[PATCH] Clarify and fix English in git-rm documentation.

[PATCH] Clarify and fix English in git-rm documentation.

[Jon Loeliger]

Do some verb-noun agreement changes
Clarify some file globbing cases
Fixed a wrong statement in an example.

Signed-off-by: Jon Loeliger <jdl@jdl.com>
---

Some discussion in the next message.  Blah.

 Documentation/git-rm.txt |   49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++------------------
 1 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 20 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-rm.txt b/Documentation/git-rm.txt
index dc36c66..2066def 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-rm.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-rm.txt
@@ -11,28 +11,34 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-Remove files from the working tree and from the index.  The
-files have to be identical to the tip of the branch, and no
-updates to its contents must have been placed in the staging
-area (aka index).  When --cached is given, the staged content has to
-match either the tip of the branch *or* the file on disk.
+Remove files from the index, or from the working tree and the index.
+`git rm` will not remove a file from just your working directory.
+The files being removed have to be identical to the tip of the branch,
+and no updates to their contents can be staged in the index.
+When '--cached' is given, the staged content has to
+match either the tip of the branch or the file on disk,
+allowing the file to be removed from just the index.
 
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
 <file>...::
 	Files to remove.  Fileglobs (e.g. `*.c`) can be given to
-	remove all matching files.  Also a leading directory name
-	(e.g. `dir` to add `dir/file1` and `dir/file2`) can be
-	given to remove all files in the directory, recursively,
-	but this requires `-r` option to be given for safety.
+	remove all matching files.  If you want git to expand
+	file glob characters, you may need to shell-escape them.
+	A leading directory name
+	(e.g. `dir` to remove `dir/file1` and `dir/file2`) can be
+	given to remove all files in the directory, and recursively
+	all sub-directories,
+	but this requires the `-r` option to be explicitly given.
 
 -f::
 	Override the up-to-date check.
 
 -n, \--dry-run::
-        Don't actually remove the file(s), just show if they exist in
-        the index.
+	Don't actually remove any file(s).  Instead, just show
+	if they exist in the index and would otherwise be removed
+	by the command.
 
 -r::
         Allow recursive removal when a leading directory name is
@@ -44,9 +50,9 @@ OPTIONS
 	for command-line options).
 
 \--cached::
-	This option can be used to tell the command to remove
-	the paths only from the index, leaving working tree
-	files.
+	Use this option to unstage and remove paths only from the index.
+	Working tree files, whether modified or not, will be
+	left alone.
 
 \--ignore-unmatch::
 	Exit with a zero status even if no files matched.
@@ -59,11 +65,15 @@ OPTIONS
 DISCUSSION
 ----------
 
-The list of <file> given to the command can be exact pathnames,
-file glob patterns, or leading directory name.  The command
-removes only the paths that is known to git.  Giving the name of
+The <file> list given to the command can be exact pathnames,
+file glob patterns, or leading directory names.  The command
+removes only the paths that are known to git.  Giving the name of
 a file that you have not told git about does not remove that file.
 
+File globbing matches across directory boundaries.  Thus, given
+two directories `d` and `d2`, there is a difference between
+using `git rm \'d\*\'` and `git rm \'d/\*\'`, as the former will
+also remove all of directory `d2`.
 
 EXAMPLES
 --------
@@ -72,11 +82,10 @@ git-rm Documentation/\\*.txt::
 	`Documentation` directory and any of its subdirectories.
 +
 Note that the asterisk `\*` is quoted from the shell in this
-example; this lets the command include the files from
-subdirectories of `Documentation/` directory.
+example; this lets git, and not the shell, expand the pathnames
+of files and subdirectories under the `Documentation/` directory.
 
 git-rm -f git-*.sh::
-	Remove all git-*.sh scripts that are in the index.
 	Because this example lets the shell expand the asterisk
 	(i.e. you are listing the files explicitly), it
 	does not remove `subdir/git-foo.sh`.
-- 
1.5.5.50.g71060

Re: [PATCH] Clarify and fix English in git-rm documentation.

[Junio C Hamano]

Jon Loeliger <jdl@jdl.com> writes:

> diff --git a/Documentation/git-rm.txt b/Documentation/git-rm.txt
> index dc36c66..2066def 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-rm.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/git-rm.txt
> @@ -11,28 +11,34 @@ SYNOPSIS
>  
>  DESCRIPTION
>  -----------
> +Remove files from the index, or from the working tree and the index.
> +`git rm` will not remove a file from just your working directory.

The last sentence made me stop reading and read the paragraph twice and
half.  Perhaps it would make it easier to read if we make it

	(there is no option to remove a file only from work tree and keep
	it in the index; use regular "/bin/rm" if you want to do that).

a parenthesized note as the tail part of the previous sentence?

> +The files being removed have to be identical to the tip of the branch,
> +and no updates to their contents can be staged in the index.

Perhaps add "This can be overridden with the `-f` option" here?

Re: [PATCH] Clarify and fix English in git-rm documentation.

[Jon Loeliger]

> Jon Loeliger <jdl@jdl.com> writes:
> 
> > --- a/Documentation/git-rm.txt
> > +++ b/Documentation/git-rm.txt
> > @@ -11,28 +11,34 @@ SYNOPSIS
> >  
> >  DESCRIPTION
> >  -----------
> > +Remove files from the index, or from the working tree and the index.
> > +`git rm` will not remove a file from just your working directory.
> 
> The last sentence made me stop reading and read the paragraph twice and
> half.  Perhaps it would make it easier to read if we make it
> 
> 	(there is no option to remove a file only from work tree and keep
> 	it in the index; use regular "/bin/rm" if you want to do that).
> 
> a parenthesized note as the tail part of the previous sentence?

Yeah, I thought about adding that as well, so let's do it.

> > +The files being removed have to be identical to the tip of the branch,
> > +and no updates to their contents can be staged in the index.
> 
> Perhaps add "This can be overridden with the `-f` option" here?

Good idea.

I'll respin it this evening.

Thanks,
jdl