--------
[verse]
'git-commit' [-a] [-s] [-v] [(-c | -C) <commit> | -F <file> | -m <msg>]
- [-e] [--] <file>...
+ [-e] [--author <author>] [--] [[-i | -o ]<file>...]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
Take the commit message from the given file. Use '-' to
read the message from the standard input.
+--author <author>::
+ Override the author name used in the commit. Use
+ `A U Thor <author@example.com>` format.
+
-m <msg>::
Use the given <msg> as the commit message.
commit log message unmodified. This option lets you
further edit the message taken from these sources.
+-i|--include::
+ Instead of committing only the files specified on the
+ command line, update them in the index file and then
+ commit the whole index. This is the traditional
+ behaviour.
+
+-o|--only::
+ Commit only the files specified on the command line.
+ This format cannot be used during a merge, nor when the
+ index and the latest commit does not match on the
+ specified paths to avoid confusion.
+
--::
Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
<file>...::
- Update specified paths in the index file before committing.
-
+ Files to be committed. The meaning of these is
+ different between `--include` and `--only`. Without
+ either, it defaults `--only` semantics.
If you make a commit and then found a mistake immediately after
that, you can recover from it with gitlink:git-reset[1].
+Discussion
+----------
+
+`git commit` without _any_ parameter commits the tree structure
+recorded by the current index file. This is a whole-tree commit
+even the command is invoked from a subdirectory.
+
+`git commit --include paths...` is equivalent to
+
+ git update-index --remove paths...
+ git commit
+
+That is, update the specified paths to the index and then commit
+the whole tree.
+
+`git commit paths...` largely bypasses the index file and
+commits only the changes made to the specified paths. It has
+however several safety valves to prevent confusion.
+
+. It refuses to run during a merge (i.e. when
+ `$GIT_DIR/MERGE_HEAD` exists), and reminds trained git users
+ that the traditional semantics now needs -i flag.
+
+. It refuses to run if named `paths...` are different in HEAD
+ and the index (ditto about reminding). Added paths are OK.
+ This is because an earlier `git diff` (not `git diff HEAD`)
+ would have shown the differences since the last `git
+ update-index paths...` to the user, and an inexperienced user
+ may mistakenly think that the changes between the index and
+ the HEAD (i.e. earlier changes made before the last `git
+ update-index paths...` was done) are not being committed.
+
+. It reads HEAD commit into a temporary index file, updates the
+ specified `paths...` and makes a commit. At the same time,
+ the real index file is also updated with the same `paths...`.
+
+`git commit --all` updates the index file with _all_ changes to
+the working tree, and makes a whole-tree commit, regardless of
+which subdirectory the command is invoked in.
+
+
Author
------
Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and