Re: [PATCH 1/2] diff-merges: improve --diff-merges documentation
From: Junio C Hamano <hidden>
Date: 2023-09-11 23:16:42
Sergey Organov [off-list ref] writes:
ifdef::git-log[] ---diff-merges=(off|none|on|first-parent|1|separate|m|combined|c|dense-combined|cc|remerge|r):: +-m:: + Show diffs for merge commits in the default format. This is + similar to '--diff-merges=on' (which see) except `-m` will + produce no output unless `-p` is given as well. ++ +Note: This option not implying `-p` is legacy feature that is +preserved for the sake of backward compatibility.
It is more like that `-p` does not imply `-m` (which used to mean "consider showing the comparison between parent(s) and the child, even for merge commits"), even though newer options like `-c`, `--cc` and others do imply `-m` (simply because they do not make much sense if they are not allowed to work on merges) that may make new people confused. If `-p` implied `-m` (or if `-m` implied `-p`), it would also have been utterly confusing and useless for human consumption. In either case, unless the reason why `-p` does not imply `-m` unlike others is explained, I do not think the note adds that much value. I'd suggest dropping it.
--no-diff-merges::
+ Synonym for '--diff-merges=off'.
+
+--diff-merges=<format>::
Specify diff format to be used for merge commits. Default is
- {diff-merges-default} unless `--first-parent` is in use, in which case
- `first-parent` is the default.
+ {diff-merges-default} unless `--first-parent` is in use, in
+ which case `first-parent` is the default.
+
+The following formats are supported:
++
+--
+off, none::
Disable output of diffs for merge commits. Useful to override
implied value.
+
+on, m::
+ Make diff output for merge commits to be shown in the default
+ format. The default format could be changed using
`log.diffMerges` configuration parameter, which default value
is `separate`.
+
+first-parent, 1::
+ Show full diff with respect to first parent. This is the same
+ format as `--patch` produces for non-merge commits.
+
+separate::
+ Show full diff with respect to each of parents.
+ Separate log entry and diff is generated for each parent.
+
+remerge, r::
+ Remerge two-parent merge commits to create a temporary tree
+ object--potentially containing files with conflict markers
+ and such. A diff is then shown between that temporary tree
+ and the actual merge commit.
+
The output emitted when this option is used is subject to change, and
so is its interaction with other options (unless explicitly
documented).
+
+combined, c::
+ Show differences from each of the parents to the merge
+ result simultaneously instead of showing pairwise diff between
+ a parent and the result one at a time. Furthermore, it lists
+ only files which were modified from all parents.
+
+dense-combined, cc::
+ Further compress output produced by `--diff-merges=combined`
+ by omitting uninteresting hunks whose contents in the parents
+ have only two variants and the merge result picks one of them
+ without modification.
+--Looks reasonable, even though I didn't quite see much problem with the original. If we were shuffling the sections like this patch, I wonder if moving combined/dense-combined a bit higher (perhaps before the "remerge") may make more sense, though (the ordering would simply become "simpler to more involved").