push: improve the error shown on unqualified <dst> push

diff --git a/remote.c b/remote.c
index 35fe8a178f6902be3c31cd2c89418e14a80eebdc..15da4019c39ca4c992fe298a3dc201374c4176d6 100644 (file)
--- a/remote.c
+++ b/remote.c
@@ -1049,12 +1049,22 @@ static int match_explicit(struct ref *src, struct ref *dst,
                        matched_dst = make_linked_ref(dst_guess, dst_tail);
                        free(dst_guess);
                } else {
-                       error(_("unable to push to unqualified destination: %s\n"
-                               "The destination refspec neither matches an "
-                               "existing ref on the remote nor\n"
-                               "begins with refs/, and we are unable to "
-                               "guess a prefix based on the source ref."),
-                             dst_value);
+                       /*
+                        * TRANSLATORS: "matches '%s'%" is the <dst>
+                        * part of "git push <remote> <src>:<dst>"
+                        * push, and "being pushed ('%s')" is the
+                        * <src>.
+                        */
+                       error(_("The destination you provided is not a full refname (i.e.,\n"
+                               "starting with \"refs/\"). We tried to guess what you meant by:\n"
+                               "\n"
+                               "- Looking for a ref that matches '%s' on the remote side.\n"
+                               "- Checking if the <src> being pushed ('%s')\n"
+                               "  is a ref in \"refs/{heads,tags}/\". If so we add a corresponding\n"
+                               "  refs/{heads,tags}/ prefix on the remote side.\n"
+                               "\n"
+                               "Neither worked, so we gave up. You must fully qualify the ref."),
+                             dst_value, matched_src->name);
                }
                break;
        default: