From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Fri, 25 May 2018 01:38:33 GMT
Subject: Re: "man git-tag" inconsistent about whether you can tag non-commit objects
Message-ID: <xmqqpo1kpl9i.fsf@gitster-ct.c.googlers.com>
In-Reply-To: <alpine.LFD.2.21.1805241040400.14773@localhost.localdomain>

"Robert P. J. Day" <rpjday@crashcourse.ca> writes:

>   embarrassed to admit i had no idea that you could tag non-commit
> objects, only realized that when i was reading the man page and saw:
>
>   SYNOPSIS
>      git tag [-a | -s | -u <keyid>] [-f] [-m <msg> | -F <file>] [-e]
>            <tagname> [<commit> | <object>]
>                                  ^^^^^^^^
>
> so i tried it and, sure enough, i could tag a blob object. but if you
> read further into DESCRIPTION, about halfway through, you read:
>
>   "Otherwise just a tag reference for the SHA-1 object name of the
>    commit object is created (i.e. a lightweight tag)."
>    ^^^^^^
>
> which suggests only commit objects. finally, much further down, under
> OPTIONS:
>
>   "<commit>, <object>
>      The object that the new tag will refer to, usually a commit.
>                                                 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> so to clean this up, is it sufficient to just change that middle line
> to say "object" rather than "commit object"? or is there more in the
> man page that needs tweaking?

As that sentence talks about a lightweight tag (i.e. a reference in
refs/tags/ hierarchy that directly points at an object of any kind),
another possibility would be to say

	Otherwise a tag reference that directly points at the given
	object (i.e. lightweight tag) is created.