formatting can be had with ``git format-patch``. The tools cannot create
the necessary text, though, so read the instructions below anyway.
+Subject Line
+^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
The canonical patch subject line is::
Subject: [PATCH 001/123] subsystem: summary phrase
Subject: [PATCH v2] sub/sys: Condensed patch summary
Subject: [PATCH v2 M/N] sub/sys: Condensed patch summary
+From Line
+^^^^^^^^^
+
The ``from`` line must be the very first line in the message body,
and has the form:
then the ``From:`` line from the email header will be used to determine
the patch author in the changelog.
+Explanation Body
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
The explanation body will be committed to the permanent source
changelog, so should make sense to a competent reader who has long since
forgotten the immediate details of the discussion that might have led to
someone searching for the patch can find it. As in the ``summary
phrase``, it is important to be both succinct as well as descriptive.
+.. _backtraces:
+
+Backtraces in commit messages
+"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
+
+Backtraces help document the call chain leading to a problem. However,
+not all backtraces are helpful. For example, early boot call chains are
+unique and obvious. Copying the full dmesg output verbatim, however,
+adds distracting information like timestamps, module lists, register and
+stack dumps.
+
+Therefore, the most useful backtraces should distill the relevant
+information from the dump, which makes it easier to focus on the real
+issue. Here is an example of a well-trimmed backtrace::
+
+ unchecked MSR access error: WRMSR to 0xd51 (tried to write 0x0000000000000064)
+ at rIP: 0xffffffffae059994 (native_write_msr+0x4/0x20)
+ Call Trace:
+ mba_wrmsr
+ update_domains
+ rdtgroup_mkdir
+
+Commentary
+^^^^^^^^^^
+
The ``---`` marker line serves the essential purpose of marking for
patch handling tools where the changelog message ends.
See more details on the proper patch format in the following
references.
-.. _backtraces:
-
-Backtraces in commit messages
-^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
-Backtraces help document the call chain leading to a problem. However,
-not all backtraces are helpful. For example, early boot call chains are
-unique and obvious. Copying the full dmesg output verbatim, however,
-adds distracting information like timestamps, module lists, register and
-stack dumps.
-
-Therefore, the most useful backtraces should distill the relevant
-information from the dump, which makes it easier to focus on the real
-issue. Here is an example of a well-trimmed backtrace::
-
- unchecked MSR access error: WRMSR to 0xd51 (tried to write 0x0000000000000064)
- at rIP: 0xffffffffae059994 (native_write_msr+0x4/0x20)
- Call Trace:
- mba_wrmsr
- update_domains
- rdtgroup_mkdir
-
.. _explicit_in_reply_to:
Explicit In-Reply-To headers