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From: Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space>, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Subject: [PATCH v2] docs: fix --commit-list-format related entries
Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:06:40 +0100	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260326200643.20251-1-mroik@delayed.space> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <20260326185541.17523-1-mroik@delayed.space>

Documentation specifies that "git format-patch" would default to
format.commitListFormat if --commit-list-format is not given, but
doesn't specify the default if the format.commitListFormat is not set.
The text for --cover-letter is also obsolete as the commit list can now
be something other than a shortlog.

Document to reflect changes.

Signed-off-by: Mirko Faina <mroik@delayed.space>
---
Ended up with something more verbose compared to what Junio proposed,
but it might help the user to better understand why we check for the '%'
in the first place.

Same goes for the implied `--cover-letter`. Instead of rephrasing I
added a note for the user to clear up any ambiguity.

 Documentation/config/format.adoc    |  2 +-
 Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc | 27 +++++++++++++++------------
 2 files changed, 16 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/config/format.adoc b/Documentation/config/format.adoc
index ef1ed1d250..dbd186290b 100644
--- a/Documentation/config/format.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/config/format.adoc
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ format.coverLetter::
 
 format.commitListFormat::
 	When the `--cover-letter-format` option is not given, `format-patch`
-	uses the value of this variable to decide how to format the title of
+	uses the value of this variable to decide how to format the entry of
 	each commit. Defaults to `shortlog`.
 
 format.outputDirectory::
diff --git a/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc b/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
index c52dbcc170..fc0023b9b7 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-format-patch.adoc
@@ -319,21 +319,24 @@ feeding the result to `git send-email`.
 
 --cover-letter::
 --no-cover-letter::
-	In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file
-	containing the branch description, shortlog and the overall diffstat.  You can
-	fill in a description in the file before sending it out.
+	In addition to the patches, generate a cover letter file containing the
+	branch description, commit list and the overall diffstat.  You can fill
+	in a description in the file before sending it out.
 
 --commit-list-format=<format-spec>::
 	Specify the format in which to generate the commit list of the patch
-	series. The accepted values for format-spec are `shortlog`, `modern` or a
-	format-string prefixed with `log:`.
-	e.g. `log: %s (%an)`
-	The user is allowed to drop the prefix if the format-string contains a
-	`%<placeholder>`.
-	If not given, defaults to the `format.commitListFormat` configuration
-	variable.
-	This option implies the use of `--cover-letter` unless
-	`--no-cover-letter` is given.
+	series. The accepted values for format-spec are `shortlog`, `modern` or
+	a format-string prefixed with `log:`. E.g. `log: %s (%an)`.
+	Modern is the same as `log:[%(count)/%(total)] %s`.
+	The user is allowed to drop the `log:` prefix if the format-string
+	contains a '%' character. The '%' is expected as part of a placeholder
+	but this is not validated by git.
+	If not given, defaults to `shortlog` unless the
+	`format.commitListFormat` configuration variable is set.
+	This option given from the command-line implies the use of
+	`--cover-letter` unless `--no-cover-letter` is given. Note that
+	`format.commitListFormat` being set does not imply the use of
+	`--cover-letter`.
 
 --encode-email-headers::
 --no-encode-email-headers::
-- 
2.53.0.1181.g1066ffbbbe


  parent reply	other threads:[~2026-03-26 20:06 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 12+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
2026-03-26 18:55 [PATCH] docs: fix --commit-list-format related entries Mirko Faina
2026-03-26 19:10 ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 20:06 ` Mirko Faina [this message]
2026-03-26 20:45   ` [PATCH v2] " Junio C Hamano
2026-03-26 20:53     ` Mirko Faina
2026-03-26 21:10       ` Junio C Hamano
2026-03-27  0:20         ` Mirko Faina
2026-03-27  0:25           ` Mirko Faina
2026-03-27 19:48   ` [PATCH 0/2] format-patch: remove wrapping and update docs Mirko Faina
2026-03-27 19:48     ` [PATCH 1/2] docs: fix --commit-list-format related entries Mirko Faina
2026-03-27 19:48     ` [PATCH 2/2] format-patch: removing unconditional wrapping Mirko Faina
2026-03-27 20:27       ` Junio C Hamano

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