[--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
[--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
[--ignore-if-in-upstream]
- [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
+ [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix] [(--reroll-count|-v) <n>]
[--to=<email>] [--cc=<email>]
- [--cover-letter]
+ [--[no-]cover-letter] [--quiet] [--notes[=<ref>]]
[<common diff options>]
[ <since> | <revision range> ]
The first rule takes precedence in the case of a single <commit>. To
apply the second rule, i.e., format everything since the beginning of
history up until <commit>, use the '\--root' option: `git format-patch
-\--root <commit>`. If you want to format only <commit> itself, you
+--root <commit>`. If you want to format only <commit> itself, you
can do this with `git format-patch -1 <commit>`.
By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
If `-o` is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
they are created in the current working directory.
-By default, the subject of a single patch is "[PATCH] First Line" and
-the subject when multiple patches are output is "[PATCH n/m] First
-Line". To force 1/1 to be added for a single patch, use `-n`. To omit
-patch numbers from the subject, use `-N`.
+By default, the subject of a single patch is "[PATCH] " followed by
+the concatenation of lines from the commit message up to the first blank
+line (see the DISCUSSION section of linkgit:git-commit[1]).
+
+When multiple patches are output, the subject prefix will instead be
+"[PATCH n/m] ". To force 1/1 to be added for a single patch, use `-n`.
+To omit patch numbers from the subject, use `-N`.
If given `--thread`, `git-format-patch` will generate `In-Reply-To` and
`References` headers to make the second and subsequent patch mails appear
The optional <style> argument can be either `shallow` or `deep`.
'shallow' threading makes every mail a reply to the head of the
series, where the head is chosen from the cover letter, the
-`\--in-reply-to`, and the first patch mail, in this order. 'deep'
+`--in-reply-to`, and the first patch mail, in this order. 'deep'
threading makes every mail a reply to the previous one.
+
The default is `--no-thread`, unless the 'format.thread' configuration
allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
combined with the `--numbered` option.
+-v <n>::
+--reroll-count=<n>::
+ Mark the series as the <n>-th iteration of the topic. The
+ output filenames have `v<n>` pretended to them, and the
+ subject prefix ("PATCH" by default, but configurable via the
+ `--subject-prefix` option) has ` v<n>` appended to it. E.g.
+ `--reroll-count=4` may produce `v4-0001-add-makefile.patch`
+ file that has "Subject: [PATCH v4 1/20] Add makefile" in it.
+
--to=<email>::
Add a `To:` header to the email headers. This is in addition
to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
+ The negated form `--no-to` discards all `To:` headers added so
+ far (from config or command line).
--cc=<email>::
Add a `Cc:` header to the email headers. This is in addition
to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
+ The negated form `--no-cc` discards all `Cc:` headers added so
+ far (from config or command line).
--add-header=<header>::
Add an arbitrary header to the email headers. This is in addition
to any configured headers, and may be used multiple times.
- For example, `--add-header="Organization: git-foo"`
+ For example, `--add-header="Organization: git-foo"`.
+ The negated form `--no-add-header` discards *all* (`To:`,
+ `Cc:`, and custom) headers added so far from config or command
+ line.
---cover-letter::
+--[no-]cover-letter::
In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file
containing the shortlog and the overall diffstat. You can
fill in a description in the file before sending it out.
+--notes[=<ref>]::
+ Append the notes (see linkgit:git-notes[1]) for the commit
+ after the three-dash line.
++
+The expected use case of this is to write supporting explanation for
+the commit that does not belong to the commit log message proper,
+and include it with the patch submission. While one can simply write
+these explanations after `format-patch` has run but before sending,
+keeping them as Git notes allows them to be maintained between versions
+of the patch series (but see the discussion of the `notes.rewrite`
+configuration options in linkgit:git-notes[1] to use this workflow).
+
--[no]-signature=<signature>::
Add a signature to each message produced. Per RFC 3676 the signature
is separated from the body by a line with '-- ' on it. If the
- signature option is omitted the signature defaults to the git version
+ signature option is omitted the signature defaults to the Git version
number.
--suffix=.<sfx>::
Note that the leading character does not have to be a dot; for example,
you can use `--suffix=-patch` to get `0001-description-of-my-change-patch`.
+--quiet::
+ Do not print the names of the generated files to standard output.
+
--no-binary::
Do not output contents of changes in binary files, instead
display a notice that those files changed. Patches generated
cc = <email>
attach [ = mime-boundary-string ]
signoff = true
+ coverletter = auto
------------
~~~~~~~~~~~
By default, Thunderbird will both wrap emails as well as flag
them as being 'format=flowed', both of which will make the
-resulting email unusable by git.
+resulting email unusable by Git.
-There are two different approaches. One approach is to configure
-Thunderbird to not mangle patches. The second approach is to use
+There are three different approaches: use an add-on to turn off line wraps,
+configure Thunderbird to not mangle patches, or use
an external editor to keep Thunderbird from mangling the patches.
-Approach #1 (configuration)
+Approach #1 (add-on)
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Install the Toggle Word Wrap add-on that is available from
+https://addons.mozilla.org/thunderbird/addon/toggle-word-wrap/
+It adds a menu entry "Enable Word Wrap" in the composer's "Options" menu
+that you can tick off. Now you can compose the message as you otherwise do
+(cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc), but you have to
+insert line breaks manually in any text that you type.
+
+Approach #2 (configuration)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Three steps:
otherwise would (cut + paste, 'git format-patch' | 'git imap-send', etc),
and the patches will not be mangled.
-Approach #2 (external editor)
+Approach #3 (external editor)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The following Thunderbird extensions are needed:
Additionally, it detects and handles renames and complete rewrites
intelligently to produce a renaming patch. A renaming patch reduces
the amount of text output, and generally makes it easier to review.
-Note that non-git "patch" programs won't understand renaming patches, so
-use it only when you know the recipient uses git to apply your patch.
+Note that non-Git "patch" programs won't understand renaming patches, so
+use it only when you know the recipient uses Git to apply your patch.
* Extract three topmost commits from the current branch and format them
as e-mailable patches: