ``--all`` if ``tg info`` doesn't give up any heads.
1140 This usually provides a more intuitive result. Explicitly using
1141 ``--all`` will always show all branches (related or not to ``HEAD``).
1143 Passing ``--heads`` shows independent topic branch names and when
1144 combined with ``--rdeps`` behaves as though ``--rdeps`` were run with
1145 the output of ``--heads``.
1147 The ``--heads-independent`` option works just like ``--heads`` except
1148 that it computes the heads using ``git merge-base --independent``
1149 rather than examining the TopGit ``.topdeps`` relationships. If the
1150 TopGit branches are all up-to-date (as shown in ``tg summary``) then
1151 both ``--heads`` and ``--heads-independent`` should compute the same
1152 list of heads (unless some overlapping TopGit branches have been
1153 manually created). If not all the TopGit branches are up-to-date then
1154 the ``--heads-independent`` results may have extra items in it, but
1155 occasionally that's what's needed; usually it's the wrong answer.
1156 (Note that ``--topgit-heads`` is accepted as an alias for ``--heads``
1159 Using ``--heads-only`` behaves as though the output of ``--heads`` was
1160 passed as the list of branches along with ``--without-deps``.
1162 Alternatively, you can pass ``--graphviz`` to get a dot-suitable output
1163 for drawing a dependency graph between the topic branches.
1165 You can also use the ``--sort`` option to sort the branches using
1166 a topological sort. This is especially useful if each
1167 TopGit-tracked topic branch depends on a single parent branch,
1168 since it will then print the branches in the dependency order.
1169 In more complex scenarios, a text graph view would be much more
1170 useful, but that has not yet been implemented.
1172 The ``--deps`` option outputs dependency information between
1173 branches in a machine-readable format. Feed this to ``tsort`` to
1174 get the output from --sort.
1176 The ``--deps-only`` option outputs a sorted list of the unique branch
1177 names given on the command line plus all of their recursive
1178 dependencies (subject to ``--exclude`` of course). When
1179 ``--deps-only`` is given the default is to just display information for
1180 ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by using ``--all`` as the branch
1181 name. Each branch name will appear only once in the output no matter
1182 how many times it's visited while tracing the dependency graph or how
1183 many branch names are given on the command line to process.
1185 The ``--rdeps`` option outputs dependency information in an indented
1186 text format that clearly shows all the dependencies and their
1187 relationships to one another. When ``--rdeps`` is given the default is
1188 to just display information for ``HEAD``, but that can be changed by
1189 using ``--all`` as the branch name or by adding the ``--heads`` option.
1190 Note that ``tg summary --rdeps --heads`` can be particularly helpful in
1191 seeing all the TopGit-controlled branches in the repository and their
1192 relationships to one another.
1194 Note that ``--rdeps`` has two flavors. The first (and default) is
1195 ``--rdeps-once`` which only shows the dependencies of a branch when
1196 it's first visited. For example, if D depends on several other
1197 branches perhaps recursively and both branch A and B depend on D, then
1198 whichever of A or B is shown first will show the entire dependency
1199 chain for D underneath it and the other one will just show a line for
1200 D itself. This can make the output a bit more compact without actually
1201 losing any information which is why it's the default. However, using
1202 the ``--rdeps-full`` variant will repeat the full dependency chain
1203 every time it's encountered.
1205 Adding ``--with-deps`` replaces the given list of branches (which will
1206 default to ``HEAD`` if none are given) with the result of running
1207 ``tg summary --deps-only --tgish`` on the list of branches. This can
1208 be helpful in limiting ``tg summary`` output to only the list of given
1209 branches and their dependencies when many TopGit-controlled branches
1210 are present in the repository. When it would be allowed,
1211 ``--with-deps`` is now the default. Use ``--without-deps`` to switch
1212 back to the old behavior.
1214 With ``--exclude branch``, branch can be excluded from the output
1215 meaning it will be skipped and its name will be omitted from any
1216 dependency output. The ``--exclude`` option may be repeated to omit
1217 more than one branch from the output. Limiting the output to a single
1218 branch that has been excluded will result in no output at all.
1220 The ``--tgish-only`` option behaves as though any non-TopGit-controlled
1221 dependencies encountered during processing had been listed after an
1222 ``--exclude`` option.
1224 Note that the branch name can be specified as ``HEAD`` or ``@`` as a
1225 shortcut for the TopGit-controlled branch that ``HEAD`` is a
1226 symbolic ref to. The ``tg summary @`` command can be quite useful.
1229 -i Use TopGit metadata from the index instead of the branch
1230 -w Use TopGit metadata from the working tree instead of the branch
1234 Search all TopGit-controlled branches (and optionally their remotes)
1235 to find which TopGit-controlled branch contains the specified commit.
1237 This is more than just basic branch containment as provided for by the
1238 ``git branch --contains`` command. While the shown branch name(s)
1239 will, indeed, be one (or more) of those output by the
1240 ``git branch --contains`` command, the result(s) will exclude any
1241 TopGit-controlled branches from the result(s) that have one (or more)
1242 of their TopGit dependencies (either direct or indirect) appearing in
1243 the ``git branch --contains`` output.
1245 Normally the result will be only the one, single TopGit-controlled
1246 branch for which the specified committish appears in the ``tg log``
1247 output for that branch (unless the committish lies outside the
1248 TopGit-controlled portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was used).
1250 Unless ``--annihilated-okay`` (or ``--ann`` or ``--annihilated``) is
1251 used then annihilated branches will be immediately removed from the
1252 ``git branch --contains`` output before doing anything else. This
1253 means a committish that was originally located in a now-annihilated
1254 branch will show up in whatever branch picked up the annihilated
1255 branch's changes (if there is one). This is usually the correct
1256 answer, but occasionally it's not; hence this option. If this option
1257 is used together with ``--verbose`` then annihilated branches will
1258 be shown as "[:annihilated:]".
1260 In other words, if a ``tg patch`` is generated for the found branch
1261 (assuming one was found and a subsequent commit in the same branch
1262 didn't then revert or otherwise back out the change), then that patch
1263 will include the changes introduced by the specified committish
1264 (unless, of course, that committish is outside the TopGit-controlled
1265 portion of the DAG and ``--no-strict`` was given).
1267 This can be very helpful when, for example, a bug is discovered and
1268 then after using ``git bisect`` (or some other tool) to find the
1269 offending commit it's time to commit the fix. But because the
1270 TopGit merging history can be quite complicated and maybe the one
1271 doing the fix wasn't the bug's author (or the author's memory is just
1272 going), it can sometimes be rather tedious to figure out which
1273 TopGit branch the fix belongs in. The ``tg contains`` command can
1274 quickly tell you the answer to that question.
1276 With the ``--remotes`` (or ``-r``) option a TopGit-controlled remote
1277 branch name may be reported as the result but only if there is no
1278 non-remote branch containing the committish (this can only happen
1279 if at least one of the TopGit-controlled local branches are not yet
1280 up-to-date with their remotes).
