Merge branch 'maint-1.6.5' into maint

[git.git] / Documentation / git-apply.txt

diff --git a/Documentation/git-apply.txt b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
index 5ee8c91f2d0a376bf755f0802825ae184cea2a28..c2528a76545a154eb42a430b59caf26e7aad3bef 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/git-apply.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-apply.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ git-apply(1)
 
 NAME
 ----
-git-apply - Apply a patch on a git index file and/or a working tree
+git-apply - Apply a patch to files and/or to the index
 
 
 SYNOPSIS
@@ -20,8 +20,11 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-Reads supplied 'diff' output and applies it on a git index file
-and a work tree.
+Reads the supplied diff output (i.e. "a patch") and applies it to files.
+With the `--index` option the patch is also applied to the index, and
+with the `--cache` option the patch is only applied to the index.
+Without these options, the command applies the patch only to files,
+and does not require them to be in a git repository.
 
 OPTIONS
 -------
@@ -34,7 +37,7 @@ OPTIONS
        input.  Turns off "apply".
 
 --numstat::
-       Similar to \--stat, but shows the number of added and
+       Similar to `--stat`, but shows the number of added and
        deleted lines in decimal notation and the pathname without
        abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly.  For
        binary files, outputs two `-` instead of saying
@@ -48,22 +51,22 @@ OPTIONS
 
 --check::
        Instead of applying the patch, see if the patch is
-       applicable to the current work tree and/or the index
+       applicable to the current working tree and/or the index
        file and detects errors.  Turns off "apply".
 
 --index::
-       When --check is in effect, or when applying the patch
+       When `--check` is in effect, or when applying the patch
        (which is the default when none of the options that
        disables it is in effect), make sure the patch is
        applicable to what the current index file records.  If
-       the file to be patched in the work tree is not
+       the file to be patched in the working tree is not
        up-to-date, it is flagged as an error.  This flag also
        causes the index file to be updated.
 
 --cached::
        Apply a patch without touching the working tree. Instead take the
        cached data, apply the patch, and store the result in the index
-       without using the working tree. This implies '--index'.
+       without using the working tree. This implies `--index`.
 
 --build-fake-ancestor=<file>::
        Newer 'git-diff' output has embedded 'index information'
@@ -87,11 +90,13 @@ the information is read from the current index instead.
        rejected hunks in corresponding *.rej files.
 
 -z::
-       When showing the index information, do not munge paths,
-       but use NUL terminated machine readable format.  Without
-       this flag, the pathnames output will have TAB, LF, and
-       backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
-       respectively.
+       When `--numstat` has been given, do not munge pathnames,
+       but use a NUL-terminated machine-readable format.
++
+Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
+and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
+respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
+any of those replacements occurred.
 
 -p<n>::
        Remove <n> leading slashes from traditional diff paths. The
@@ -107,8 +112,8 @@ the information is read from the current index instead.
        By default, 'git-apply' expects that the patch being
        applied is a unified diff with at least one line of context.
        This provides good safety measures, but breaks down when
-       applying a diff generated with --unified=0. To bypass these
-       checks use '--unidiff-zero'.
+       applying a diff generated with `--unified=0`. To bypass these
+       checks use `--unidiff-zero`.
 +
 Note, for the reasons stated above usage of context-free patches is
 discouraged.
@@ -144,7 +149,7 @@ discouraged.
        be useful when importing patchsets, where you want to include certain
        files or directories.
 +
-When --exclude and --include patterns are used, they are examined in the
+When `--exclude` and `--include` patterns are used, they are examined in the
 order they appear on the command line, and the first match determines if a
 patch to each path is used.  A patch to a path that does not match any
 include/exclude pattern is used by default if there is no include pattern
@@ -227,13 +232,13 @@ Submodules
 If the patch contains any changes to submodules then 'git-apply'
 treats these changes as follows.
 
-If --index is specified (explicitly or implicitly), then the submodule
+If `--index` is specified (explicitly or implicitly), then the submodule
 commits must match the index exactly for the patch to apply.  If any
 of the submodules are checked-out, then these check-outs are completely
 ignored, i.e., they are not required to be up-to-date or clean and they
 are not updated.
 
-If --index is not specified, then the submodule commits in the patch
+If `--index` is not specified, then the submodule commits in the patch
 are ignored and only the absence or presence of the corresponding
 subdirectory is checked and (if possible) updated.