[PATCH] filter-branch: add an example how to add ACKs to a range of commits

[PATCH] filter-branch: add an example how to add ACKs to a range of commits

[Johannes Schindelin]

When you have to add certain lines like ACKs (or for that matter,
Signed-off-by:s) to a range of commits starting with HEAD, you might
be tempted to use 'git rebase -i -10', but that is a waste of your
time.

It is better to use 'git filter-branch' with an appropriate message
filter, and this commit adds an example how to do so to
filter-branch's man page.

Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
---
 Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt |   10 ++++++++++
 1 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt b/Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt
index ab527b5..32ea856 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-filter-branch.txt
@@ -305,6 +305,16 @@ range in addition to the new branch name.  The new branch name will
 point to the top-most revision that a 'git-rev-list' of this range
 will print.
 
+If you need to add 'Acked-by' lines to, say, the last 10 commits (none
+of which is a merge), use this command:
+
+--------------------------------------------------------
+git filter-branch --msg-filter '
+	cat &&
+	echo "Acked-by: Bugs Bunny <bunny@bugzilla.org>"
+' HEAD~10..HEAD
+--------------------------------------------------------
+
 *NOTE* the changes introduced by the commits, and which are not reverted
 by subsequent commits, will still be in the rewritten branch. If you want
 to throw out _changes_ together with the commits, you should use the
-- 
1.6.4.313.g3d9e3

Re: [PATCH] filter-branch: add an example how to add ACKs to a range of commits

[Junio C Hamano]

Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de> writes:

> When you have to add certain lines like ACKs (or for that matter,
> Signed-off-by:s) to a range of commits starting with HEAD, you might
> be tempted to use 'git rebase -i -10', but that is a waste of your
> time.

Cute.

In a case like this, I tend to just do:

    git checkout $(git merge-base master js/series)

    git format-patch --stdout master..js/series | git am -s

    git diff js/series
    git branch --with js/series
    git branch -f js/series

as the first step (checking out the base, detaching HEAD) and the last
group of steps (verifying what improvements I made while on detached HEAD,
checking what _other_ branches may need to be rebuilt, and actually
updating the branch) are very common for my every-day branch whipping
workflow, and the second case being the full "format-patch | am" is just a
special case of what I do regularly, e.g. cherry-picking, manually
fixing-up, etc.

Rebase -i is very nice if you need to dig deep but the change you make is
actually very limited.  Filter-branch is too automated and requires an
enormous amount of effort to do anything flexible.  Often I find myself
wanting to do something in the middle, and I end up doing the "detach at
the base and rebuild" procedure.

Will apply.  The hint is useful nevertheless.