3 git-debrebase - delta queue rebase tool for Debian packaging
7 git-debrebase [<options...>] [-- <git-rebase options...>]
8 git-debrebase [<options...>] <operation> [<operation options...>
12 git-debrebase is a tool for representing in git,
14 Debian packages based on upstream source code.
16 This is the command line reference.
17 Please read the tutorial
18 L<dgit-maint-debrebase(5)>.
19 For background, theory of operation,
20 and definitions of the terms used here,
21 see L<git-debrebase(5)>.
23 If no operation is specified,
24 git-debrebase launders the branch and rebases the Debian delta queue.
27 =head1 PRINCIPAL OPERATIONS
31 =item git-debrebase [-- <git-rebase options...>]
33 Unstitches and launders the branch.
34 (See L</UNSTITCHING AND LAUNDERING> below.)
36 Then optionally edits the Debian delta queue,
37 using git-rebase, by running
39 git rebase <git-rebase options> <breakwater-tip>
41 Do not pass a base branch argument:
42 git-debrebase will supply that.
43 Do not use --onto, or --fork-point.
44 Useful git-rebase options include -i and --autosquash.
46 If git-rebase stops for any reason,
47 you may git-rebase --abort, --continue, or --skip, as usual.
48 If you abort the git-rebase,
49 the branch will still have been laundered,
50 but everything in the rebase will be undone.
52 =item git-debrebase stitch [--prose=<for commit message>]
57 If there is no ffq-prev, it is an error, unless --noop-ok.
59 =item git-debrebase new-upstream-v0 <new-version> [<upstream-details>...]
61 Rebases the delta queue
62 onto a new upstream version. In detail:
64 Firstly, checks that the proposed rebase seems to make sense:
65 It is a problem unless the new upstream(s)
66 are fast forward from the previous upstream(s)
67 as found in the current breakwater anchor.
68 And, in the case of a multi-piece upstream,
69 if the pieces are not in the same order, with the same names.
71 If all seems well, unstitches and launders the branch.
75 (in a private working area)
76 a new anchor merge commit,
77 on top of the breakwater tip,
78 and on top of that a commit to
79 update the version number in debian/changelog.
83 of the delta queue onto these new commits.
85 That git-rebase may complete successfully,
86 or it may require your assistance,
87 just like a normal git-rebase.
89 If you git-rebase --abort,
90 the whole new upstream operation is aborted,
91 but the laundering will still have been done.
93 The <upstream-details> are, optionally, in order:
97 =item <upstream-commitish>
99 The new upstream branch (or commitish).
100 Default is C<upstream>.
102 It is a problem if the upstream contains a debian/ directory;
103 if forced to proceed,
104 git-debrebase will disregard the upstream's debian/ and
105 take (only) the packaging from the current breakwater.
107 =item <piece-name> <piece-upstream-commitish>
109 Specifies that this is a multi-piece upstream.
110 (A multi-component upstream, in dpkg-source terminology.)
113 When such a pair is specified,
114 git-debrebase will first combine the pieces of the upstream
116 and then use the result as the combined new upstream.
118 For each <piece-name>,
119 the tree of the <piece-upstream-commitish>
120 becomes the subdirectory <piece-name>
121 in the combined new upstream
122 (supplanting any subdirectory that might be there in
123 the main upstream branch).
125 <piece-name> has a restricted syntax:
126 it may contain only ASCII alphanumerics and hyphens.
128 The combined upstream is itself recorded as a commit,
129 with each of the upstream pieces' commits as parents.
130 The combined commit contains an annotation
131 to allow a future git-debrebase new upstream operation
132 to make the coherency checks described above.
134 =item <git-rebase options>
136 These will be passed to git rebase.
138 If the upstream rebase is troublesome, -i may be helpful.
139 As with plain git-debrebase,
140 do not specify a base, or --onto, or --fork-point.
144 If you are planning to generate a .dsc,
145 you will also need to have, or generate,
146 actual orig tarball(s),
147 which must be identical to the rev-spec(s)
148 passed to git-debrebase.
149 git-debrebase does not concern itself with source packages
150 so neither helps with this, nor checks it.
151 L<git-archive(1)>, L<dgit(1)> and L<gbp(1)> may be able to help.
153 This subcommand has -v0 in its name because we are not yet sure
154 that its command line syntax is optimal.