1282 With the ``--verbose`` option show which TopGit DAG head(s) (one or
1283 more of the TopGit-controlled branch names output by
1284 ``tg summary --heads``) have the result as a dependency (either direct
1285 or indirect). Using this option will noticeably increase running time.
1287 With the default ``--strict`` option, results for which the base of the
1288 TopGit-controlled branch contains the committish will be suppressed.
1289 For example, if the committish was deep-down in the master branch
1290 history somewhere far outside of the TopGit-controlled portion of
1291 the DAG, with ``--no-strict``, whatever TopGit-controlled branch(es)
1292 first picked up history containing that committish will be shown.
1293 While this is a useful result it's usually not the desired result
1294 which is why it's not the default.
1296 To summarize, even with ``--remotes``, remote results are only shown
1297 if there are no non-remote results. Without ``--no-strict`` (because
1298 ``--strict`` is the default) results outside the TopGit-controlled
1299 portion of the DAG are never shown and even with ``--no-strict`` they
1300 will only be shown if there are no ``--strict`` results. Finally,
1301 the TopGit head info shown with ``--verbose`` only ever appears for
1302 local (i.e. not a remote branch) results. Annihilated branches are
1303 never considered possible matches without ``--annihilated-okay``.
1307 Switch to a topic branch. You can use ``git checkout <branch>``
1308 to get the same effect, but this command helps you navigate
1309 the dependency graph, or allows you to match the topic branch
1310 name using a regular expression, so it can be more convenient.
1312 The ``--branch`` (or ``-b`` or ``--branch=<name>``) option changes
1313 the default starting point from ``HEAD`` to the specified branch.
1315 For the "next" and "previous" commands, the ``<steps>`` value may
1316 be ``--all`` (or ``-a``) to take "As many steps As possible" or
1317 "step ALL the way" or "ALL steps at once" (or make something better
1320 The following subcommands are available:
1322 ``tg checkout next [<steps>]``
1323 Check out a branch that directly
1324 depends on your current branch.
1325 Move ``<steps>`` (default 1) step(s) in
1326 the "next" direction (AKA ``n``).
1328 ``tg checkout prev [<steps>]``
1329 Check out a branch that this branch
1330 directly depends on. Move ``<steps>``
1331 (default 1) step(s) in the "previous"
1332 direction (AKA ``p`` or ``previous``).
1334 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] <pattern>``
1335 Check out a topic branch that
1336 matches ``<pattern>``. ``<pattern>``
1337 is used as a grep ERE pattern to filter
1338 all the topic branches. Both ``goto`` and
1339 ``--`` may be omitted provided ``<pattern>``
1340 is not ``-a``, ``--all``, ``-h``, ``--help``,
1341 ``goto``, ``--``, ``n``, ``next``, ``push``,
1342 ``child``, ``p``, ``prev``, ``previous``,
1343 ``pop``, ``parent`` or ``..``.
1345 ``tg checkout [goto] [--] --series[=<head>]``
1346 Check out a topic branch that belongs to
1347 the current (or ``<head>``) patch series.
1348 A list with descriptions (``tg info --series``)
1349 will be shown to choose from if more than one.
1351 ``tg checkout push [<steps>]``
1352 An alias for ``next``.
1354 ``tg checkout child [<steps>]``
1355 Deprecated alias for ``next``.
1358 Semi-deprecated alias for ``next``.
1360 ``tg checkout pop [<steps>]``
1361 An alias for ``prev``.
1363 ``tg checkout parent [<steps>]``
1364 Deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1366 ``tg checkout .. [<steps>]``
1367 Semi-deprecated alias for ``prev``.
1369 If any of the above commands can find more than one possible
1370 branch to switch to, you will be presented with the matches
1371 and asked to select one of them.
1373 If the ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` (or ``--iow``) option is given and
1374 the current Git version is at least 2.5.0 then the full
1375 ``--ignore-other-worktrees`` option will be passed along to the
1376 ``git checkout`` command when it's run (otherwise the option will be
1377 silently ignored and not passed to Git as it would cause an error).
1379 The ``--force`` (or ``-f``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1380 the ``git checkout`` command.
1382 The ``--merge`` (or ``-m``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1383 the ``git checkout`` command.
1385 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option, when given, gets passed through to
1386 the ``git checkout`` command.
1388 The ``<pattern>`` of ``tg checkout goto`` is optional. If you don't
1389 supply it, all the available topic branches are listed and you
1390 can select one of them.
1392 Normally, the ``next`` and ``prev`` commands moves one step in
1393 the dependency graph of the topic branches. The ``-a`` option
1394 causes them (and their aliases) to move as far as possible.
1395 That is, ``tg checkout next -a`` moves to a topic branch that
1396 depends (directly or indirectly) on the current branch and
1397 that no other branch depends on. ``tg checkout prev -a``
1398 moves to a topic branch that the current topic branch
1399 depends on (directly or indirectly). If there is more than
1400 one possibility, you will be prompted for your selection.
1402 See also NAVIGATION_.
1406 Export a tidied-up history of the current topic branch and its
1407 dependencies, suitable for feeding upstream. Each topic branch
1408 corresponds to a single commit or patch in the cleaned up
1409 history (corresponding basically exactly to ``tg patch`` output
1410 for the topic branch).
1412 The command has three possible outputs now -- either a Git branch
1413 with the collapsed history, a Git branch with a linearized
1414 history, or a quilt series in new directory.
1416 In the case where you are producing collapsed history in a new
1417 branch, you can use this collapsed structure either for
1418 providing a pull source for upstream, or for further
1419 linearization e.g. for creation of a quilt series using git log::
1421 git log --pretty=email -p --topo-order origin..exported
1423 To better understand the function of ``tg export``, consider this
1424 dependency structure::
1426 origin/master - t/foo/blue - t/foo/red - master
1427 `- t/bar/good <,----------'
1428 `- t/baz ------------'
1430 (where each of the branches may have a hefty history). Then::
1432 master$ tg export for-linus
1434 will create this commit structure on the branch ``for-linus``::
1436 origin/master - t/foo/blue -. merge - t/foo/red -.. merge - master
1437 `- t/bar/good <,-------------------'/
1438 `- t/baz ---------------------'
1440 In this mode, ``tg export`` works on the current topic branch, and
1441 can be called either without an option (in that case,
1442 ``--collapse`` is assumed), or with the ``--collapse`` option, and
1443 with one mandatory argument: the name of the branch where the
1444 exported result will be stored.
1446 When using the linearize mode::
1448 master$ tg export --linearize for-linus
1450 you get a linear history respecting the dependencies of your
1451 patches in a new branch ``for-linus``. The result should be more
1452 or less the same as using quilt mode and then reimporting it
1453 into a Git branch. (More or less because the topological order
1454 can usually be extended in more than one way into a total order,
1455 and the two methods may choose different ones.) The result
1456 might be more appropriate for merging upstream, as it contains
1459 Note that you might get conflicts during linearization because
1460 the patches are reordered to get a linear history. If linearization
1461 would produce conflicts then using ``--quilt`` will also likely result
1462 in conflicts when the exported quilt series is applied. Since the
1463 ``--quilt`` mode simply runs a series of ``tg patch`` commands to
1464 generate the patches in the exported quilt series and those patches
1465 will end up being applied linearly, the same conflicts that would be
1466 produced by the ``--linearize`` option will then occur at that time.
1468 To avoid conflicts produced by ``--linearize`` (or by applying the
1469 ``--quilt`` output), use the default ``--collapse`` mode and then use
1470 ``tg rebase`` (or ``git rebase -m`` directly) on the collapsed branch
1471 (with a suitable <upstream>) followed by ``git format-patch`` on the
1472 rebased result to produce a conflict-free patch set. A suitable
1473 upstream may be determined with the ``tg info --leaves`` command (if
1474 it outputs more than one line, linearization will be problematic).
1476 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1478 When using the quilt mode::
1480 master$ tg export --quilt for-linus
1482 would create the following directory ``for-linus``::
1484 for-linus/t/foo/blue.diff
1485 for-linus/t/foo/red.diff
1486 for-linus/t/bar/good.diff
1487 for-linus/t/baz.diff
1494 With ``--quilt``, you can also pass the ``-b`` parameter followed
1495 by a comma-separated explicit list of branches to export, or
1496 the ``--all`` parameter (which can be shortened to ``-a``) to
1497 export them all. The ``--binary`` option enables producing Git
1498 binary patches. These options are currently only supported
1501 In ``--quilt`` mode the patches are named like the originating
1502 topgit branch. So usually they end up in subdirectories of the
1503 output directory. With the ``--flatten`` option the names are
1504 mangled so that they end up directly in the output dir (slashes
1505 are replaced with underscores). With the ``--strip[=N]`` option
1506 the first ``N`` subdirectories (all if no ``N`` is given) get
1507 stripped off. Names are always ``--strip``'d before being
1508 ``--flatten``'d. With the option ``--numbered`` (which implies
1509 ``--flatten``) the patch names get a number as prefix to allow
1510 getting the order without consulting the series file, which
1511 eases sending out the patches.
1513 | TODO: Make stripping of non-essential headers configurable
1514 | TODO: Make stripping of [PATCH] and other prefixes configurable
1515 | TODO: ``--mbox`` option to export instead as an mbox file
1516 | TODO: support ``--all`` option in other modes of operation
1517 | TODO: For quilt exporting, export the linearized history created in
1518 a temporary branch--this would allow producing conflict-less
1523 Import commits within the given revision range into TopGit,
1524 creating one topic branch per commit. The dependencies are set
1525 up to form a linear sequence starting on your current branch --
1526 or a branch specified by the ``-d`` parameter, if present.
1528 The branch names are auto-guessed from the commit messages and
1529 prefixed by ``t/`` by default; use ``-p <prefix>`` to specify an
1530 alternative prefix (even an empty one).
1532 Alternatively, you can use the ``-s NAME`` parameter to specify
1533 the name of the target branch; the command will then take one
1534 more argument describing a *single* commit to import.
1538 Update the current, specified or all topic branches with respect
1539 to changes in the branches they depend on and remote branches.
1540 This is performed in two phases -- first, changes within the
1541 dependencies are merged to the base, then the base is merged
1542 into the topic branch. The output will guide you on what to do
1543 next in case of conflicts.
1545 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1547 The ``--[no-]auto[-update]`` options together with the
1548 ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` config item control whether or not TopGit
1549 will automatically temporarily set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1550 running ``tg update``. The default is true. Note that this does not
1551 enable Git's ``rerere`` feature, it merely makes it automatically stage
1552 any previously resolved conflicts. The ``rerere.enabled`` setting must
1553 still be separately enabled (i.e. set to ``true``) for the ``rerere``
1554 feature to do anything at all.
1556 Using ``--auto[-update]`` makes ``tg update`` always temporarily set
1557 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to ``true`` while running ``tg update``. The
1558 ``--no-auto[-update]`` option prevents ``tg update`` from changing the
1559 ``rerere.autoUpdate`` setting, but if ``rerere.autoUpdate`` has already
1560 been enabled in a config file, ``tg update`` never disables it even
1561 with ``--no-auto``. If ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` is unset or set to
1562 ``true`` then ``tg update`` implicitly does ``--auto``, otherwise it
1563 does ``--no-auto``. An explicit command line ``--[no-]auto[-update]``
1564 option causes the ``topgit.setAutoUpdate`` setting to be ignored.
1566 When both ``rerere.enabled`` and ``rerere.autoUpdate`` are set to true
1567 then ``tg update`` will be able to automatically continue an update
1568 whenever ``git rerere`` resolves all the conflicts during a merge.
1569 This can be such a huge time saver. That's why the default is to have
1570 TopGit automatically set ``rerere.autoUpdate`` to true while
1571 ``tg update`` is running (but remember, unless ``rerere.enabled`` has
1572 been set to ``true`` it won't make any difference).
1574 When ``-a`` (or ``--all``) is specified, updates all topic branches
1575 matched by ``<pattern>``'s (see ``git-for-each-ref(1)`` for details),
1576 or all if no ``<pattern>`` is given. Any topic branches with missing
1577 dependencies will be skipped entirely unless ``--skip-missing`` is
1580 When ``--skip-missing`` is specified, an attempt is made to update topic
1581 branches with missing dependencies by skipping only the dependencies
1582 that are missing. Caveat utilitor.
1584 When ``--stash`` is specified (or the ``topgit.autostash`` config
1585 value is set to ``true``), a ref stash will be automatically created
1586 just before beginning updates if any are needed. The ``--no-stash``
1587 option may be used to disable a ``topgit.autostash=true`` setting.
1588 See the ``tg tag`` ``--stash`` option for details.
1590 After the update, if a single topic branch was specified, it is
1591 left as the current one; if ``-a`` was specified, it returns to
1592 the branch which was current at the beginning.
1594 If your dependencies are not up-to-date, ``tg update`` will first
1595 recurse into them and update them.
1597 If a remote branch update brings in dependencies on branches
1598 that are not yet instantiated locally, you can either bring in
1599 all the new branches from the remote using ``tg remote
1600 --populate``, or only pick out the missing ones using ``tg create
1601 -r`` (``tg summary`` will point out branches with incomplete
1602 dependencies by showing an ``!`` next to them). TopGit will attempt to
1603 instantiate just the missing ones automatically for you, if possible,
1604 when ``tg update`` merges in the new dependencies from the remote.
1606 Using the alternative ``--base`` mode, ``tg update`` will update
1607 the base of a specified ``[BASE]`` branch (which is a branch created
1608 by ``tg create`` using the ``--base`` option) to the specified
1609 committish (the second argument) and then immediately merge that into
1610 the branch itself using the specified message for the merge commit.
