From 6f0b4d81b94ef392b2a7517db94398f20378f444 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Dmitry Gutov Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2015 17:48:32 +0300 Subject: [PATCH] ; CONTRIBUTE: Further updates * Better explanation of commit message vs ChangeLog distinction. * Fix the name of the ChangeLog make task. * Make instructions WRT NEWS, etc, ChangeLog entries clearer. Fixes: debbugs:20328 --- CONTRIBUTE | 20 +++++++++++--------- 1 file changed, 11 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-) diff --git a/CONTRIBUTE b/CONTRIBUTE index e89cfd6f6c7..476b3610cd5 100644 --- a/CONTRIBUTE +++ b/CONTRIBUTE @@ -34,9 +34,10 @@ specify the actual author; the committer defaults to you. ** Commit messages -Typically, a patch creates ChangeLog entries by putting them into its -commit message, not by changing a ChangeLog file. Here is an example -commit message (indented): +When a release is prepared, the commit messages are used to generate +the ChangeLog file. So a typical patch does not touch any of the +ChangeLog files in the repository, but contains the ChangeLog entries +in its message. Here is an example commit message (indented): Deactivate shifted region @@ -127,15 +128,16 @@ The general format is as follows. "2014-01-16T05:43:35Z!esr@thyrsus.com". Often, "my previous commit" will suffice. -- There is no need to make separate ChangeLog entries for files such - as NEWS, MAINTAINERS, and FOR-RELEASE, or to indicate regeneration - of files such as 'configure'. "There is no need" means you don't - have to, but you can if you want to. +- There is no need to mention files such as NEWS, MAINTAINERS, and + FOR-RELEASE, or to indicate regeneration of files such as + 'configure', in the ChangeLog entry. "There is no need" means you + don't have to, but you can if you want to. - If a commit message's first line starts with "; ", the message is - ignored when generating ChangeLog history files via 'make changelog' + ignored when generating ChangeLog history files via 'make ChangeLog' or via 'make change-history'. You can use "; " for minor commits - that do not need separate ChangeLog entries. + that do not need separate ChangeLog entries, as well as commits that + only modify files that don't need these entries at all. ** Generating ChangeLog entries -- 2.39.5