155 We may want to introduce an incompatible replacement syntax
156 under the name C<new-upstream>.
158 =item git-debrebase convert-from-gbp [<upstream-commitish>]
160 Cnnverts a gbp patches-unapplied branch
161 (not a gbp pq patch queue branch)
162 into a git-debrebase interchange branch.
164 This is done by generating a new anchor merge,
165 converting the quilt patches as a delta queue,
166 and dropping the patches from the tree.
168 The upstream commitish should correspond to
169 the gbp upstream branch.
170 It is a problem if it is not an ancestor of HEAD,
171 or if the history between the upstream and HEAD
172 contains commits which make changes to upstream files.
174 It is also a problem if the specified upstream
175 has a debian/ subdirectory.
176 This check exists to detect certain likely user errors,
177 but if this situation is true and expected,
180 The result is a well-formed git-debrebase interchange branch.
181 The result is also fast-forward from the gbp branch.
183 Note that it is dangerous not to know whether you are
184 dealing with a gbp patches-unappled branch containing quilt patches,
185 or a git-debrebase interchange branch.
187 using the wrong tool for the branch format might result in
188 a dropped patch queue!
192 =head1 UNDERLYING AND SUPPLEMENTARY OPERATIONS
196 =item git-debrebase breakwater
198 Prints the breakwater tip commitid.
199 Fails if your HEAD branch is not laundered.
201 =item git-debrebase analyse
203 Walks the history of the current branch,
204 most recent commit first,
205 back until the most recent anchor,
206 printing the commit object id,
207 and commit type and info
208 (ie the semantics in the git-debrebase model)
211 =item git-debrebase record-ffq-prev
213 Establishes the current branch's ffq-prev,
214 as discussed in L</UNSTITCHING AND LAUNDERING>,
215 but does not launder the branch or move HEAD.
217 It is an error if the ffq-prev could not be recorded.
218 It is also an error if an ffq-prev has already been recorded,
221 =item git-debrebase launder-v0
223 Launders the branch without recording anything in ffq-prev.
224 Then prints some information about the current branch.
225 Do not use this operation;
226 it will be withdrawn soon.
228 =item git-debrebase convert-to-gbp
230 Converts a laundered branch into a
231 gbp patches-unapplied branch containing quilt patches.
232 The result is not fast forward from the interchange branch,
233 and any ffq-prev is deleted.
235 This is provided mostly for the test suite
236 and for unusual situations.
237 It should only be used with a care and
238 with a proper understanding of the underlying theory.
240 Be sure to not accidentally treat the result as
241 a git-debrebase branch,
242 or you will drop all the patches!
246 =head1 UNSTITCHING AND LAUNDERING
248 Several operations unstitch and launder the branch first.
249 In detail this means:
251 =head2 Establish the current branch's ffq-prev
253 If it is not yet recorded,
254 git-debrebase checks that the current branch is ahead of relevant
255 remote tracking branches.
257 The remote tracking branches checked by default are
258 obtained from the git config.
259 In each case it is a problem if
260 the local HEAD is behind the checked remote,
261 or if local HEAD has diverged from it.
262 All the checks are done locally using the remote tracking refs:
263 git-debrebase does not fetch anything from anywhere.
265 git-debrebase checks the branch that git would merge from
266 (remote.<branch>.merge, remote.<branch>.remote)
267 and the branch git would push to
268 (remote.<branch>.pushRemote etc.).
269 For local dgit suite branches
270 it checks the corresponding tracking remote.
271 If you are on C<master>, it checks remotes/dgit/dgit/sid.
272 The resulting ref names to check are filtered through
273 branch.<branch>.ffq-ffrefs,
274 which is a semicolon-separated list of glob patterns,
275 each optionally preceded by !; first match wins.
277 If these checks pass,
279 git-debrebse then records the current tip as ffq-prev.
281 =head2 Examine the branch
284 analyses the current HEAD's history to find the anchor
286 and the most recent breakwater tip.
288 =head2 Rewrite the commits into laundered form
290 Mixed debian+upstream commits are split into two commits each.
291 Delta queue (upstream files) commits bubble to the top.
293 and quilt patch additions,
296 This rewrite will always succeed, by construction.
297 The result is the laundered branch.
302 dgit-maint-rebase(7),