1611 If no message is specified on the command line, an editor will open.
1612 Unless ``--force`` is used the new value for the base must contain
1613 the old value (i.e. be a fast-forward update). This is for safety.
1615 This mode makes updates to ``[BASE]`` branches quick and easy.
1617 | TODO: ``tg update -a -c`` to autoremove (clean) up-to-date branches
1621 If ``-a`` or ``--all`` was specified, pushes all non-annihilated
1622 TopGit-controlled topic branches, to a remote repository.
1623 Otherwise, pushes the specified topic branches -- or the
1624 current branch, if you don't specify which. By default, the
1625 remote gets all the dependencies (both TopGit-controlled and
1626 non-TopGit-controlled) and bases pushed to it too. If
1627 ``--tgish-only`` was specified, only TopGit-controlled
1628 dependencies will be pushed, and if ``--no-deps`` was specified,
1629 no dependencies at all will be pushed.
1631 The ``--dry-run`` and ``--force`` options are passed directly to
1632 ``git push`` if given.
1634 The remote may be specified with the ``-r`` option. If no remote
1635 was specified, the configured default TopGit remote will be
1640 Prints the base commit of each of the named topic branches, or
1641 the current branch if no branches are named. Prints an error
1642 message and exits with exit code 1 if the named branch is not
1647 Prints the git log of the named topgit branch -- or the current
1648 branch, if you don't specify a name.
1650 This is really just a convenient shortcut for:
1652 ``git log --first-parent --no-merges $(tg base <name>)..<name>``
1654 where ``<name>`` is the name of the TopGit topic branch (or omitted
1655 for the current branch).
1657 However, if ``<name>`` is a ``[BASE]`` branch the ``--no-merges``
1660 If ``--compact`` is used then ``git log-compact`` will be used instead
1661 of ``git log``. The ``--command=<git-alias>`` option can be used to
1662 replace "log" with any non-whitespace-containing command alias name,
1663 ``--compact`` is just a shortcut for ``--command=log-compact``. The
1664 ``git-log-compact`` tool may be found on its project page located at:
1666 https://mackyle.github.io/git-log-compact
1668 Note that the ``--compact`` or ``--command=`` option must be used
1669 before any ``--`` or ``git log`` options to be recognized.
1671 NOTE: if you have merged changes from a different repository, this
1672 command might not list all interesting commits.
1676 Creates a TopGit annotated/signed tag or lists the reflog of one.
1678 A TopGit annotated tag records the current state of one or more TopGit
1679 branches and their dependencies and may be used to revert to the tagged
1680 state at any point in the future.
1682 When reflogs are enabled (the default in a non-bare repository) and
1683 combined with the ``--force`` option a single tag name may be used as a
1684 sort of TopGit branch state stash. The special branch name ``--all``
1685 may be used to tag the state of all current TopGit branches to
1686 facilitate this function and has the side-effect of suppressing the
1687 out-of-date check allowing out-of-date branches to be included.
1689 As a special feature, ``--stash`` may be used as the tag name in which
1690 case ``--all`` is implied if no branch name is listed (instead of the
1691 normal default of ``HEAD``), ``--force`` and ``--no-edit`` (use
1692 ``--edit`` to change that) are automatically activated and the tag will
1693 be saved to ``refs/tgstash`` instead of ``refs/tags/<tagname>``.
1694 The ``--stash`` tag name may also be used with the ``-g``/``--reflog``
1697 The mostly undocumented option ``--allow-outdated`` will bypass the
1698 out-of-date check and is implied when ``--stash`` or ``--all`` is used.
1700 A TopGit annotated/signed tag is simply a Git annotated/signed tag with
1701 a "TOPGIT REFS" section appended to the end of the tag message (and
1702 preceding the signature for signed tags). PEM-style begin and end
1703 lines surround one line per ref where the format of each line is
1704 full-hash SP ref-name. A line will be included for each branch given
1705 on the command line and each ref they depend on either directly or
1708 If more than one TopGit branch is given on the command line, a new
1709 commit will be created that has an empty tree and all of the given
1710 TopGit branches as parents and that commit will be tagged. If a single
1711 TopGit branch is given, then it will be tagged. If the ``--tree``
1712 option is used then it will be used instead of an empty tree (a new
1713 commit will be created if necessary to guarantee the specified tree is
1714 what's in the commit the newly created tag refers to). The argument to
1715 the ``--tree`` option may be any valid treeish.
1717 If exactly one of the branches to be tagged is prefixed with a tilde
1718 (``~``) it will be made the first parent of a consolidation commit if
1719 it is not already the sole commit needing to be tagged. If ``--tree``
1720 is NOT used, its tree will also be used instead of the empty tree for
1721 any new consolidation commit if one is created. Note that if
1722 ``--tree`` is given explicitly it's tree is always used but that does
1723 not in any way affect the choice of first parent. Beware that the
1724 ``~`` may need to be quoted to prevent the shell from misinterpreting
1725 it into something else.
1727 All the options for creating a tag serve the same purpose as their Git
1728 equivalents except for two. The ``--refs`` option suppresses tag
1729 creation entirely and emits the "TOPGIT REFS" section that would have
1730 been included with the tag. If the ``--no-edit`` option is given and
1731 no message is supplied (via the ``-m`` or ``-F`` option) then the
1732 default message created by TopGit will be used without running the
1735 With ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` show the reflog for a tag. With the
1736 ``--reflog-message`` option the message from the reflog is shown.
1737 With the ``--commit-message`` option the first line of the tag's
1738 message (if the object is a tag) or the commit message (if the object
1739 is a commit) falling back to the reflog message for tree and blob
1740 objects is shown. The default is ``--reflog-message`` unless the
1741 ``--stash`` (``refs/tgstash``) is being shown in which case the default
1742 is then ``--commit-message``. Just add either option explicitly to
1743 override the default.
1745 When showing reflogs, non-tag entries are annotated with their type
1746 unless ``--no-type`` is given.
1748 TopGit tags are created with a reflog if core.logallrefupdates is
1749 enabled (the default for non-bare repositories). Unfortunately Git
1750 is incapable of showing an annotated/signed tag's reflog
1751 (using git log -g) as it will first resolve the tag before checking to
1752 see if it has a reflog. Git can, however, show reflogs for lightweight
1753 tags (using git log -g) just fine but that's not helpful here. Use
1754 ``tg tag`` with the ``-g`` or ``--reflog`` option to see the reflog for
1755 an actual tag object. This also works on non-TopGit annotated/signed
1756 tags as well provided they have a reflog.
1758 The number of entries shown may be limited with the ``-n`` option. If
1759 the tagname is omitted then ``--stash`` is assumed.
1761 The ``--delete`` option is a convenience option that runs the
1762 ``git update-ref -d`` command on the specified tag removing it and its
1763 reflog (if it has one).
1765 The ``--clear`` option clears all but the most recent (the ``@{0}``)
1766 reflog entries from the reflog for the specified tag. It's equivalent
1767 to dropping all the higher numbered reflog entries.
