Re: first parent, commit graph layout, and pull merge direction

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: May 22, 2013, 18:07 UTC
Message-ID: <7v4ndukhx0.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <20130522115042.GA20649@inner.h.apk.li>

Andreas Krey <a.krey@gmx.de> writes:

> A short trial showed that representing first parent chains as
> straight lines in the graph does actually improve understandability,
> as feature branches clearly stand out as separate lines even when
> they no longer carry a branch name.

If you have a four-commit segment in your commit ancestry graph (time flows from left to right; turn your head 90-degrees to the right if you want a gitk representation):

    ---A--X
        \/
        /\
    ---B--Y

where X and Y are both merges between A and B, having A as their first parent, how would you express such a graph with first-parent chain going a straight line?

Show 5 quoted lines

> Also, there is an implication with 'git pull': You'd expect the
> master branch to be a first parent line, but when I do a small
> thing directly on master and need to pull before pushing back,
> then origin/master is merged into my branch, and thus my side
> branch becomes the first parent line.

Don't do that, then.