[GSoC,RFC,0/6] Add --subject-extra-prefix flag to format-patch

Message

Lucas Seiki Oshiro March 3, 2025, 10 p.m. UTC

Hi!

This is a "scratch-my-own-itch" patch, adding a new flag to format-patch. This
flag allows the user add an extra prefix to the subject, placed before the
actual prefix, like the "[GSoC]" in the subject of this patchset.

This is specially targeted for new users or developers from mentoring projects
like GSoC or Outreachy. Currently, if we want to add to the subject something
like "[Newbie]", "[GSoC]" or "[Outreachy]", we need to perform some hacks like
passing --subject-prefix="GSoC][PATCH" or changing it manually in the patch
content. 

With this new flag, this patchset could be created by using:

`git format-patch -6 --subject-extra-prefix="GSoC" --rfc --to="..."`

This would be only a feature request but I thought it would be better to 
present a first solution, so I'm sending my implementation as a RFC patchset.

Thanks!

Lucas Seiki Oshiro (6):
  builtin/log: add subject-extra-prefix flag to format-patch
  builtin/log: die if -k and --suject-extra-prefix are used together
  revision: add subject_extra_field to struct rev_info
  builtin/log: fill subject extra prefix in format-patch
  log-tree: add subject prefix in output email subject
  t4014: add tests for the new flag --subject-extra-prefix

 builtin/log.c           |  7 +++++++
 log-tree.c              | 12 ++++++++----
 revision.h              |  2 ++
 t/t4014-format-patch.sh | 40 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 57 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

Comments

Junio C Hamano March 3, 2025, 11:08 p.m. UTC | #1

Lucas Seiki Oshiro <[e-mail]> writes:

> Subject: Re: [GSoC][RFC PATCH 0/6] Add --subject-extra-prefix flag to format-patch

Hmph, instead use "--rfc=GSoC" to do [GSoC PATCH n/m] and please do
not pile more "extra" on top?

Patrick Steinhardt March 4, 2025, 7:32 a.m. UTC | #2

On Mon, Mar 03, 2025 at 03:08:43PM -0800, Junio C Hamano wrote:
> Lucas Seiki Oshiro <[e-mail]> writes:
> 
> > Subject: Re: [GSoC][RFC PATCH 0/6] Add --subject-extra-prefix flag to format-patch
> 
> Hmph, instead use "--rfc=GSoC" to do [GSoC PATCH n/m] and please do
> not pile more "extra" on top?

I do understand though that `--rfc=GSoC` is not exactly discoverable for
a newcomer. Maybe a simpler fix would be to introduce an alias for that
option that is more discoverable? I don't have a great idea for how to
name it -- the best that comes to mind is `--patch-prefix`, which
mirrors `--subject-prefix`.

    --patch-prefix=<prefix>
    --rfc
        Prepends the string `<prefix>` to the subject prefix. As the
        subject prefix defaults to "PATCH", you’ll get "<prefix> PATCH"
        by default.

        When `--rfc` is given, the prefix will be set to "RFC" . RFC
        means "Request For Comments"; use this when sending an
        experimental patch for discussion rather than application.
        "--rfc=WIP" may also be a useful way to indicate that a patch is
        not complete yet ("WIP" stands for "Work In Progress").

        If the convention of the receiving community for a particular
        extra string is to have it after the subject prefix, the string
        <prefix> can be prefixed with a dash ("-") to signal that the rest
        of the <prefix> string should be appended to the subject prefix
        instead, e.g., --patch-prefix='-(WIP)' results in "PATCH (WIP)".

We would hide away the optional value `[=<rfc>]` of the `--rfc` option
and instead advertise `--patch-prefix=<prefix>`. This would of course
only be a cosmetic change, we'd still accept the optional argument so
that we don't break backwards compatibility.

Patrick