1769 The ``--drop`` option drops the specified reflog entry and requires the
1770 given tagname to have an ``@{n}`` suffix where ``n`` is the reflog
1771 entry number to be dropped. This is really just a convenience option
1772 that runs the appropriate ``git reflog delete`` command.
1774 Note that when combined with ``tg revert``, a tag created by ``tg tag``
1775 can be used to transfer TopGit branches. Simply create the tag, push
1776 it somewhere and then have the recipient run ``tg revert`` to recreate
1777 the TopGit branches. This may be helpful in situations where it's not
1778 feasible to push all the refs corresponding to the TopGit-controlled
1779 branches and their top-bases.
1783 Provides a ``git rebase`` rerere auto continue function. It may be
1784 used as a drop-in replacement front-end for ``git rebase -m`` that
1785 automatically continues the rebase when ``git rerere`` information is
1786 sufficient to resolve all conflicts.
1788 You have enabled ``git rerere`` haven't you?
1790 If the ``-m`` or ``--merge`` option is not present then ``tg rebase``
1791 will complain and not do anything.
1793 When ``git rerere`` is enabled, previously resolved conflicts are
1794 remembered and can be automatically staged (see ``rerere.autoUpdate``).
1796 However, even with auto staging, ``git rebase`` still stops and
1797 requires an explicit ``git rebase --continue`` to keep going.
1799 In the case where ``git rebase -m`` is being used to flatten history
1800 (such as after a ``tg export --collapse`` prior to a
1801 ``git format-patch``), there's a good chance all conflicts have already
1802 been resolved during normal merge maintenance operations so there's no
1803 reason ``git rebase`` could not automatically continue, but there's no
1804 option to make it do so.
1806 The ``tg rebase`` command provides a ``git rebase --auto-continue``
1809 All the same rebase options can be used (they are simply passed through
1810 to Git unchanged). However, the ``rerere.autoUpdate`` option is
1811 automatically temporarily enabled while running ``git rebase`` and
1812 should ``git rebase`` stop asking one to resolve and continue, but all
1813 conflicts have already been resolved and staged using rerere
1814 information, then ``git rebase --continue`` will be automatically run.
1818 Provides the ability to revert one or more TopGit branches and their
1819 dependencies to a previous state contained within a tag created using
1820 the ``tg tag`` command. In addition to the actual revert mode
1821 operation a list mode operation is also provided to examine a tag's ref
1824 The default mode (``-l`` or ``--list``) shows the state of one or more
1825 of the refs/branches stored in the tag data. When no refs are given on
1826 the command line, all refs in the tag data are shown. With the special
1827 ref name ``--heads`` then the indepedent heads contained in the tag
1828 data are shown. The ``--deps`` option shows the specified refs and all
1829 of their dependencies in a single list with no duplicates. The
1830 ``--rdeps`` option shows a display similar to ``tg summary --rdeps``
1831 for each ref or all TopGit heads if no ref is given on the command
1832 line. The standard ``--no-short``, ``--short=n`` etc. options may be
1833 used to override the default ``--short`` output. With ``--hash`` (or
1834 ``--hash-only``) show only the hash in ``--list`` mode in which case
1835 the default is ``--no-short``. The ``--hash`` option can be used much
1836 like the ``git rev-parse --verify`` command to extract a specific hash
1837 value out of a TopGit tag.
1839 Note that unlike `tg summary`_, here ``--heads`` actually does mean the
1840 ``git merge-base --independent`` heads of the stored refs from the tag
1841 data. To see only the independent TopGit topic branch heads stored in
1842 the tag data use the ``--topgit-heads`` option instead. The default
1843 for the ``--rdeps`` option is ``--topgit-heads`` but ``--heads`` can
1844 be given explicitly to change that. (Note that ``--heads-independent``
1845 is accepted as an alias for ``--heads`` as well.)
1847 The revert mode has three submodes, dry-run mode (``-n`` or
1848 ``--dry-run``), force mode (``-f`` or ``--force``) and interactive mode
1849 (``-i`` or ``--interactive``). If ``--dry-run`` (or ``-n``) is given
1850 no ref updates will actually be performed but what would have been
1851 updated is shown instead. If ``--interactive`` (or ``-i``) is given
1852 then the editor is invoked on an instruction sheet allowing manual
1853 selection of the refs to be updated before proceeding. Since revert is
1854 potentially a destructive operation, at least one of the submodes must
1855 be specified explicitly. If no refs are listed on the command line
1856 then all refs in the tag data are reverted. Otherwise the listed refs
1857 and all of their dependencies (unless ``--no-deps`` is given) are
1858 reverted. Unless ``--no-stash`` is given a new stash will be created
1859 using ``tg tag --stash`` (except, of course, in dry-run mode) just
1860 before actually performing the updates to facilitate recovery from
1863 Both modes accept fully-qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) ref
1864 names as well as unqualified names (which will be assumed to be located
1865 under ``refs/heads/``). In revert mode a tgish ref will always have
1866 both its ``refs/heads/`` and ``refs/top-bases/`` values included no
1867 matter how it's listed unless ``--no-deps`` is given and the ref is
1868 fully qualified (i.e. starts with ``refs/``) or one or the other of its
1869 values was removed from the instruction sheet in interactive mode. In
1870 list mode a tgish ref will always have both its ``refs/heads/`` and
1871 ``refs/top-bases/`` values included only when using the ``--deps`` or
1872 ``--rdeps`` options.
1874 The ``--tgish-only`` option excludes non-tgish refs (i.e. refs that do
1875 not have a ``refs/heads/<name>``, ``refs/top-bases/<name>`` pair).
1877 The ``--exclude`` option (which can be repeated) excludes specific
1878 refs. If the name given to ``--exclude`` is not fully-qualified (i.e.
1879 starts with ``refs/``) then it will exclude both members of a tgish ref
1882 The ``--quiet`` (or ``-q``) option may be used in revert mode to
1883 suppress non-dry-run ref change status messages.
1885 The special tag name ``--stash`` (as well as with ``@{n}`` suffixes)
1886 can be used to refer to ``refs/tgstash``.
1888 The ``tg revert`` command supports tags of tags that contains TopGit
1889 refs. So, for example, if you do this::
1892 git tag -f -a -m "tag the tag" newtag newtag
1894 Then ``newtag`` will be a tag of a tag containing a ``TOPGIT REFS``
1895 section. ``tg revert`` knows how to dereference the outermost
1896 tag to get to the next (and the next etc.) tag to find the
1897 ``TOPGIT REFS`` section so after the above sequence, the tag ``newtag``
1898 can still be used successfully with ``tg revert``.
1900 NOTE: If HEAD points to a ref that is updated by a revert operation
1901 then NO WARNING whatsoever will be issued, but the index and working
1902 tree will always be left completely untouched (and the reflog for
1903 the pointed-to ref can always be used to find the previous value).
