Subject: [PATCH v2 1/2] Documentation: update to git-merge-base --octopus

From: Vincent van Ravesteijn <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 10:34:03 +0200

1) Unlike plain merge-base, merge-base --octopus only requires at least one commit
argument, and this patch updates the synopsis to reflect that.

2) Add a sentence to the discussion that when --octopus is used, we do expect '2'
as the result.

Signed-off-by: Vincent van Ravesteijn <[email-masked]>
Reviewed-by: Jonathan Nieder <[email-masked]>
---
 Documentation/git-merge-base.txt |    6 +++++-
 builtin/merge-base.c             |    3 ++-
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt b/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt
index eedef1b..a9f677b 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-merge-base.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ git-merge-base - Find as good common ancestors as possible for a merge
 SYNOPSIS
 --------
 [verse]
-'git merge-base' [-a|--all] [--octopus] <commit> <commit>...
+'git merge-base' [-a|--all] <commit> <commit>...
+'git merge-base' [-a|--all] --octopus <commit>...
 'git merge-base' --independent <commit>...

 DESCRIPTION
@@ -89,6 +90,9 @@ and the result of `git merge-base A M` is '1'.  Commit '2' is also a
 common ancestor between 'A' and 'M', but '1' is a better common ancestor,
 because '2' is an ancestor of '1'.  Hence, '2' is not a merge base.

+The result of `git merge-base --octopus A B C` is '2', because '2' is
+the best common ancestor of all commits.
+
 When the history involves criss-cross merges, there can be more than one
 'best' common ancestor for two commits.  For example, with this topology:

diff --git a/builtin/merge-base.c b/builtin/merge-base.c
index 96dd160..4f30f1b 100644
--- a/builtin/merge-base.c
+++ b/builtin/merge-base.c
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ static int show_merge_base(struct commit **rev, int rev_nr, int show_all)
 }

 static const char * const merge_base_usage[] = {
-	"git merge-base [-a|--all] [--octopus] <commit> <commit>...",
+	"git merge-base [-a|--all] <commit> <commit>...",
+	"git merge-base [-a|--all] --octopus <commit>...",
 	"git merge-base --independent <commit>...",
 	NULL
 };
-- 
1.7.3.1.msysgit.0