[PATCH 0/3] revisions.txt improvements

[PATCH 0/3] revisions.txt improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

No blurb, commit messages say it all.

Michael J Gruber (3):
  revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes
  revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list
  revisions.txt: language improvements

 Documentation/revisions.txt |  198 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 1 files changed, 107 insertions(+), 91 deletions(-)

-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCH 1/3] revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes

[Michael J Gruber]

Our use of quotes is inconsistent everywhere and within some files.
Before reworking the structure of revisions.txt, make the quotes
consistent:

`git command`

'some snippet or term'

The former gets typeset as code, the latter with some form of emphasis.
the man backend uses two types of emphasis.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |  104 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 52 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index 04fceee..b994bab 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -13,45 +13,45 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from 'git describe'; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
-  `g`, and an abbreviated object name.
+  'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
 * A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
-  object referenced by refs/heads/master.  If you
-  happen to have both heads/master and tags/master, you can
+  object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
+  happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
-  When ambiguous, a `<name>` is disambiguated by taking the
+  When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if `$GIT_DIR/<name>` exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
-    useful only for `HEAD`, `FETCH_HEAD`, `ORIG_HEAD`, `MERGE_HEAD`
-    and `CHERRY_PICK_HEAD`);
+  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+    useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
+    and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/tags/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/heads/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD` if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
 +
-HEAD names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-FETCH_HEAD records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
-with your last 'git fetch' invocation.
-ORIG_HEAD is created by commands that moves your HEAD in a drastic
-way, to record the position of the HEAD before their operation, so that
+'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+with your last `git fetch` invocation.
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
 you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
 them easily.
-MERGE_HEAD records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
-when you run 'git merge'.
-CHERRY_PICK_HEAD records the commit you are cherry-picking
-when you run 'git cherry-pick'.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+when you run `git merge`.
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
-Note that any of the `refs/*` cases above may come either from
-the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
+Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
+the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
-  existing log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>). Note that this looks up the state
+  existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
   of your *local* ref at a given time; e.g., what was in your local
-  `master` branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
-  certain times, see `--since` and `--until`.
+  'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
+  certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>).
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
 
 * You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
@@ -98,36 +98,36 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the usage of this form.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}`) means the object
+  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  `rev{caret}0`
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for `rev{caret}\{commit\}`.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{\}`) means the object could be a tag,
+  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. `HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}`):
-  this is the same as `:/fix nasty bug` syntax below except that
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
+  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the ref before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. `:/fix nasty bug`): this names
+* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
   '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
   followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
-  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. `:/^foo`.
+  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. `HEAD:README`); this names the blob or tree
+* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. `:README`)
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -136,9 +136,9 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
 * A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. `:0:README`); this names a blob object in the
+  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. `:README`) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
@@ -175,31 +175,31 @@ G   H   I   J
 SPECIFYING RANGES
 -----------------
 
-History traversing commands such as 'git log' operate on a set
+History traversing commands such as `git log` operate on a set
 of commits, not just a single commit.  To these commands,
 specifying a single revision with the notation described in the
 previous section means the set of commits reachable from that
 commit, following the commit ancestry chain.
 
-To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix `{caret}`
-notation is used.  E.g. `{caret}r1 r2` means commits reachable
-from `r2` but exclude the ones reachable from `r1`.
+To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix '{caret}'
+notation is used.  E.g. '{caret}r1 r2' means commits reachable
+from 'r2' but exclude the ones reachable from 'r1'.
 
 This set operation appears so often that there is a shorthand
-for it.  When you have two commits `r1` and `r2` (named according
+for it.  When you have two commits 'r1' and 'r2' (named according
 to the syntax explained in SPECIFYING REVISIONS above), you can ask
 for commits that are reachable from r2 excluding those that are reachable
-from r1 by `{caret}r1 r2` and it can be written as `r1..r2`.
+from r1 by '{caret}r1 r2' and it can be written as 'r1..r2'.
 
-A similar notation `r1\...r2` is called symmetric difference
-of `r1` and `r2` and is defined as
-`r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)`.
+A similar notation 'r1\...r2' is called symmetric difference
+of 'r1' and 'r2' and is defined as
+'r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)'.
 It is the set of commits that are reachable from either one of
-`r1` or `r2` but not from both.
+'r1' or 'r2' but not from both.
 
 Two other shorthands for naming a set that is formed by a commit
-and its parent commits exist.  The `r1{caret}@` notation means all
-parents of `r1`.  `r1{caret}!` includes commit `r1` but excludes
+and its parent commits exist.  The 'r1{caret}@' notation means all
+parents of 'r1'.  'r1{caret}!' includes commit 'r1' but excludes
 all of its parents.
 