1907 Output the "previous" branch(es) in the patch series containing the
1908 current or named branch. The "previous" branch(es) being one step
1912 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
1913 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
1914 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "previous" steps (default 1)
1915 --all take as many "previous" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
1916 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
1918 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
1920 To list all dependencies of a branch see the ``--deps`` option of
1921 the `tg info`_ command.
1923 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "previous" steps.
1927 Output tne "next" branch(es) in the patch series containing the current
1928 or named branch. The "next" branch(es) being one step away by default.
1931 -i show dependencies based on index instead of branch
1932 -w show dependencies based on working tree instead of branch
1933 -n <steps> take ``<steps>`` "next" steps (default 1)
1934 --all take as many "next" steps as possible (aka ``-a``)
1935 --verbose show containing series name(s) (aka ``-v``)
1937 The ``-n`` option may also be given as ``--count`` or ``--count=<n>``.
1939 To list all dependents of a branch see the ``--dependents`` option of
1940 the `tg info`_ command.
1942 See also NAVIGATION_ for full details on "next" steps.
1946 Transition top-bases from old location to new location.
1948 Beginning with TopGit release 0.19.4, TopGit has the ability to store
1949 the top-bases refs in either the old ``ref/top-bases/...`` location or
1950 the new ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/...`` location. Starting with TopGit
1951 release 0.20.0, the default is the new location.
1953 By storing the top-bases under heads, Git is less likely to complain
1954 when manipulating them, hosting providers are more likely to provide
1955 access to them and Git prevents them from pointing at anything other
1956 than a commit object. All in all a win for everyone.
1958 TopGit attempts to automatically detect whether the new or old location
1959 is being used for the top-bases and just do the right thing. However,
1960 by explicitly setting the config value ``topgit.top-bases`` to either
1961 ``refs`` for the old location or ``heads`` for the new location the
1962 auto-detection can be bypassed. If no top-bases refs are present in
1963 the repository the default prior to TopGit release 0.20.0 is to use the
1964 old location but starting with TopGit release 0.20.0 the default is to
1965 use the new location.
1967 The ``tg migrate-bases`` command may be used to migrate top-bases refs
1968 from the old location to the new location (or, by using the
1969 undocumented ``--reverse`` option, vice versa).
1971 With few exceptions (``tg create -r`` and ``tg revert``), all top-bases
1972 refs (both local *and* remote refs) are expected to be stored in the
1973 same location (either new or old). A repository's current location for
1974 storing top-bases refs may be shown with the ``tg --top-bases`` command.
1982 TopGit stores all the topic branches in the regular ``refs/heads/``
1983 namespace (so we recommend distinguishing them with the ``t/`` prefix).
1984 Apart from that, TopGit also maintains a set of auxiliary refs in
1985 ``refs/top-*``. Currently, only ``refs/top-bases/`` is used, containing the
1986 current *base* of the given topic branch -- this is basically a merge of
1987 all the branches the topic branch depends on; it is updated during ``tg
1988 update`` and then merged to the topic branch, and it is the base of a
1989 patch generated from the topic branch by ``tg patch``.
1991 All the metadata is tracked within the source tree and history of the
1992 topic branch itself, in ``.top*`` files; these files are kept isolated
1993 within the topic branches during TopGit-controlled merges and are of
1994 course omitted during ``tg patch``. The state of these files in base
1995 commits is undefined; look at them only in the topic branches
1996 themselves. Currently, two files are defined:
1999 Contains the description of the topic branch in a
2000 mail-like format, plus the author information, whatever
2001 Cc headers you choose or the post-three-dashes message.
2002 When mailing out your patch, basically only a few extra
2003 mail headers are inserted and then the patch itself is
2004 appended. Thus, as your patches evolve, you can record
2005 nuances like whether the particular patch should have
2006 To-list / Cc-maintainer or vice-versa and similar
2007 nuances, if your project is into that. ``From`` is
2008 prefilled from your current ``GIT_AUTHOR_IDENT``; other
2009 headers can be prefilled from various optional
2010 ``topgit.*`` git config options.
2013 Contains the one-per-line list of branches this branch
2014 depends on, pre-seeded by ``tg create``. A (continuously
2015 updated) merge of these branches will be the *base* of
2018 IMPORTANT: DO NOT EDIT ``.topdeps`` MANUALLY!!! If you do so, you need to
2019 know exactly what you are doing, since this file must stay in sync with
2020 the Git history information, otherwise very bad things will happen.
2022 TopGit also automagically installs a bunch of custom commit-related
2023 hooks that will verify whether you are committing the ``.top*`` files in a
2024 sane state. It will add the hooks to separate files within the ``hooks/``
2025 subdirectory, and merely insert calls to them to the appropriate hooks
2026 and make them executable (but will make sure the original hook's code is
2027 not called if the hook was not executable beforehand).
2029 Another automagically installed piece is a ``.git/info/attributes``
2030 specifier for an ``ours`` merge strategy for the files ``.topmsg`` and
2031 ``.topdeps``, and the (intuitive) ``ours`` merge strategy definition in
2038 There are two remaining issues with accessing topic branches in remote
2041 (i) Referring to remote topic branches from your local repository
2042 (ii) Developing some of the remote topic branches locally
2044 There are two somewhat contradictory design considerations here:
2046 (a) Hacking on multiple independent TopGit remotes in a single
2048 (b) Having a self-contained topic system in local refs space
2050 To us, (a) does not appear to be very convincing, while (b) is quite
2051 desirable for ``git-log topic`` etc. working, and increased conceptual
2054 Thus, we choose to instantiate all the topic branches of given remote
2055 locally; this is performed by ``tg remote --populate``. ``tg update``
2056 will also check if a branch can be updated from its corresponding remote
2057 branch. The logic needs to be somewhat involved if we are to "do the
2058 right thing". First, we update the base, handling the remote branch as
2059 if it was the first dependency; thus, conflict resolutions made in the
2060 remote branch will be carried over to our local base automagically.
2061 Then, the base is merged into the remote branch and the result is merged
2062 to the local branch -- again, to carry over remote conflict resolutions.
2063 In the future, this order might be adjustable on a per-update basis, in
2064 case local changes happen to be diverging more than the remote ones.
2065 (See the details in `The Update Process`_ for more in depth coverage.)
2067 All commands by default refer to the remote that ``tg remote --populate``
2068 was called on the last time (stored in the ``topgit.remote`` git
2069 configuration variable). You can manually run any command with a
2070 different base remote by passing ``-r REMOTE`` *before* the subcommand
2071 name or passing ``-u`` *before* the subcommand to run without one.
2077 Running the TopGit test suite only requires POSIX compatibile utilities (just
2078 a POSIX compatibile ``make`` will do) AND a ``perl`` binary.
2080 It is *not* necessary to install TopGit in order to run the TopGit test suite.
2082 To run the TopGit test suite, simply execute this from the top-level of a
2083 TopGit checkout or expanded release tarball:
2089 Yup, that's it. But you're probably thinking, "Why have a whole section just
2090 to say 'run make test'?" Am I right?
