Re: [PATCH] Remove tab character from conflicted files list part of the merge message

From: Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
Date: Mar 14, 2007, 09:26 UTC
Message-ID: <7vslc8ch1k.fsf@assigned-by-dhcp.cox.net>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.63.0703131539430.22628@wbgn013.biozentrum.uni-wuerzburg.de>

Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de> writes:

Show 16 quoted lines

> On Tue, 13 Mar 2007, Andy Parkins wrote:
> ...
>> Was appearing in the log display as
>> 
>> Conflicts:
>>         file.c
>>      * Chose upstream version over mine, but integrated my small typo fix.
>> 
>> Which isn't how I'd intended at all.
>> 
>> The fix is of course - no tabs.  Tabs for formatting is always going to 
>> cause trouble, so this patch swaps the tab for spaces.
>
> And of course the next guy will have the reverse problem, because he typed 
> <TAB><SPACE> instead of <SPACE>*5. What do you tell _him_ after "fixing" 
> this issue? "Do as _I_ do"?

Actually, tabs are for indent and everybody knows that. In Andy's example, I think the bug is in typing spaces before the explanatory message "* Chose upstream...". An obvious fix is to type a tab instead.

Non-email pretty formats give 4-space margin at the left, and it indeed is annoying if you drew ascii art in the commit message and later discover you mistakenly used tab when you meant spaces.

Having said that, I do not have a strong feeling either way. If I have to choose, I would probably replace the TAB with two spaces, if only to match merge.summary output:

        Merge branch 'blah'

        * blah:
          third commit on blah topic
          second commit on blah topic
          first commit on blah topic

        Conflicts:

          blah.c
          xyzzy.h