 Here are a handful of examples:
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCH 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Michael J Gruber]

Currently, the reader has to parse a textual description in order to
find a specific syntax in the list.

Restructure as a labelled list with systematic labels as well as
concrete examples as a visual guide.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |   86 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
 1 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index b994bab..fa399df 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
 SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
-A revision parameter typically, but not necessarily, names a
+A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
 commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
 ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
-* The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
+'<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
+  The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
   a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+'<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
+  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
-* A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
+'<refname>', e.g. 'master', 'heads/master', 'refs/heads/master'::
+  A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
   object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
   happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
 the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
+'<refname>@\{<date>\}', e.g. 'master@\{yesterday\}', 'HEAD@\{5 minutes ago\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
@@ -64,58 +68,68 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
   certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
+'<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<refname>').
 
-* You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
+'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
+  You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
   branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
-* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
+'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
+  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
   before the current one.
 
-* The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form 'ref@\{u\}') refers to
+'<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
+  The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
   the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter (e.g. 'HEAD{caret}') means the first parent of
+'<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
   that commit object.  '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
-  'rev{caret}'
-  is equivalent to 'rev{caret}1').  As a special rule,
-  'rev{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when 'rev' is the
+  '<rev>{caret}'
+  is equivalent to '<rev>{caret}1').  As a special rule,
+  '<rev>{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when '<rev>' is the
   object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.
 
-* A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
+'<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
+  A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. rev~3 is
-  equivalent to rev{caret}{caret}{caret} which is equivalent to
-  rev{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1.  See below for a illustration of
+  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
+'<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
+  brace pair means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
+'<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
+  means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
-  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+'<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash,
+  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
-  the ref before '{caret}'.
+  the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
+':/<text>', e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'::
+  A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text, names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
@@ -124,10 +138,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
+'<rev>:<path>', e.g. 'HEAD:README', ':README', 'master:./README'::
+  A suffix ':' followed by a path names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -135,10 +150,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
-* A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
+':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
+  A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
+  colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

Re: [PATCH 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Jakub Narebski]

Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> writes:

> -* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
> +'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
> +  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
>    before the current one.

I think you meant

  +'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::

here.
-- 
Jakub Narebski
Poland
ShadeHawk on #git

Re: [PATCH 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Michael J Gruber]

Jakub Narebski venit, vidit, dixit 31.03.2011 23:46:
> Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> writes:
> 
>> -* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
>> +'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
>> +  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
>>    before the current one.
> 
> I think you meant
> 
>   +'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
> 
> here.

Thanks, good spotting!

I'll recheck the processed form and send out a v2 today.

Michael

[PATCH 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index fa399df..288fa6e 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -2,20 +2,20 @@ SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
 A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
-commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
+commit object.  It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
-ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
+ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
 '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
   The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
-  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
+  a substring that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
-  name the same commit object if there are no other object in
+  name the same commit object if there is no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
 '<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
-  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+  Output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
@@ -27,30 +27,30 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+  . If '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
     useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
     and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' it if exists.
 +
-'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+'HEAD' names the commit on which you based the changes in the working tree.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch which you fetched from a remote repository
 with your last `git fetch` invocation.
-'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that move your 'HEAD' in a drastic
 way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
-you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
-them easily.
-'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+you can easily change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
+them.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) which you are merging into your branch
 when you run `git merge`.
-'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit which you are cherry-picking
 when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
-  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
+  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') specifies the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
   existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
-  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
+  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') specifies
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
   You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
-  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
-  branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
+  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on
+  branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
 '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
   The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
   The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
-  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
+  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  A missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
 '<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
   A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  commit object, following only the first parents.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
   equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
-  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for an illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
   dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
   pair that contains a text led by a slash,
-  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+  is the same as the ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
-  '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
-  followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
+  '!' you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
+  followed by something else than '!', is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
@@ -145,19 +145,19 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
-  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
-  The given path will be converted to be relative to working tree's root directory.
+  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to the current working directory.
+  The given path will be converted to be relative to the working tree's root directory.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
-  the same tree structure with the working tree.
+  the same tree structure as the working tree.
 
 ':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
   A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
   colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
-  index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
+  index at the given path. A missing stage number (and the colon
   that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
-  the branch being merged.
+  the branch which is being merged.
 
 Here is an illustration, by Jon Loeliger.  Both commit nodes B
 and C are parents of commit node A.  Parent commits are ordered
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

Re: [PATCH 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Bert Wesarg]

On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 13:03, Michael J Gruber
<git@drmicha.warpmail.net> wrote:
> Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
> ---
>  Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
>  1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
> index fa399df..288fa6e 100644
> --- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
> @@ -27,30 +27,30 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
>   When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
>   first match in the following rules:
>
> -  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
> +  . If '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
>     useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
>     and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
>
> -  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
> +  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if it exists;
>
> -  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
> +  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if it exists;
>
> -  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
> +  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if it exists;
>
> -  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
> +  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if it exists;
>
> -  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
> +  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' it if exists.

s/it if/if it/

>  +
> -'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
> -'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
> +'HEAD' names the commit on which you based the changes in the working tree.
> +'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch which you fetched from a remote repository
>  with your last `git fetch` invocation.
> -'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
> +'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that move your 'HEAD' in a drastic
>  way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
> -you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
> -them easily.
> -'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
> +you can easily change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
> +them.
> +'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) which you are merging into your branch
>  when you run `git merge`.
> -'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
> +'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit which you are cherry-picking
>  when you run `git cherry-pick`.
>  +
>  Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from

Re: [PATCH 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

Bert Wesarg venit, vidit, dixit 31.03.2011 14:19:
> On Thu, Mar 31, 2011 at 13:03, Michael J Gruber
> <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> wrote:
>> Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
>> ---
>>  Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
>>  1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> index fa399df..288fa6e 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> +++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> @@ -27,30 +27,30 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
>>   When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
>>   first match in the following rules:
>>
>> -  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
>> +  . If '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
>>     useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
>>     and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
>>
>> -  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
>> +  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if it exists;
>>
>> -  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
>> +  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if it exists;
>>
>> -  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
>> +  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if it exists;
>>
>> -  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
>> +  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if it exists;
>>
>> -  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
>> +  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' it if exists.
> 
> s/it if/if it/

Uh, thanks. Waiting for more feedback before a re-roll.

> 
>>  +
>> -'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
>> -'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
>> +'HEAD' names the commit on which you based the changes in the working tree.
>> +'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch which you fetched from a remote repository
>>  with your last `git fetch` invocation.
>> -'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
>> +'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that move your 'HEAD' in a drastic
>>  way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
>> -you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
>> -them easily.
>> -'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
>> +you can easily change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
>> +them.
>> +'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) which you are merging into your branch
>>  when you run `git merge`.
>> -'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
>> +'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit which you are cherry-picking
>>  when you run `git cherry-pick`.
>>  +
>>  Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from

[PATCHv2 0/3] revisions.txt improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

v2 with the fixes suggested by Bert and Jakub.
(1/3 unchanged but resent)


Michael J Gruber (3):
  revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes
  revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list
  revisions.txt: language improvements

 Documentation/revisions.txt |  198 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 1 files changed, 107 insertions(+), 91 deletions(-)

-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCH 1/3] revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes

[Michael J Gruber]

Our use of quotes is inconsistent everywhere and within some files.
Before reworking the structure of revisions.txt, make the quotes
consistent:

`git command`

'some snippet or term'

The former gets typeset as code, the latter with some form of emphasis.
the man backend uses two types of emphasis.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |  104 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 52 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index 04fceee..b994bab 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -13,45 +13,45 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from 'git describe'; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
-  `g`, and an abbreviated object name.
+  'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
 * A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
-  object referenced by refs/heads/master.  If you
-  happen to have both heads/master and tags/master, you can
+  object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
+  happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
-  When ambiguous, a `<name>` is disambiguated by taking the
+  When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if `$GIT_DIR/<name>` exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
-    useful only for `HEAD`, `FETCH_HEAD`, `ORIG_HEAD`, `MERGE_HEAD`
-    and `CHERRY_PICK_HEAD`);
+  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+    useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
+    and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/tags/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/heads/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD` if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
 +
-HEAD names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-FETCH_HEAD records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
-with your last 'git fetch' invocation.
-ORIG_HEAD is created by commands that moves your HEAD in a drastic
-way, to record the position of the HEAD before their operation, so that
+'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+with your last `git fetch` invocation.
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
 you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
 them easily.
-MERGE_HEAD records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
-when you run 'git merge'.
-CHERRY_PICK_HEAD records the commit you are cherry-picking
-when you run 'git cherry-pick'.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+when you run `git merge`.
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
-Note that any of the `refs/*` cases above may come either from
-the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
+Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
+the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
-  existing log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>). Note that this looks up the state
+  existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
   of your *local* ref at a given time; e.g., what was in your local
-  `master` branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
-  certain times, see `--since` and `--until`.
+  'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
+  certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>).
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
 
 * You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
@@ -98,36 +98,36 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the usage of this form.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}`) means the object
+  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  `rev{caret}0`
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for `rev{caret}\{commit\}`.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{\}`) means the object could be a tag,
+  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. `HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}`):
-  this is the same as `:/fix nasty bug` syntax below except that
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
+  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the ref before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. `:/fix nasty bug`): this names
+* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
   '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
   followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
-  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. `:/^foo`.
+  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. `HEAD:README`); this names the blob or tree
+* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. `:README`)
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -136,9 +136,9 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
 * A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. `:0:README`); this names a blob object in the
+  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. `:README`) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
@@ -175,31 +175,31 @@ G   H   I   J
 SPECIFYING RANGES
 -----------------
 
-History traversing commands such as 'git log' operate on a set
+History traversing commands such as `git log` operate on a set
 of commits, not just a single commit.  To these commands,
 specifying a single revision with the notation described in the
 previous section means the set of commits reachable from that
 commit, following the commit ancestry chain.
 
-To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix `{caret}`
-notation is used.  E.g. `{caret}r1 r2` means commits reachable
-from `r2` but exclude the ones reachable from `r1`.
+To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix '{caret}'
+notation is used.  E.g. '{caret}r1 r2' means commits reachable
+from 'r2' but exclude the ones reachable from 'r1'.
 
 This set operation appears so often that there is a shorthand
-for it.  When you have two commits `r1` and `r2` (named according
+for it.  When you have two commits 'r1' and 'r2' (named according
 to the syntax explained in SPECIFYING REVISIONS above), you can ask
 for commits that are reachable from r2 excluding those that are reachable
-from r1 by `{caret}r1 r2` and it can be written as `r1..r2`.
+from r1 by '{caret}r1 r2' and it can be written as 'r1..r2'.
 
-A similar notation `r1\...r2` is called symmetric difference
-of `r1` and `r2` and is defined as
-`r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)`.
+A similar notation 'r1\...r2' is called symmetric difference
+of 'r1' and 'r2' and is defined as
+'r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)'.
 It is the set of commits that are reachable from either one of
-`r1` or `r2` but not from both.
+'r1' or 'r2' but not from both.
 
 Two other shorthands for naming a set that is formed by a commit
-and its parent commits exist.  The `r1{caret}@` notation means all
-parents of `r1`.  `r1{caret}!` includes commit `r1` but excludes
+and its parent commits exist.  The 'r1{caret}@' notation means all
+parents of 'r1'.  'r1{caret}!' includes commit 'r1' but excludes
 all of its parents.
 
 Here are a handful of examples:
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCHv2 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Michael J Gruber]

Currently, the reader has to parse a textual description in order to
find a specific syntax in the list.

Restructure as a labelled list with systematic labels as well as
concrete examples as a visual guide.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |   86 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
 1 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index b994bab..92bc662 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
 SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
-A revision parameter typically, but not necessarily, names a
+A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
 commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
 ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
-* The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
+'<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
+  The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
   a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+'<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
+  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
-* A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
+'<refname>', e.g. 'master', 'heads/master', 'refs/heads/master'::
+  A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
   object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
   happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
 the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
+'<refname>@\{<date>\}', e.g. 'master@\{yesterday\}', 'HEAD@\{5 minutes ago\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
@@ -64,58 +68,68 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
   certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
+'<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<refname>').
 
-* You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
+'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
+  You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
   branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
-* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
+'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
+  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
   before the current one.
 
-* The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form 'ref@\{u\}') refers to
+'<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
+  The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
   the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter (e.g. 'HEAD{caret}') means the first parent of
+'<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
   that commit object.  '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
-  'rev{caret}'
-  is equivalent to 'rev{caret}1').  As a special rule,
-  'rev{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when 'rev' is the
+  '<rev>{caret}'
+  is equivalent to '<rev>{caret}1').  As a special rule,
+  '<rev>{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when '<rev>' is the
   object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.
 
-* A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
+'<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
+  A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. rev~3 is
-  equivalent to rev{caret}{caret}{caret} which is equivalent to
-  rev{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1.  See below for a illustration of
+  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
+'<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
+  brace pair means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
+'<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
+  means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
-  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+'<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash,
+  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
-  the ref before '{caret}'.
+  the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
+':/<text>', e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'::
+  A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text, names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
@@ -124,10 +138,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
+'<rev>:<path>', e.g. 'HEAD:README', ':README', 'master:./README'::
+  A suffix ':' followed by a path names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -135,10 +150,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
-* A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
+':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
+  A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
+  colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

Re: [PATCHv2 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Junio C Hamano]

Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> writes:

> -* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
> +'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
> +  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
>    before the current one.

