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 It is a problem if the branch is not laundered.
61 =item git-debrebase new-upstream-v0 <new-version> [<upstream-details>...]
63 Rebases the delta queue
64 onto a new upstream version. In detail:
66 Firstly, checks that the proposed rebase seems to make sense:
67 It is a problem unless the new upstream(s)
68 are fast forward from the previous upstream(s)
69 as found in the current breakwater anchor.
70 And, in the case of a multi-piece upstream,
71 if the pieces are not in the same order, with the same names.
73 If all seems well, unstitches and launders the branch.
77 (in a private working area)
78 a new anchor merge commit,
79 on top of the breakwater tip,
80 and on top of that a commit to
81 update the version number in debian/changelog.
85 of the delta queue onto these new commits.
87 That git-rebase may complete successfully,
88 or it may require your assistance,
89 just like a normal git-rebase.
91 If you git-rebase --abort,
92 the whole new upstream operation is aborted,
93 but the laundering will still have been done.
95 The <upstream-details> are, optionally, in order:
99 =item <upstream-commitish>
101 The new upstream branch (or commitish).
102 Default is C<upstream>.
104 It is a problem if the upstream contains a debian/ directory;
105 if forced to proceed,
106 git-debrebase will disregard the upstream's debian/ and
107 take (only) the packaging from the current breakwater.
109 =item <piece-name> <piece-upstream-commitish>
111 Specifies that this is a multi-piece upstream.
112 (A multi-component upstream, in dpkg-source terminology.)
115 When such a pair is specified,
116 git-debrebase will first combine the pieces of the upstream
118 and then use the result as the combined new upstream.
120 For each <piece-name>,
121 the tree of the <piece-upstream-commitish>
122 becomes the subdirectory <piece-name>
123 in the combined new upstream
124 (supplanting any subdirectory that might be there in
125 the main upstream branch).
127 <piece-name> has a restricted syntax:
128 it may contain only ASCII alphanumerics and hyphens.
130 The combined upstream is itself recorded as a commit,
131 with each of the upstream pieces' commits as parents.
132 The combined commit contains an annotation
133 to allow a future git-debrebase new upstream operation
134 to make the coherency checks described above.
136 =item <git-rebase options>
138 These will be passed to git rebase.
140 If the upstream rebase is troublesome, -i may be helpful.
141 As with plain git-debrebase,
142 do not specify a base, or --onto, or --fork-point.
146 If you are planning to generate a .dsc,
147 you will also need to have, or generate,
148 actual orig tarball(s),
149 which must be identical to the rev-spec(s)
150 passed to git-debrebase.
151 git-debrebase does not concern itself with source packages
152 so neither helps with this, nor checks it.
153 L<git-archive(1)>, L<dgit(1)> and L<gbp(1)> may be able to help.
155 This subcommand has -v0 in its name because we are not yet sure
156 that its command line syntax is optimal.
157 We may want to introduce an incompatible replacement syntax
158 under the name C<new-upstream>.
160 =item git-debrebase convert-from-gbp [<upstream-commitish>]
162 Cnnverts a gbp patches-unapplied branch
163 (not a gbp pq patch queue branch)
164 into a git-debrebase interchange branch.
166 This is done by generating a new anchor merge,
167 converting the quilt patches as a delta queue,
168 and dropping the patches from the tree.
170 The upstream commitish should correspond to
171 the gbp upstream branch.
172 It is a problem if it is not an ancestor of HEAD,
173 or if the history between the upstream and HEAD
174 contains commits which make changes to upstream files.
176 It is also a problem if the specified upstream
177 has a debian/ subdirectory.
178 This check exists to detect certain likely user errors,
179 but if this situation is true and expected,
182 The result is a well-formed git-debrebase interchange branch.
183 The result is also fast-forward from the gbp branch.
185 Note that it is dangerous not to know whether you are
186 dealing with a gbp patches-unappled branch containing quilt patches,
187 or a git-debrebase interchange branch.
189 using the wrong tool for the branch format might result in
190 a dropped patch queue!
194 =head1 UNDERLYING AND SUPPLEMENTARY OPERATIONS
198 =item git-debrebase breakwater
200 Prints the breakwater tip commitid.
201 If your HEAD branch is not fully laundered,
202 prints the tip of the so-far-laundered breakwater.
