From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2022 18:02:51 GMT
Subject: Re: git notes question
Message-ID: <xmqqee3bm2b8.fsf@gitster.g>
In-Reply-To: <d204419925e7a4486d9a66a8a0f807a77be6d1b7.camel@gmail.com>

Nuno Sá <noname.nuno@gmail.com> writes:

> AFAICT, git-format-patch looks to be using --pretty=email and I think
> we can use --pretty in git-format-patch but having to mimic the email
> format "by hand" is just painful and I was hoping a better way could
> exist.

Well, this time it was "Notes:" label, but the next person who
wants to see a deviation from the canned "email" format would want a
deviation different from yours.  Perhaps they want a different way
to format the author name?  Perhaps they want a different way to
separate the title (to be on the "Subject:" line) out of the commit
message?  Perhaps they want to see the log message be indented?
Perhaps they want to see the message from the notes be line-wrapped?
Perhaps they want to see the message from the notes not to be
indented?  Perhaps they want to see the "Notes (amlog):" label to
format the name of the notes tree differently?

Where would that end?  We have to draw the line somewhere.

The customizability via --format=<template> is given for these
people who want to futz with that line.  One thing that may be a
good little project to help them is to make sure that the vanilla
"--pretty=email" can be reimplemented as "--format=<template>" (I
doubt it is), design a way to fill the gaps (if there are) to get
there.  Once that is done, write down the "--format=<template>" that
is equivalent to "--pretty=email" somewhere in the doc, to give
those who want to derive from the canned format some reasonable
starting point.