This is outside the scope of this patch, but there is nothing _special_
about @{-<n>} at all.  When it appeared it might have been special but not
anymore.  We should reserve the word "special" only for "special" cases.

e.g. this one is perfectly fine:

> +'<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
> +  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
>    that commit object.  '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
> +  '<rev>{caret}'
> +  is equivalent to '<rev>{caret}1').  As a special rule,
> +  '<rev>{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when '<rev>' is the
>    object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.

A^1, A^2,..., A^$n all all parents of A; A^0 is not a parent of A but we
still accept it as a special rule.

[PATCHv2 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index 92bc662..25125c3 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -2,20 +2,20 @@ SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
 A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
-commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
+commit object.  It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
-ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
+ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
 '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
   The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
-  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
+  a substring that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
-  name the same commit object if there are no other object in
+  name the same commit object if there is no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
 '<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
-  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+  Output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
@@ -27,30 +27,30 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+  . If '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
     useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
     and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if it exists.
 +
-'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+'HEAD' names the commit on which you based the changes in the working tree.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch which you fetched from a remote repository
 with your last `git fetch` invocation.
-'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that move your 'HEAD' in a drastic
 way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
-you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
-them easily.
-'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+you can easily change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
+them.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) which you are merging into your branch
 when you run `git merge`.
-'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit which you are cherry-picking
 when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
-  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
+  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') specifies the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
   existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
-  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
+  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') specifies
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
   You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
-  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
-  branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
+  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on
+  branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
 '@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
   The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
   The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
-  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
+  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  A missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
 '<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
   A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  commit object, following only the first parents.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
   equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
-  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for an illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
   dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
   pair that contains a text led by a slash,
-  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+  is the same as the ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
-  '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
-  followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
+  '!' you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
+  followed by something else than '!', is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
@@ -145,19 +145,19 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
-  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
-  The given path will be converted to be relative to working tree's root directory.
+  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to the current working directory.
+  The given path will be converted to be relative to the working tree's root directory.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
-  the same tree structure with the working tree.
+  the same tree structure as the working tree.
 
 ':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
   A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
   colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
-  index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
+  index at the given path. A missing stage number (and the colon
   that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
-  the branch being merged.
+  the branch which is being merged.
 
 Here is an illustration, by Jon Loeliger.  Both commit nodes B
 and C are parents of commit node A.  Parent commits are ordered
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

Re: [PATCHv2 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Junio C Hamano]

Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> writes:

> Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>

Thanks.

>  Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
>  1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
> index 92bc662..25125c3 100644
> --- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
> @@ -2,20 +2,20 @@ SPECIFYING REVISIONS
>  --------------------
>  
>  A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
> -commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
> +commit object.  It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
>  syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
> -ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
> +ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
>  blobs contained in a commit.
>  
>  '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
>    The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
> -  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
> +  a substring that is unique within the repository.

Do we need to rephrase this a bit more, so that it would be clear that
"e86e1950b" is not an abbreviated object name, even though it is a
substring and may be unique within the repository?

Perhaps "a prefix of such a full SHA-1 object name that is unique..."?

> @@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
>  
>  '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
>    You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
> +  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on
> +  branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.

Is that "a reflog of the current branch", or because there is only one
reflog, should it be "the reflog of the current branch"?  Ah, we mean one
entry in the reflog (an entry of the reflog of the current branch), so
this probably is Ok.

> @@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
>    a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
>    This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
>    reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
> +  '!' you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
> +  followed by something else than '!', is reserved for now.

Hmm, shouldn't it be "something OTHER than" instead?

Grammar is hard; thanks for cleaning them up.

Re: [PATCHv2 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

Junio C Hamano venit, vidit, dixit 02.04.2011 00:05:
> Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> writes:
> 
>> Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
> 
> Thanks.
> 
>>  Documentation/revisions.txt |   68 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
>>  1 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 34 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> index 92bc662..25125c3 100644
>> --- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> +++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
>> @@ -2,20 +2,20 @@ SPECIFYING REVISIONS
>>  --------------------
>>  
>>  A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
>> -commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
>> +commit object.  It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
>>  syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
>> -ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
>> +ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
>>  blobs contained in a commit.
>>  
>>  '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
>>    The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
>> -  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
>> +  a substring that is unique within the repository.
> 
> Do we need to rephrase this a bit more, so that it would be clear that
> "e86e1950b" is not an abbreviated object name, even though it is a
> substring and may be unique within the repository?
> 
> Perhaps "a prefix of such a full SHA-1 object name that is unique..."?

