Re: [PATCH 10/14] format-patch: add --range-diff option to embed diff in cover letter

On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 9:59 PM Eric Sunshine [off-list ref] wrote:

On Mon, Jul 23, 2018 at 12:28 PM Duy Nguyen [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

On Sun, Jul 22, 2018 at 11:58 AM Eric Sunshine [off-list ref] wrote:

quoted

diff --git a/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt b/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
index f8a061794d..e7f404be3d 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-format-patch.txt

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
                   [--to=<email>] [--cc=<email>]
                   [--[no-]cover-letter] [--quiet] [--notes[=<ref>]]
                   [--interdiff=<previous>]
+                  [--range-diff=<previous>]

I wonder if people will use both --interdiff=<rev> and
--range-diff=<rev> often enough to justify a shortcut
"--all-kinds-of-diff=<rev>" so that we don't have to type <previous>
twice. But I guess we don't have to worry about this right now.

My original thought was that --interdiff and --range-diff would be
mutually exclusive, however, I quickly realized that some people might
like to use both options together since each format has its strengths
and weaknesses. (I've used both types of diffs together when preparing
rerolls of my own series and found that, together, they provided a
better picture of the reroll than either would have alone.)

I actually had another question that I answered myself: how do I know
which one to choose? There's no preview option (and I'm lazy, I don't
want to do separate diff commands myself). So my answer was "choose
both, then delete the one that does not look good (and explain it in
the cover too when I delete it)"

And, as you note, it's something that can be added later if
warranted (plus, this series is already long and I'd like to avoid
making it longer for something like this whose value is only
speculative).

Yes of course. We can revisit this later.
-- 
Duy