Re: bug? illegal text in commit log

From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Feb 4, 2020, 21:25 UTC
Message-ID: <xmqqimkm6o4r.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>
In-Reply-To: <b005193f-24b7-7b6f-f3dc-c7a98db14ed7@web.de>

René Scharfe <l.s.r@web.de> writes:

Show 25 quoted lines

> Am 04.02.20 um 07:14 schrieb Michael S. Tsirkin:
>> It seems that it's not too hard to make commits such that
>> the standard way of git format-patch -> email -> git am
>> fails.
>
>> A work around is "don't do it" - avoid putting anything that looks like
>> a unified diff in the commit log.
>>
>> However:
>> - Users don't know what other restrictions exist
>> - User sending the patch has no way to detect failure,
>>   it's only visible to user receiving the patch
>
> Putting a diff in a commit message can be useful, and forbidding it is
> hard to justify.
>
>> Ideas:
>> - validate commit log and warn users?
>
> That's only better than the status quo insofar it turns the issue from
> a hidden pitfall into an open one.
>
>> - find a way to escape text in git format-patch, and unescape in git am?
>
> Like a Lines: header specifying the number of lines in the commit message?

I think the existing practice is to indent such a diff in the message by a few characters. And I think that makes sense even without counting its value "as a workaround"---we indent materials inserted in the message for illustration, and a block of diff is just that.