From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.0 (2014-02-07) on dcvr.yhbt.net X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-ASN: AS31976 209.132.180.0/23 X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.4 required=3.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID,DKIM_VALID_AU,FREEMAIL_FORGED_FROMDOMAIN,FREEMAIL_FROM, HEADER_FROM_DIFFERENT_DOMAINS,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_HI,RCVD_IN_SORBS_SPAM, RP_MATCHES_RCVD shortcircuit=no autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.0 Received: from vger.kernel.org (vger.kernel.org [209.132.180.67]) by dcvr.yhbt.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 373022089D for ; Sat, 29 Jul 2017 02:57:32 +0000 (UTC) Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1753159AbdG2C5a (ORCPT ); Fri, 28 Jul 2017 22:57:30 -0400 Received: from mail-pg0-f53.google.com ([74.125.83.53]:36885 "EHLO mail-pg0-f53.google.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1753112AbdG2C53 (ORCPT ); Fri, 28 Jul 2017 22:57:29 -0400 Received: by mail-pg0-f53.google.com with SMTP id y129so117552530pgy.4 for ; Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:57:28 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20161025; h=message-id:subject:from:to:date:mime-version :content-transfer-encoding; bh=661qe+FEqv2jfO8nZcPjWPw4OEw4swcxa4KmG54ZltA=; b=RpHGYhz06AbMAbxgmIhj+GyN3pJ/70y4L8GPPWr9c0qpUmbBPVL3BU/hcfE3y7yb5a Grne0H5zuWei+reGRJbZ1iCVZ4VodjrLpSeCBb+jn0atXXxiZ8C8qrdWJnDGpVGvfJXb /wu6Knnuq7Fz2H2k+5tVBbNlRQcyVclAbf8pFLzqHjtK5nR2USv+gT0v40yDVUbdEmd+ pUEJpMW+r6oHpOhrEpYEXo4+wQjbSYRbPOvI4o781BMxJggURAzAi7M34/Hud2wlU0ro tC6PYXfYlY3FAiG8ALU2nJKMH8aS0719Hcspzj3w2ayl0KHQb3iHugJe/dERzyPHVSjc Lj4g== X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20161025; h=x-gm-message-state:message-id:subject:from:to:date:mime-version :content-transfer-encoding; bh=661qe+FEqv2jfO8nZcPjWPw4OEw4swcxa4KmG54ZltA=; b=gup3uj3JxzbRVpwU0bUXfJAaBvqKW/6+LIM4MvMWlmTEQHRsYq/ffXt1vOMVjLpCFP HDFzcQtiX0U5NdP0xGyLeG9AlfRWXy2sQWOnD5Y7ULPuila3w0AVa3nfrGMozmAcy1nB Skan8j+oSjx+4oyMdEcDvP09PmRL42gNI9GVm/6BD/LVsFJw+twiq9Q0IlExVf7429oG 8s1x5KmFhRb69UAvkaijgU0YSVePM16NWqwggdSRsWONr0+uAWKBzhitPZmHKq/2V9Fh VZv8PIXnSUB/aoU4e+EnZc5RfDtrYmfuKYKpJR8TXTf7DgDJd9PVbkDtFZXbE7RwrxoX IFQQ== X-Gm-Message-State: AIVw111veC2Tofjl0hV4fuZCJ+9/HObDxMX1A+ZKGbpaLFC4BcKnHFjZ i1OGrlf6D1mNCyzFk4A= X-Received: by 10.98.137.202 with SMTP id n71mr9028423pfk.243.1501297048339; Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:57:28 -0700 (PDT) Received: from unique-pc ([182.73.109.146]) by smtp.googlemail.com with ESMTPSA id m18sm39798183pfe.126.2017.07.28.19.57.26 for (version=TLS1_2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA bits=128/128); Fri, 28 Jul 2017 19:57:27 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <1501297078.2711.2.camel@gmail.com> Subject: Guidlines for error messages From: Kaartic Sivaraam To: git@vger.kernel.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-15" Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2017 08:27:58 +0530 Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Evolution 3.22.6-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Cyberoam-smtpxy-version: 1.0.6.3 X-Cyberoam-AV-Policy: default X-CTCH-Error: Unable to connect local ctasd Sender: git-owner@vger.kernel.org Precedence: bulk List-ID: X-Mailing-List: git@vger.kernel.org Hello all, On reading the CodingGuidelines, I saw a section that specifies rules about the structure and formatting of error messages. I have reproduced it below, Error Messages  - Do not end error messages with a full stop.  - Do not capitalize ("unable to open %s", not "Unable to open %s")  - Say what the error is first ("cannot open %s", not "%s: cannot open") Having used git all these days, I have seen error messages that do seem to be violating the above guidelines (at least the first 2 points). A few are, Aborting commit due to empty commit message. fatal: There is no merge to abort (MERGE_HEAD missing). fatal: You have not concluded your merge (MERGE_HEAD exists). Please, commit your changes before you merge. error: Empty commit message. Not committing merge; use 'git commit' to complete the merge. error: pathspec 'hell' did not match any file(s) known to git. fatal: Not a valid object name foo fatal: ambiguous argument 'foo..bar': unknown revision or path not in the working tree. Use '--' to separate paths from revisions, like this: 'git [...] -- [...]' A few that do seem to be following the guideline are fatal: could not read log file 'imaginary_file': No such file or directory fatal: no input file given for in-place editing That makes me wonder, has the guideline changed ? Is this something that must be fixed ? Am I missing something ? -- Kaartic