Yes, definitely, I missed that.

> 
>> @@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
>>  
>>  '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
>>    You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
>> +  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on
>> +  branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
> 
> Is that "a reflog of the current branch", or because there is only one
> reflog, should it be "the reflog of the current branch"?  Ah, we mean one
> entry in the reflog (an entry of the reflog of the current branch), so
> this probably is Ok.

"reflog entry of the..." would be clearer, yes.

> 
>> @@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
>>    a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
>>    This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
>>    reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
>> +  '!' you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
>> +  followed by something else than '!', is reserved for now.
> 
> Hmm, shouldn't it be "something OTHER than" instead?

I think both are correct, "else" is maybe slightly more
American/colloquial in this context. I'd be happy with both.

> 
> Grammar is hard; thanks for cleaning them up.
> 

I too :)

[PATCHv3 0/3] revisions.txt improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

v3 as per discussion with Junio.
(1/3, 2/3 unchanged but resent)

Michael J Gruber (3):
  revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes
  revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list
  revisions.txt: language improvements

 Documentation/revisions.txt |  198 +++++++++++++++++++++++--------------------
 1 files changed, 107 insertions(+), 91 deletions(-)

-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCHv3 1/3] revisions.txt: consistent use of quotes

[Michael J Gruber]

Our use of quotes is inconsistent everywhere and within some files.
Before reworking the structure of revisions.txt, make the quotes
consistent:

`git command`

'some snippet or term'

The former gets typeset as code, the latter with some form of emphasis.
the man backend uses two types of emphasis.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |  104 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 52 insertions(+), 52 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index 04fceee..b994bab 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -13,45 +13,45 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from 'git describe'; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
-  `g`, and an abbreviated object name.
+  'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
 * A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
-  object referenced by refs/heads/master.  If you
-  happen to have both heads/master and tags/master, you can
+  object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
+  happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
-  When ambiguous, a `<name>` is disambiguated by taking the
+  When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if `$GIT_DIR/<name>` exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
-    useful only for `HEAD`, `FETCH_HEAD`, `ORIG_HEAD`, `MERGE_HEAD`
-    and `CHERRY_PICK_HEAD`);
+  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+    useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
+    and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/tags/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/heads/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>` if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, `refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD` if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
 +
-HEAD names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-FETCH_HEAD records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
-with your last 'git fetch' invocation.
-ORIG_HEAD is created by commands that moves your HEAD in a drastic
-way, to record the position of the HEAD before their operation, so that
+'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+with your last `git fetch` invocation.
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
 you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
 them easily.
-MERGE_HEAD records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
-when you run 'git merge'.
-CHERRY_PICK_HEAD records the commit you are cherry-picking
-when you run 'git cherry-pick'.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+when you run `git merge`.
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
-Note that any of the `refs/*` cases above may come either from
-the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
+Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
+the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
@@ -59,10 +59,10 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
-  existing log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>). Note that this looks up the state
+  existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
   of your *local* ref at a given time; e.g., what was in your local
-  `master` branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
-  certain times, see `--since` and `--until`.
+  'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
+  certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
 * A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ($GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>).
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
 
 * You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
@@ -98,36 +98,36 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the usage of this form.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}`) means the object
+  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  `rev{caret}0`
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for `rev{caret}\{commit\}`.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{\}`) means the object could be a tag,
+  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
 * A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. `HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}`):
-  this is the same as `:/fix nasty bug` syntax below except that
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
+  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the ref before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. `:/fix nasty bug`): this names
+* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
   '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
   followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
-  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. `:/^foo`.
+  match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. `HEAD:README`); this names the blob or tree
+* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. `:README`)
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -136,9 +136,9 @@ the `$GIT_DIR/refs` directory or from the `$GIT_DIR/packed-refs` file.
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
 * A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. `:0:README`); this names a blob object in the
+  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. `:README`) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
@@ -175,31 +175,31 @@ G   H   I   J
 SPECIFYING RANGES
 -----------------
 
-History traversing commands such as 'git log' operate on a set
+History traversing commands such as `git log` operate on a set
 of commits, not just a single commit.  To these commands,
 specifying a single revision with the notation described in the
 previous section means the set of commits reachable from that
 commit, following the commit ancestry chain.
 
-To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix `{caret}`
-notation is used.  E.g. `{caret}r1 r2` means commits reachable
-from `r2` but exclude the ones reachable from `r1`.
+To exclude commits reachable from a commit, a prefix '{caret}'
+notation is used.  E.g. '{caret}r1 r2' means commits reachable
+from 'r2' but exclude the ones reachable from 'r1'.
 
 This set operation appears so often that there is a shorthand
-for it.  When you have two commits `r1` and `r2` (named according
+for it.  When you have two commits 'r1' and 'r2' (named according
 to the syntax explained in SPECIFYING REVISIONS above), you can ask
 for commits that are reachable from r2 excluding those that are reachable
-from r1 by `{caret}r1 r2` and it can be written as `r1..r2`.
+from r1 by '{caret}r1 r2' and it can be written as 'r1..r2'.
 
-A similar notation `r1\...r2` is called symmetric difference
-of `r1` and `r2` and is defined as
-`r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)`.
+A similar notation 'r1\...r2' is called symmetric difference
+of 'r1' and 'r2' and is defined as
+'r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)'.
 It is the set of commits that are reachable from either one of
-`r1` or `r2` but not from both.
+'r1' or 'r2' but not from both.
 
 Two other shorthands for naming a set that is formed by a commit
-and its parent commits exist.  The `r1{caret}@` notation means all
-parents of `r1`.  `r1{caret}!` includes commit `r1` but excludes
+and its parent commits exist.  The 'r1{caret}@' notation means all
+parents of 'r1'.  'r1{caret}!' includes commit 'r1' but excludes
 all of its parents.
 
 Here are a handful of examples:
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCHv3 2/3] revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list

[Michael J Gruber]

Currently, the reader has to parse a textual description in order to
find a specific syntax in the list.

Restructure as a labelled list with systematic labels as well as
concrete examples as a visual guide.

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
 Documentation/revisions.txt |   86 +++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------
 1 files changed, 51 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index b994bab..92bc662 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
 SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
-A revision parameter typically, but not necessarily, names a
+A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
 commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
 ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
-* The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
+'<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
+  The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
   a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
   name the same commit object if there are no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
-* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+'<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
+  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
-* A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
+'<refname>', e.g. 'master', 'heads/master', 'refs/heads/master'::
+  A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
   object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'.  If you
   happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
   explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
 
   . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
 
@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
 the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
+'<refname>@\{<date>\}', e.g. 'master@\{yesterday\}', 'HEAD@\{5 minutes ago\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
   second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
@@ -64,58 +68,68 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
   certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
 
-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
+'<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
+  A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
   enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
   immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
-  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
+  log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<refname>').
 
-* You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
+'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
+  You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
   reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
   branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
-* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
+'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
+  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
   before the current one.
 
-* The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form 'ref@\{u\}') refers to
+'<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
+  The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
   the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter (e.g. 'HEAD{caret}') means the first parent of
+'<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
   that commit object.  '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
-  'rev{caret}'
-  is equivalent to 'rev{caret}1').  As a special rule,
-  'rev{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when 'rev' is the
+  '<rev>{caret}'
+  is equivalent to '<rev>{caret}1').  As a special rule,
+  '<rev>{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when '<rev>' is the
   object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.
 
-* A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
+'<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
+  A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. rev~3 is
-  equivalent to rev{caret}{caret}{caret} which is equivalent to
-  rev{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1.  See below for a illustration of
+  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
-  brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
+'<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
+  brace pair means the object
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
-  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  'rev{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
-  (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
+'<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
+  means the object could be a tag,
   and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
   found.
 
-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
-  pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
-  this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+'<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
+  A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
+  pair that contains a text led by a slash,
+  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
-  the ref before '{caret}'.
+  the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
+':/<text>', e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'::
+  A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text, names
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
@@ -124,10 +138,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
+'<rev>:<path>', e.g. 'HEAD:README', ':README', 'master:./README'::
+  A suffix ':' followed by a path names the blob or tree
   at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
   before the colon.
-  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
+  ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
   A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
@@ -135,10 +150,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
   the same tree structure with the working tree.
 
-* A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
-  colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
+':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
+  A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
+  colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
   index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
-  that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
+  that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
   the branch being merged.
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

[PATCHv3 3/3] revisions.txt: language improvements

[Michael J Gruber]

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
---
    Diff to v2:
    
     '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
       The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
    -  a substring that is unique within the repository.
    +  a leading substring that is unique within the repository.
       E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
       name the same commit object if there is no other object in
       your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
    @@ -79,11 +79,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
    
     '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
       You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
    -  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on
    +  reflog entry of the current branch. For example, if you are on
       branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
    
     '@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
    -  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
    +  The construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
       before the current one.
    