2092 The simple ``make test`` command produces a lot of output and while it is
2093 summarized at the end there's a better way.
2095 Do you have the ``prove`` utility available? You need ``perl`` to run the
2096 tests and ``prove`` comes with ``perl`` so you almost cerainly do.
2098 Try running the tests like so:
2102 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove test
2105 (For reference, the default value of ``DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET`` is ``test`` which
2106 can be used to override a setting that's been altered using the instructions
2107 shown later on below.)
2109 If that works (you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``), try this next:
2113 make DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET=prove TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS="-j 4 --timer" test
2115 If that one works (again, you can interrupt it with ``Ctrl-C``) that may end
2116 up being the keeper for running the tests.
2118 However, if you don't have ``prove`` for some reason even though you do have
2119 ``perl``, there's still an alternative for briefer output. Try this:
2123 make TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2125 Much of the normal testing output will be suppressed and there's still a
2126 summary at the end. If you're stuck with this version but your make supports
2127 parallel operation (the ``-j`` *<n>*) option, then you might try this:
2131 make -j 4 TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2133 If your make *does* support the parallel ``-j`` option but still seems to be
2134 only running one test at a time try it like this instead:
2138 make TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS="-j 4" TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS=-q test
2140 The difference is that ``make -j 4`` relies on make to properly pass down the
2141 parallel job option all the way down to the sub-make that runs the individual
2142 tests when not using prove. Putting the options in ``TESTLIB_MAKE_OPTS``
2143 passes them directly to that (and only that) particular invocation of make.
2145 The final bit of advice for running the tests is that any of those ``make``
2146 variable settings can be enabled by default in a top-level ``config.mak`` file.
2148 For example, to make the ``prove -j 4 --timer`` (my personal favorite) the
2149 default when running the tests, add these lines (creating the file if it does
2150 not already exist) to the ``config.mak`` file located in the top-level of the
2151 TopGit checkout (or expanded release tarball):
2156 # comments are allowed (if preceded by '#')
2157 # so are blank lines
2159 DEFAULT_TEST_TARGET = prove
2160 TESTLIB_PROVE_OPTS = -j 4 --timer
2161 #TESTLIB_TEST_OPTS = --color # force colorized test output
2163 Now simply doing ``make test`` will use those options by default.
2165 There is copious documentation on the testing library and other options in
2166 the various ``README`` files located in the ``t`` subdirectory. The
2167 ``Makefile.mak`` file in the ``t`` subdirectory contains plenty of comments
2168 about possible makefile variable settings as well.
2175 A familiarity with the terms in the GLOSSARY_ is helpful for understanding the
2176 content of this sections. See also the IMPLEMENTATION_ section.
2181 When a branch is "updated" using the ``tg update`` command the following steps
2184 1) The branch and all of its dependencies (and theirs recursively)
2185 are checked to see which ones are *out-of-date*. See glossary_.
2187 2) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2188 the branch's ``.topdeps`` file) which is out of date is updated
2189 before proceeding (yup, this is a recursive process).
2191 3) Each of the branch's direct dependencies (i.e. they are listed in
2192 the branch's ``.topdes`` file) that was updated in the previous
2193 step is now merged into the branch's corresponding base. If a
2194 remote is involved, and the branch's corresponding base does NOT
2195 contain the remote branch's corresponding base that remote base is
2196 also merged into the branch's base at this time as well (it will be
2197 the first item merged into the branch's base).
2199 4) If the branch has a corresponding remote branch and the branch
2200 does not already contain it, it's merged into the branch's base
2201 (which was possibly already updated in step (3) to contain the
2202 remote branch's base but not the remote branch itself) on a detached
2203 HEAD. Yup, this step can be a bit confusing and no, the updated
2204 base from step (3) has not yet been merged into the branch itself
2205 yet either. If there is no remote branch this step does not apply.
2206 Using a detached HEAD allows the remote branch to be merged into the
2207 contents of the base without actually perturbing the base's ref.
2209 5) If there is a remote branch present then use the result of step (4)
2210 otherwise use the branch's base and merge that into the branch
2213 That's it! Simple, right? ;)
2215 Unless the auto stash option has been disabled (see `no undo`_, `tg update`_
2216 and `tg tag`_), a copy of all the old refs values will be stashed away
2217 immediately after step (1) before starting step (2), but only if anything is
2218 actually found to be out-of-date.
2223 The ``tg update`` command regularly performs merges while executing an update
2224 operation. In order to speed things up, it attempts to do in-index merges
2225 where possible. It accomplishes this by using a separate, temporary index
2226 file and the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command possibly assisted by
2227 the ``git merge-index`` and ``git merge-file`` commands. This combination may
2228 be repeated more than once to perform an octopus in-index merge. If this
2229 fails, the files are checked out and a normal ``git merge`` three-way merge is
2230 performed (possily multiple times). If the normal ``git merge`` fails then
2231 user intervention is required to resolve the merge conflict(s) and continue.
2233 Since the ``tg annihilate``, ``tg create`` and ``tg depend add`` commands may
2234 end up running the ``tg update`` machinery behind the scenes to complete their
2235 operation they may also result in any of these merge strategies being used.
2237 In addition to the normal Git merge strategies (if the in-index merging fails),
2238 there are four possible TopGit merge strategies that may be shown. Since they
2239 all involve use of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command they are all
2240 variations of a "trivial aggressive" merge. The "trivial" part because all of
2241 the merges done by ``git read-tree -m`` are described as "trivial" and the
2242 "aggressive" part because the ``--aggressive`` option is always used.
2244 1) "trivial aggressive"
2245 Only two heads were involved and all merging was completed by
2246 the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command.
2248 2) "trivial aggressive automatic"
2249 Only two heads were involved but after the
2250 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command completed there were
2251 still unresolved items and ``git merge-index`` had to be run
2252 (using the ``tg index-merge-one-file`` driver) which ultimately
2253 ran ``git merge-file`` at least once to perform a simple
2254 automatic three-way merge. Hence the "automatic" description
2255 and the "Auto-merging ..." output line(s).
2257 3) "trivial aggressive octopus"
2258 This is the same as a "trivial aggressive" merge except that
2259 more than two heads were involved and after merging the first
2260 two heads, the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` step was
2261 repeated again on the result for each additional head. All
2262 merging was completed via multiple
2263 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` commands only.
2264 This beast is relatively rare in the wild.
2266 4) "trivial aggressive automatic octopus"
2267 This is very similar to the "trivial aggressive octopus"
2268 except that at least one of the ``git read-tree -m --aggressive``
2269 commands left unresolved items that were handled the same way
2270 as the "trivial aggressive automatic" strategy. This species
2271 is commonly seen in the wild.