204 =item git-debrebase analyse
206 Walks the history of the current branch,
207 most recent commit first,
208 back until the most recent anchor,
209 printing the commit object id,
210 and commit type and info
211 (ie the semantics in the git-debrebase model)
214 =item git-debrebase record-ffq-prev
216 Establishes the current branch's ffq-prev,
217 as discussed in L</UNSTITCHING AND LAUNDERING>,
218 but does not launder the branch or move HEAD.
220 It is an error if the ffq-prev could not be recorded.
221 It is also an error if an ffq-prev has already been recorded,
224 =item git-debrebase launder-v0
226 Launders the branch without recording anything in ffq-prev.
227 Then prints some information about the current branch.
228 Do not use this operation;
229 it will be withdrawn soon.
231 =item git-debrebase convert-to-gbp
233 Converts a laundered branch into a
234 gbp patches-unapplied branch containing quilt patches.
235 The result is not fast forward from the interchange branch,
236 and any ffq-prev is deleted.
238 This is provided mostly for the test suite
239 and for unusual situations.
240 It should only be used with a care and
241 with a proper understanding of the underlying theory.
243 Be sure to not accidentally treat the result as
244 a git-debrebase branch,
245 or you will drop all the patches!
251 This section documents the general options
253 (ie, the ones which follow git-debrebase).
254 Individual operations may have their own options which are
255 docuented under each operation.
261 Turns problems with id <problem-id> into warnings.
263 Some troublesome things which git-debrebase encounters
265 (The specific instances are discussed
266 in the text for the relvant operation.)
268 When a problem is detected,
269 a message is printed to stderr containing the problem id
270 (in the form C<-f<problem-idE<gt>>),
271 along with some prose.
273 If problems are detected, git-debrebase does not continue,
274 unless the relevant -f<problem-id> is specified,
275 or --force is specified.
279 Turns all problems into warnings.
280 See the -f<problem-id> option.
282 Do not invoke git-debrebase --force in scripts and aliases;
283 instead, specify the particular -f<problem-id> for expected problems.
287 Suppresses the error in
288 some situations where git-debrebase does nothing,
289 because there is nothing to do.
291 The specific instances are discussed
292 in the text for the relvant operation.
294 =item --anchor=<commitish>
296 Treats <commitish> as an anchor,
297 regardless of what it's actually like.
300 git-debrebase new-upstream operations
301 if <commitish> is the previous anchor to be used,
302 because treating an arbitrary commit as an anchor
303 means forgoing upstream coherency checks.)
307 Requests (more) debugging. May be repeated.
311 =head1 UNSTITCHING AND LAUNDERING
313 Several operations unstitch and launder the branch first.
314 In detail this means:
316 =head2 Establish the current branch's ffq-prev
318 If it is not yet recorded,
319 git-debrebase checks that the current branch is ahead of relevant
320 remote tracking branches.
322 The remote tracking branches checked by default are
323 obtained from the git config.
324 In each case it is a problem if
325 the local HEAD is behind the checked remote,
326 or if local HEAD has diverged from it.
327 All the checks are done locally using the remote tracking refs:
328 git-debrebase does not fetch anything from anywhere.
330 git-debrebase checks the branch that git would merge from
331 (remote.<branch>.merge, remote.<branch>.remote)
332 and the branch git would push to
333 (remote.<branch>.pushRemote etc.).
334 For local dgit suite branches
335 it checks the corresponding tracking remote.
336 If you are on C<master>, it checks remotes/dgit/dgit/sid.
337 The resulting ref names to check are filtered through
338 branch.<branch>.ffq-ffrefs,
339 which is a semicolon-separated list of glob patterns,
340 each optionally preceded by !; first match wins.
342 If these checks pass,
344 git-debrebse then records the current tip as ffq-prev.
346 =head2 Examine the branch
349 analyses the current HEAD's history to find the anchor
351 and the most recent breakwater tip.
353 =head2 Rewrite the commits into laundered form
355 Mixed debian+upstream commits are split into two commits each.
356 Delta queue (upstream files) commits bubble to the top.
358 and quilt patch additions,
361 This rewrite will always succeed, by construction.
362 The result is the laundered branch.
367 dgit-maint-rebase(7),