rebase --continue confusion

I ran into a conflict while running 'git rebase branch1 branch2'. So I edited
the file and resolved the conflicts, and then ran 'git add <file>; git rebase
--continue'. This printed out a message 'No changes - did you forget to use git
add?'. I thought 'No, I'm pretty sure I ran git add' and I assumed I had run
into a bug in git because I didn't see how this conflict was different than any
others I had successfully resolved. The next time this problem came up, the
light finally came on and I realized that I should just run 'git rebase --skip'
because when I resolved the conflicts, I had basically undone all changes that
the patch would introduce.

OK, so there isn't a bug in git, but since then I've seen co-workers stumped by
this same problem. So maybe it would help to clarify the message? Maybe
something like "The index is in the same state as it was before the patch was
applied - refusing to make an empty commit. Did you forget to use 'git add'? Or
maybe you should use 'git rebase --skip'?"


Dale