2278 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2279 TopGit branch that contains the patch header for a TopGit
2280 branch. See also IMPLEMENTATION_;
2283 Version-controlled file stored at the root level of each
2284 TopGit branch that lists the branch's dependencies one per
2285 line omitting the leading ``refs/heads/`` part. See also
2289 Given two Git commit identifiers (e.g. hashes) C1 and C2,
2290 commit C1 "contains" commit C2 if either they are the same
2291 commit or C2 can be reached from C1 by following one or more
2292 parent links from C1 (perhaps via one or more intermediate
2293 commits along the way). In other words, if C1 contains C2
2294 then C2 is an ancestor of C1 or conversely C1 is a descendant
2295 of C2. Since a TopGit branch name is also the name of a Git
2296 branch (something located under the ``refs/heads`` Git
2297 namespace) and similarly for a TopGit base, they can both be
2298 resolved to a Git commit identifier and then participate in
2299 a branch containment test. An easy mnemonic for this is
2300 "children contain the genes of their parents."
2303 A Basic Regular Expression (BRE) pattern. These are older
2304 style regular expressions but have the advantage that all
2305 characters other than ``\``, ``.``, ``*`` and ``[``
2306 automatically match themselves without need for backslash
2307 quoting (well actually, ``^`` and ``$`` are special at the
2308 beginning and end respectively but otherwise match themselves).
2311 See branch containment.
2314 An Extended Regular Expression (ERE) pattern. These are newer
2315 style regular expressions where all the regular expression
2316 "operator" characters "operate" when NOT preceded by a
2317 backslash and are turned into normal characters with a ``\``.
2318 The backreference atom, however, may not work, but ``?``, ``+``
2319 and ``|`` "operators" do; unlike BREs.
2322 Excellent system for managing a history of changes to one
2323 or more possibly interrelated patches.
2326 A Git branch that has an associated TopGit base. Conceptually
2327 it represents a single patch that is the difference between
2328 the associated TopGit base and the TopGit branch. In other
2329 words ``git diff-tree <TopGit base> <TopGit branch>`` except
2330 that any ``.topdeps`` and/or ``.topmsg`` files are excluded
2331 from the result and the contents of the ``.topmsg`` file from
2332 the TopGit branch is prefixed to the result.
2335 A Git branch that records the base upon which a TopGit branch's
2336 single conceptual "patch" is built. The name of the Git branch
2337 is derived from the TopGit branch name by stripping off the
2338 leading ``refs/heads/`` and appending the correct prefix where
2339 all TopGit bases are stored (typically either
2340 ``refs/top-bases/`` or ``refs/heads/{top-bases}/`` -- the
2341 prefix for any given repository can be shown by using the
2342 ``tg --top-bases`` command and updated using the
2343 ``tg migrate-bases`` command).
2345 All of a TopGit branch's dependencies are merged into the
2346 corresponding TopGit base during a ``tg update`` of a branch.
2351 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branch
2352 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[PATCH]``. By
2353 convention these TopGit branches contain a single patch
2354 (equivalent to a single patch file) and have at least one
2355 dependency (i.e. their ``.topdeps`` files are never empty).
2357 TopGit ``[BASE]`` branch
2358 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[BASE]``. By
2359 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain
2360 any changes and their ``.topdeps`` files are empty. They
2361 are used to control a base dependency that another set of
2362 branches depends on.
2364 TopGit ``[STAGE]`` branch
2365 A TopGit branch whose subject starts with ``[STAGE]``. By
2366 convention these TopGit branches do not actually contain any
2367 changes of their own but do have one or (typically) more
2368 dependencies in their ``.topdeps`` file. These branches are
2369 used to bring together one or (typically) more independent
2370 TopGit ``[PATCH]`` branches into a single branch so that
2371 testing and/or evaluation can be performed on the result.
2374 When merging two (or more) heads that touch the same lines in
2375 the file but in different ways the result is a merge conflict
2376 that requires manual intervention. If a merge conflict occurs
2377 with more than two heads (an octopus merge) it's generally
2378 replaced by multiple three-way merges so that by the time a
2379 user sees a merge conflict needing manual resolution, there
2380 will be only two heads involved.
2383 A Git merge strategy (see the "MERGE STRATEGIES" section of
2384 ``git help merge``) or one of the TopGit `merge strategies`_
2385 used to merge two or more heads.
2387 TopGit merge strategy
2388 See the `Merge Strategies`_ section above for details but
2389 basically these are just in-index merges done using the
2390 ``git read-tree -m --aggressive`` command one or more times
2391 possibily assisted by the ``git merge-index`` and the
2392 ``git merge-file`` commands.
2395 In TopGit context the "next" branch refers to the branch that
2396 corresponds to the next (aka following) patch in an ordered
2397 (aka linearized) list of patches created by exporting the
2398 TopGit branches in patch application order.
2401 A merge involving more than two heads. Note that if there are
2402 less than three independent heads the resulting merge that
2403 started out as an octopus will end up not actually being an
2407 A TopGit branch is considered to be "out-of-date" when ANY of
2408 the following are true:
2410 a) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2413 b) The TopGit branch does NOT contain its
2414 corresponding remote branch (there may not be
2415 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2417 c) The TopGit branch's base does NOT contain its
2418 corresponding remote branch's base (there may not be
2419 a remote branch in which case this does not apply)
2421 d) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2422 ``.topdeps`` file are NOT contained by the branch.
2423 (See "branch containment" above.)
2425 e) Any of the TopGit branches listed in the branch's
2426 ``.topdeps`` file are out-of-date.
2428 Note that if a remote branch is present and is NOT out-of-date
2429 then it will contain its own base and (c) is mostly redundant.
2432 In TopGit context the "previous" (or "prev") branch refers to
2433 the branch that corresponds to the previous (aka preceding)
2434 patch in an ordered (aka linearized) list of patches created by
2435 exporting the TopGit branches in patch application order.
2437 remote TopGit branch
2438 A Git branch with the same branch name as a TopGit branch
2439 but living under ``refs/remotes/<some remote>/`` instead
2440 of just ``refs/heads/``.
2443 The TopGit base branch corresponding to a remote TopGit branch,
2444 which lives under ``refs/remotes/`` somewhere (depending on
2445 what the output of ``tg --top-bases`` is for that remote).
2448 A three-way merge takes a common base and two heads (call them
2449 A and B) and creates a new file that is the common base plus
2450 all of the changes made between the common base and head A
2451 *AND* all of the changes made between the common base and
2452 head B. The technique used to accomplish this is called a
2459 The following references are useful to understand the development of
2460 topgit and its subcommands.
2463 http://public-inbox.org/git/36ca99e90904091034m4d4d31dct78acb333612e678@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
2466 THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE
2467 --------------------
2469 The following software understands TopGit branches:
2471 * `magit <http://magit.github.io/>`_ -- a git mode for emacs
2473 IMPORTANT: Magit requires its topgit mode to be enabled first, as
2474 described in its documentation, in the "Activating extensions"
2475 subsection. If this is not done, it will not push TopGit branches
2476 correctly, so it's important to enable it even if you plan to mostly use
2477 TopGit from the command line.