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[PATCH v2] merge-options.txt: correct wording of --no-commit option

From
Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Date
Feb 19, 2019, 17:07 UTC
Message-ID
<20190219170709.25463-1-newren@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To
<5C6BAA4E020000A10002FBFF@gwsmtp1.uni-regensburg.de>

The former wording implied that --no-commit would always cause the merge operation to "pause" and allow the user to make further changes and/or provide a special commit message for the merge commit. This is not the case for fast-forward merges, as there is no merge commit to create. Without a merge commit, there is no place where it makes sense to "stop the merge and allow the user to tweak changes"; doing that would require a full rebase of some sort.

Since users may be unaware of whether their branches have diverged or not, modify the wording to correctly address fast-forward cases as well and suggest using --no-ff with --no-commit if the point is to ensure that the merge stops before completing.

Reported-by: Ulrich Windl <Ulrich.Windl@rz.uni-regensburg.de>
Signed-off-by: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
---
Changes since v1:
  - Tweaked commit message
 Documentation/merge-options.txt | 12 +++++++++---
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/merge-options.txt b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
index c2a263ba74..d1061b8cf7 100644
--- a/Documentation/merge-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/merge-options.txt
@@ -3,9 +3,15 @@
 	Perform the merge and commit the result. This option can
 	be used to override --no-commit.
 +
-With --no-commit perform the merge but pretend the merge
-failed and do not autocommit, to give the user a chance to
-inspect and further tweak the merge result before committing.
+With --no-commit perform the merge and stop just before creating
+a merge commit, to give the user a chance to inspect and further
+tweak the merge result before committing.
++
+Note that fast-forward updates do not need to create a merge
+commit and therefore there is no way to stop those merges with
+--no-commit.  Thus, if you want to ensure your branch is not
+changed or updated by the merge command, use --no-ff with
+--no-commit.
 
 --edit::
 -e::
-- 
2.21.0.rc1.264.g6c9e06a32d
Previous: Ulrich WindlNext: Junio C Hamano
Message 6 of 11 in “Q: What happened to "--no-commit" merges?”
  1. Ulrich WindlJan 22, 2019
  2. Elijah NewrenJan 22, 2019
  3. Antw: Re: Q: What happened to "--no-commit" merges?Ulrich Windl, Jan 23, 2019
  4. Elijah Newren, Feb 18, 2019
  5. Antw: Antw:Ulrich Windl, Feb 19, 2019
  6. merge-options.txt: correct wording of --no-commit optionElijah Newren, Feb 19, 2019
  7. Junio C HamanoFeb 19, 2019
  8. Elijah NewrenFeb 19, 2019
  9. Junio C HamanoFeb 19, 2019
  10. merge-options.txt: correct wording of --no-commit optionElijah Newren, Feb 21, 2019
  11. Antw: Re: [PATCH v2] merge-options.txt: correct wording of --no-commit optionUlrich Windl, Feb 20, 2019

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