From: "Stefan Beller" <sbeller@xxxxxxxxxx>
It's better to start the man page with a description of what
submodules
actually are instead of saying what they are not.
Reorder the paragraphs such that
the first short paragraph introduces the submodule concept,
the second paragraph highlights the usage of the submodule command,
the third paragraph giving background information,
and finally the fourth paragraph discusing alternatives such
as subtrees and remotes, which we don't want to be confused with.
This ordering deepens the knowledge on submodules with each paragraph.
First the basic questions like "How/what" will be answered, while the
underlying concepts will be taught at a later time.
Making sure it is not confused with subtrees and remotes is not really
enhancing knowledge of submodules itself, but rather painting the big
picture of git concepts, so you could also argue to have it as the
second
paragraph. Personally I think this may confuse readers, specially
newcomers
though.
Signed-off-by: Stefan Beller <sbeller@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
Documentation/git-submodule.txt | 54
++++++++++++++++++++---------------------
1 file changed, 26 insertions(+), 28 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
index 2c25916..6c38c0d 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-submodule.txt
@@ -25,35 +25,12 @@ SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Submodules allow foreign repositories to be embedded within
-a dedicated subdirectory of the source tree, always pointed
-at a particular commit.
+Submodules allow other repositories to be embedded within
+a dedicated subdirectory of the source tree pointing
+at a particular commit in the other repository.
-They are not to be confused with remotes, which are meant mainly
-for branches of the same project; submodules are meant for
-different projects you would like to make part of your source tree,
-while the history of the two projects still stays completely
-independent and you cannot modify the contents of the submodule
-from within the main project.
-If you want to merge the project histories and want to treat the
-aggregated whole as a single project from then on, you may want to
-add a remote for the other project and use the 'subtree' merge
strategy,
-instead of treating the other project as a submodule. Directories
-that come from both projects can be cloned and checked out as a whole
-if you choose to go that route.
-
-Submodules are composed from a so-called `gitlink` tree entry
-in the main repository that refers to a particular commit object
-within the inner repository that is completely separate.
-A record in the `.gitmodules` (see linkgit:gitmodules[5]) file at the
-root of the source tree assigns a logical name to the submodule and
-describes the default URL the submodule shall be cloned from.
-The logical name can be used for overriding this URL within your
-local repository configuration (see 'submodule init').
-
-This command will manage the tree entries and contents of the
-gitmodules file for you, as well as inspect the status of your
-submodules and update them.
+This command will manage the submodules for you, as well as
+inspect the status of your submodules and update them.
When adding a new submodule to the tree, the 'add' subcommand
is to be used. However, when pulling a tree containing submodules,
these will not be checked out by default;
@@ -64,6 +41,27 @@ using the 'status' subcommand and get a detailed
overview of the
difference between the index and checkouts using the 'summary'
subcommand.
+Submodules are composed from a so-called `gitlink` tree entry
+in the main repository that refers to a particular commit object
+within the inner repository that is completely separate.
+A record in the `.gitmodules` (see linkgit:gitmodules[5]) file at the
+root of the source tree assigns a logical name to the submodule and
+describes the default URL the submodule shall be cloned from.
+The logical name can be used for overriding this URL within your
+local repository configuration (see 'submodule init').
+
+Submodules are not to be confused with remotes, which are meant
+mainly for branches of the same project;
This use of 'branches' didn't work for me. "remotes are meant mainly for
branches of the same project" ?
submodules are meant for
+different projects you would like to make part of your source tree,
+while the history of the two projects still stays completely
+independent and you cannot modify the contents of the submodule
+from within the main project.
+If you want to merge the project histories and want to treat the
+aggregated whole as a single project from then on, you may want to
+add a remote for the other project and use the 'subtree' merge
strategy,
+instead of treating the other project as a submodule. Directories
+that come from both projects can be cloned and checked out as a whole
+if you choose to go that route.
--
Philip
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