Re: bug? illegal text in commit log

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

René Scharfe <l.s.r@web.de> writes:

> Am 04.02.20 um 07:14 schrieb Michael S. Tsirkin:
>> It seems that it's not too hard to make commits such that
>> the standard way of git format-patch -> email -> git am
>> fails.
>
>> A work around is "don't do it" - avoid putting anything that looks like
>> a unified diff in the commit log.
>>
>> However:
>> - Users don't know what other restrictions exist
>> - User sending the patch has no way to detect failure,
>>   it's only visible to user receiving the patch
>
> Putting a diff in a commit message can be useful, and forbidding it is
> hard to justify.
>
>> Ideas:
>> - validate commit log and warn users?
>
> That's only better than the status quo insofar it turns the issue from
> a hidden pitfall into an open one.
>
>> - find a way to escape text in git format-patch, and unescape in git am?
>
> Like a Lines: header specifying the number of lines in the commit message?

I think the existing practice is to indent such a diff in the
message by a few characters.  And I think that makes sense even
without counting its value "as a workaround"---we indent materials
inserted in the message for illustration, and a block of diff is
just that.