Re: Manual merges.

[Stefano Lattarini]

On Friday 21 October 2011, Peter Rosin wrote:
> Hi!
> 
Hi Peter.

> I checked to see what would happen if I merged maint back into msvc after
> commiting the AM_PROG_AR series, and there is some minor testsuite fallout
> that needs to be fixed manually.  My plan was to amend the merge commit
> with the fixups, along with a note in ChangeLog pointing to what files
> I'm touching etc.  The question is how I should label the resulting commit.
> 
> The merges normally get commit messages like
> 
> > Merge branch 'maint' into msvc
> 
> but that does not look like a normal ChangeLog header. But that's the best
> I can think of.
> 
> So, a commit message along these lines:
> 
> > Merge branch 'maint' into msvc
> > 
> > * tests/foo.test: Adjust to new portability requirements due
> > to the new AM_PROG_AR macro.
> > * tests/bar.test: Likewise.
> 
> And this in ChangeLog:
> 
> > 4711-17-42  Peter Rosin  <address@hidden>
> > 
> >     Merge branch 'maint' into msvc
> >     * tests/foo.test: Adjust to new portability requirements due
> >     to the new AM_PROG_AR macro.
> >     * tests/bar.test: Likewise.
>
> Sounds like a plan?
>
Yes.  But I can also see two other possibilities:

 - Fix the failing tests in a follow-up patch; this way, you can write
   a "usual" commit message and a "usual" ChangeLog entry.

 - Amend the merge commit, but instead of adding a new ChangeLog entry,
   edit the one(s) from the commits you are merging (while keeping the
   commit message of the merge as in your example).

I'm not sure which of these three options (the one proposed by you
and the one proposed by me) would be preferable, and I must say I have
no real preference either.  So you choose (unless Someone Else wants
to chime in and override my advice ;-)

Regards,
  Stefano