1) Make it clear that when the --octopus parameter is given to 'git merge-base', only a set of commits is expected as the parameter. On the other hand, in the case without the --octopus parameter, it is necessary to supply a single commit and a set. Moreover, in the case of --octopus merging, a single commit is also valid, which is not the case otherwise. 2) Add a sentence to the discussion that when --octopus is used, we do expect '2' as the result. Signed-off-by: Vincent van Ravesteijn <vfr@xxxxxxx> --- Documentation/git-merge-base.txt | 6 +++++- builtin/merge-base.c | 3 ++- 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt b/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt index eedef1b..1bac04f 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt @@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ git-merge-base - Find as good common ancestors as possible for a merge SYNOPSIS -------- [verse] -'git merge-base' [-a|--all] [--octopus] <commit> <commit>... +'git merge-base' [-a|--all] <commit> <commit>... +'git merge-base' [-a|--all] --octopus <commit>... 'git merge-base' --independent <commit>... DESCRIPTION @@ -89,6 +90,9 @@ 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. +When the option `--octopus` is given, the result of `git merge-base A B C` +is expected to be '2', since '2' is the common ancestor of all branches. + When the history involves criss-cross merges, there can be more than one 'best' common ancestor for two commits. For example, with this topology: diff --git a/builtin/merge-base.c b/builtin/merge-base.c index 96dd160..4f30f1b 100644 --- a/builtin/merge-base.c +++ b/builtin/merge-base.c @@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ static int show_merge_base(struct commit **rev, int rev_nr, int show_all) } static const char * const merge_base_usage[] = { - "git merge-base [-a|--all] [--octopus] <commit> <commit>...", + "git merge-base [-a|--all] <commit> <commit>...", + "git merge-base [-a|--all] --octopus <commit>...", "git merge-base --independent <commit>...", NULL }; -- 1.7.3.1.msysgit.0 -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe git" in the body of a message to majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html