Re: [PATCH] git-add: introduce --edit (to edit the diff vs. the index)

From: Ping Yin <pkufranky@gmail.com>
Date: Apr 9, 2009, 02:00 UTC
Message-ID: <46dff0320904081900n7bff2280rc49315e3db427919@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <61c07126e28aba0a36730da06112bd2d16eabc1b.1239225986u.git.johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>

On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 5:30 AM, Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de> wrote:

Show 19 quoted lines

> With "git add -e [<files>]", Git will fire up an editor with the current
> diff relative to the index (i.e. what you would get with "git diff
> [<files>]").
>
> Now you can edit the patch as much as you like, including adding/removing
> lines, editing the text, whatever.  Make sure, though, that the first
> character of the hunk lines is still a space, a plus or a minus.
>
> After you closed the editor, Git will adjust the line counts of the hunks
> if necessary, thanks to the --recount option of apply, and commit the
> patch.  Except if you deleted everything, in which case nothing happens
> (for obvious reasons).
>
> Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
> ---
>
>        I actually promised myself not to resend this patch, but a
>        certain guy who has a hat now asked for it.
>

I am that guy :-). Thanks. Sometimes "add -e" is more useful than "add -p" since i can see the full context when editing the patch. However, sometimes the ability to edit the index directly is even more useful. For example, if it's a big change (or rewritten), it is hard to edit the patch instead of the index (in diff mode with the worktree file side by side). I even encounter a case that i can't beat the patch into a shape i want when using 'add -p' ( it will fail to apply)