GIT-FMT-MERGE-MSG(1) Git Manual GIT-FMT-MERGE-MSG(1)NAME
git-fmt-merge-msg - Produce a merge commit message
SYNOPSIS
git fmt-merge-msg [-m <message>] [--log[=<n>] | --no-log]
git fmt-merge-msg [-m <message>] [--log[=<n>] | --no-log] -F <file>
DESCRIPTION
Takes the list of merged objects on stdin and produces a suitable commit message to be used for the merge commit, usually to be passed as
the <merge-message> argument of git merge.
This command is intended mostly for internal use by scripts automatically invoking git merge.
OPTIONS
--log[=<n>]
In addition to branch names, populate the log message with one-line descriptions from the actual commits that are being merged. At most
<n> commits from each merge parent will be used (20 if <n> is omitted). This overrides the merge.log configuration variable.
--no-log
Do not list one-line descriptions from the actual commits being merged.
--[no-]summary
Synonyms to --log and --no-log; these are deprecated and will be removed in the future.
-m <message>, --message <message>
Use <message> instead of the branch names for the first line of the log message. For use with --log.
-F <file>, --file <file>
Take the list of merged objects from <file> instead of stdin.
CONFIGURATION
merge.branchdesc
In addition to branch names, populate the log message with the branch description text associated with them. Defaults to false.
merge.log
In addition to branch names, populate the log message with at most the specified number of one-line descriptions from the actual
commits that are being merged. Defaults to false, and true is a synonym for 20.
merge.summary
Synonym to merge.log; this is deprecated and will be removed in the future.
EXAMPLE
$ git fetch origin master
$ git fmt-merge-msg --log <$GIT_DIR/FETCH_HEAD
Print a log message describing a merge of the "master" branch from the "origin" remote.
SEE ALSO git-merge(1)GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 2.17.1 10/05/2018 GIT-FMT-MERGE-MSG(1)
Check Out this Related Man Page
GIT-MERGE-BASE(1) Git Manual GIT-MERGE-BASE(1)NAME
git-merge-base - Find as good common ancestors as possible for a merge
SYNOPSIS
git merge-base [-a|--all] <commit> <commit>...
git merge-base [-a|--all] --octopus <commit>...
git merge-base --is-ancestor <commit> <commit>
git merge-base --independent <commit>...
DESCRIPTION
git merge-base finds best common ancestor(s) between two commits to use in a three-way merge. One common ancestor is better than another
common ancestor if the latter is an ancestor of the former. A common ancestor that does not have any better common ancestor is a best
common ancestor, i.e. a merge base. Note that there can be more than one merge base for a pair of commits.
OPERATION MODE
As the most common special case, specifying only two commits on the command line means computing the merge base between the given two
commits.
More generally, among the two commits to compute the merge base from, one is specified by the first commit argument on the command line;
the other commit is a (possibly hypothetical) commit that is a merge across all the remaining commits on the command line.
As a consequence, the merge base is not necessarily contained in each of the commit arguments if more than two commits are specified. This
is different from git-show-branch(1) when used with the --merge-base option.
--octopus
Compute the best common ancestors of all supplied commits, in preparation for an n-way merge. This mimics the behavior of git
show-branch --merge-base.
--independent
Instead of printing merge bases, print a minimal subset of the supplied commits with the same ancestors. In other words, among the
commits given, list those which cannot be reached from any other. This mimics the behavior of git show-branch --independent.
--is-ancestor
Check if the first <commit> is an ancestor of the second <commit>, and exit with status 0 if true, or with status 1 if not. Errors are
signaled by a non-zero status that is not 1.
OPTIONS -a, --all
Output all merge bases for the commits, instead of just one.
DISCUSSION
Given two commits A and B, git merge-base A B will output a commit which is reachable from both A and B through the parent relationship.
For example, with this topology:
o---o---o---B
/
---o---1---o---o---o---A
the merge base between A and B is 1.
Given three commits A, B and C, git merge-base A B C will compute the merge base between A and a hypothetical commit M, which is a merge
between B and C. For example, with this topology:
o---o---o---o---C
/
/ o---o---o---B
/ /
---2---1---o---o---o---A
the result of git merge-base A B C is 1. This is because the equivalent topology with a merge commit M between B and C is:
o---o---o---o---o
/
/ o---o---o---o---M
/ /
---2---1---o---o---o---A
and the result of git merge-base A M is 1. Commit 2 is also a common ancestor between A and M, but 1 is a better common ancestor, because 2
is an ancestor of 1. Hence, 2 is not a merge base.
The result of git merge-base --octopus A B C is 2, because 2 is the best common ancestor of all commits.
When the history involves criss-cross merges, there can be more than one best common ancestor for two commits. For example, with this
topology:
---1---o---A
/
X
/
---2---o---o---B
both 1 and 2 are merge-bases of A and B. Neither one is better than the other (both are best merge bases). When the --all option is not
given, it is unspecified which best one is output.
A common idiom to check "fast-forward-ness" between two commits A and B is (or at least used to be) to compute the merge base between A and
B, and check if it is the same as A, in which case, A is an ancestor of B. You will see this idiom used often in older scripts.
A=$(git rev-parse --verify A)
if test "$A" = "$(git merge-base A B)"
then
... A is an ancestor of B ...
fi
In modern git, you can say this in a more direct way:
if git merge-base --is-ancestor A B
then
... A is an ancestor of B ...
fi
instead.
SEE ALSO git-rev-list(1), git-show-branch(1), git-merge(1)GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
Git 1.8.5.3 01/14/2014 GIT-MERGE-BASE(1)