SYNOPSIS
--------
[verse]
-'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--attach] [--thread]
- [-s | --signoff] [--diff-options] [--start-number <n>]
- [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
- <since>[..<until>]
+'git-format-patch' [-n | -k] [-o <dir> | --stdout] [--thread]
+ [--attach[=<boundary>] | --inline[=<boundary>]]
+ [-s | --signoff] [<common diff options>]
+ [--start-number <n>] [--numbered-files]
+ [--in-reply-to=Message-Id] [--suffix=.<sfx>]
+ [--ignore-if-in-upstream]
+ [--subject-prefix=Subject-Prefix]
+ [ <since> | <revision range> ]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Prepare each commit between <since> and <until> with its patch in
+Prepare each commit with its patch in
one file per commit, formatted to resemble UNIX mailbox format.
-If ..<until> is not specified, the head of the current working
-tree is implied. For a more complete list of ways to spell
-<since> and <until>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in
-gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
-
The output of this command is convenient for e-mail submission or
for use with gitlink:git-am[1].
-Each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
+There are two ways to specify which commits to operate on.
+
+1. A single commit, <since>, specifies that the commits leading
+ to the tip of the current branch that are not in the history
+ that leads to the <since> to be output.
+
+2. Generic <revision range> expression (see "SPECIFYING
+ REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]) means the
+ commits in the specified range.
+
+A single commit, when interpreted as a <revision range>
+expression, means "everything that leads to that commit", but
+if you write 'git format-patch <commit>', the previous rule
+applies to that command line and you do not get "everything
+since the beginning of the time". If you want to format
+everything since project inception to one commit, say "git
+format-patch \--root <commit>" to make it clear that it is the
+latter case.
+
+By default, each output file is numbered sequentially from 1, and uses the
first line of the commit message (massaged for pathname safety) as
-the filename. The names of the output files are printed to standard
+the filename. With the --numbered-files option, the output file names
+will only be numbers, without the first line of the commit appended.
+The names of the output files are printed to standard
output, unless the --stdout option is specified.
If -o is specified, output files are created in <dir>. Otherwise
OPTIONS
-------
+include::diff-options.txt[]
+
+-<n>::
+ Limits the number of patches to prepare.
+
-o|--output-directory <dir>::
Use <dir> to store the resulting files, instead of the
current working directory.
--start-number <n>::
Start numbering the patches at <n> instead of 1.
+--numbered-files::
+ Output file names will be a simple number sequence
+ without the default first line of the commit appended.
+ Mutually exclusive with the --stdout option.
+
-k|--keep-subject::
Do not strip/add '[PATCH]' from the first line of the
commit log message.
Print all commits to the standard output in mbox format,
instead of creating a file for each one.
---attach::
- Create attachments instead of inlining patches.
+--attach[=<boundary>]::
+ Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
+ which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
+ second part, with "Content-Disposition: attachment".
+
+--inline[=<boundary>]::
+ Create multipart/mixed attachment, the first part of
+ which is the commit message and the patch itself in the
+ second part, with "Content-Disposition: inline".
--thread::
Add In-Reply-To and References headers to make the second and
reply to the given Message-Id, which avoids breaking threads to
provide a new patch series.
+--ignore-if-in-upstream::
+ Do not include a patch that matches a commit in
+ <until>..<since>. This will examine all patches reachable
+ from <since> but not from <until> and compare them with the
+ patches being generated, and any patch that matches is
+ ignored.
+
+--subject-prefix=<Subject-Prefix>::
+ Instead of the standard '[PATCH]' prefix in the subject
+ line, instead use '[<Subject-Prefix>]'. This
+ allows for useful naming of a patch series, and can be
+ combined with the --numbered option.
+
--suffix=.<sfx>::
- Instead of using `.txt` as the suffix for generated
- filenames, use specifed suffix. A common alternative is
- `--suffix=.patch`.
+ Instead of using `.patch` as the suffix for generated
+ filenames, use specified suffix. A common alternative is
+ `--suffix=.txt`.
+
Note that you would need to include the leading dot `.` if you
want a filename like `0001-description-of-my-change.patch`, and
CONFIGURATION
-------------
You can specify extra mail header lines to be added to each
-message in the repository configuration as follows:
+message in the repository configuration. You can also specify
+new defaults for the subject prefix and file suffix.
+------------
[format]
headers = "Organization: git-foo\n"
-
-You can specify default suffix used:
-
-[format]
- suffix = .patch
+ subjectprefix = CHANGE
+ suffix = .txt
+------------
EXAMPLES
not in the origin branch. For each commit a separate file
is created in the current directory.
+git-format-patch \--root origin::
+ Extract all commits which that leads to 'origin' since the
+ inception of the project.
+
git-format-patch -M -B origin::
The same as the previous one. Additionally, it detects
and handles renames and complete rewrites intelligently to
GIT
---
Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-