From: Thomas Rast <trast@student.ethz.ch>
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:29:03 GMT
Subject: Re: [bug?] git-format-patch produces a 0-byte long patch for the first commit
Message-ID: <200903231729.08216.trast@student.ethz.ch>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.64.0903231119110.4871@axis700.grange>

Guennadi Liakhovetski wrote:
> mkdir x
> cd x
> git-init
> echo hi > greating
> git-commit -a
[...]
> git-format-patch HEAD^ produces an error, 

There is no HEAD^ in this case.  HEAD is always the currently checked
out commit.  Since it has a root commit, it has no parent, so you
cannot apply ^ ("the first parent of") to it.  Similarly, HEAD~2 will
not work if HEAD~1 has no parent, etc.

> git-format-patch -1 produces a 0-byte long patch.

That is admittedly weird and probably deserves a fix and/or suggestion
to use --root.

I'm not sure what else I can add to the explanations I gave on IRC.

-- 
Thomas Rast
trast@{inf,student}.ethz.ch