     '<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::

 Documentation/revisions.txt |   70 +++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
 1 files changed, 35 insertions(+), 35 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/revisions.txt b/Documentation/revisions.txt
index 92bc662..b290b61 100644
--- a/Documentation/revisions.txt
+++ b/Documentation/revisions.txt
@@ -2,20 +2,20 @@ SPECIFYING REVISIONS
 --------------------
 
 A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
-commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
+commit object.  It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
 syntax.  Here are various ways to spell object names.  The
-ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
+ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
 blobs contained in a commit.
 
 '<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
   The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
-  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
+  a leading substring that is unique within the repository.
   E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
-  name the same commit object if there are no other object in
+  name the same commit object if there is no other object in
   your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
 
 '<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
-  An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
+  Output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
   followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
   'g', and an abbreviated object name.
 
@@ -27,30 +27,30 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
   When ambiguous, a '<name>' is disambiguated by taking the
   first match in the following rules:
 
-  . if '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
+  . If '$GIT_DIR/<name>' exists, that is what you mean (this is usually
     useful only for 'HEAD', 'FETCH_HEAD', 'ORIG_HEAD', 'MERGE_HEAD'
     and 'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD');
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if exists;
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>' if it exists;
 
-  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if exists.
+  . otherwise, 'refs/remotes/<name>/HEAD' if it exists.
 +
-'HEAD' names the commit your changes in the working tree is based on.
-'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch you fetched from a remote repository
+'HEAD' names the commit on which you based the changes in the working tree.
+'FETCH_HEAD' records the branch which you fetched from a remote repository
 with your last `git fetch` invocation.
-'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that moves your 'HEAD' in a drastic
+'ORIG_HEAD' is created by commands that move your 'HEAD' in a drastic
 way, to record the position of the 'HEAD' before their operation, so that
-you can change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
-them easily.
-'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) you are merging into your branch
+you can easily change the tip of the branch back to the state before you ran
+them.
+'MERGE_HEAD' records the commit(s) which you are merging into your branch
 when you run `git merge`.
-'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit you are cherry-picking
+'CHERRY_PICK_HEAD' records the commit which you are cherry-picking
 when you run `git cherry-pick`.
 +
 Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
   enclosed in a brace
   pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
-  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
+  second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') specifies the value
   of the ref at a prior point in time.  This suffix may only be
   used immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an
   existing log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>'). Note that this looks up the state
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
   A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
-  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
+  enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') specifies
   the n-th prior value of that ref.  For example 'master@\{1\}'
   is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
   is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
@@ -79,16 +79,16 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 
 '@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
   You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
-  reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
-  branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
+  reflog entry of the current branch. For example, if you are on
+  branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
 
 '@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
-  The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
+  The construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
   before the current one.
 
 '<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
   The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
-  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  Missing ref defaults
+  the branch the ref is set to build on top of.  A missing ref defaults
   to the current branch.
 
 '<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
@@ -102,9 +102,9 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
   A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
   object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
-  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
+  commit object, following only the first parents.  I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
   equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
-  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for a illustration of
+  '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'.  See below for an illustration of
   the usage of this form.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
   object of that type is found or the object cannot be
   dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  '<rev>{caret}0'
-  introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
+  is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
 
 '<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
 '<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
   A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
   pair that contains a text led by a slash,
-  is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
+  is the same as the ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
   it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
   the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
 
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
   This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
   reachable from any ref.  If the commit message starts with a
-  '!', you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
-  followed by something else than '!' is reserved for now.
+  '!' you have to repeat that;  the special sequence ':/!',
+  followed by something else than '!', is reserved for now.
   The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
   match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
 
@@ -145,19 +145,19 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
   ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
   is a special case of the syntax described next: content
   recorded in the index at the given path.
-  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
-  The given path will be converted to be relative to working tree's root directory.
+  A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to the current working directory.
+  The given path will be converted to be relative to the working tree's root directory.
   This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
-  the same tree structure with the working tree.
+  the same tree structure as the working tree.
 
 ':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
   A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
   colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
-  index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
+  index at the given path. A missing stage number (and the colon
   that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
   1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
   (typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
-  the branch being merged.
+  the branch which is being merged.
 
 Here is an illustration, by Jon Loeliger.  Both commit nodes B
 and C are parents of commit node A.  Parent commits are ordered
-- 
1.7.4.2.668.gba03a4

Re: [PATCHv3 0/3] revisions.txt improvements

[Junio C Hamano]

Thanks.