[Insight-developers] Commit message prefixes

[Stephen Aylward]

Going over a day's work as a a project manager, it is good to know if
bug fixes are being done or new features being added or style  fixes.

Looking back as a developer, I'd like to know if someone was
committing a bug fixed to my code or simply style changes.   Or when
looking at other people's code, where there 100s of bug fixes applied
to it, or just one or two.

Looking back as a user, I'd like to know if a filter has been improved
since I last downloaded it, or bugs fixed or whatever.

Yes, Developer IQ errors that result in mislabelings are a problem -
no need to throw out the baby with the bathwater...as my grandma
actually never said, but I'm sure someone's grandmother once said.

s

On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:39 PM, David Cole <david.cole at kitware.com> wrote:
> Out of curiosity: what are you scanning for?
>
> You want to know only about ENH or only about BUG fixes?
>
> What if one's mis-categorized and you miss it, just because one man's bug is
> another man's enh?
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:37 PM, David Cole <david.cole at kitware.com> wrote:
>>
>> It's documented on this page:
>> http://www.itk.org/Wiki/Git/Hooks
>>
>> (Search on that page for "ENH:")
>>
>> Found by googling "commit message prefix ITK" oddly enough...
>>
>>
>> :-)
>> David C.
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Bill Lorensen <bill.lorensen at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Yes, now I remumber. It wasn;'t just Brad, it was Dave also.
>>>
>>> Now that we have a wider ITK audience, the ITK developers decided many
>>> years ago that the commit prefix was important. If the ITK developers
>>> think that is no longer the case, then let it be.
>>>
>>> We are not trying to push our process on Cmake, VTK or Paraview.
>>>
>>> I think a consistent prefix helps the transition to git.
>>>
>>> Bill
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:27 PM, David Cole <david.cole at kitware.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:21 PM, David Doria <daviddoria at gmail.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 2:14 PM, Stephen Aylward
>>> >> <stephen.aylward at kitware.com> wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Ok,
>>> >>>
>>> >>> I thought we had decided on ITK to use them many many years ago, and
>>> >>> I
>>> >>> hadn't heard of a discussion to change.   Perhaps it was the VTK
>>> >>> folks.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> We did previously have hooks for these, right?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Those 4-5 characters provide critical info.   If anything, we should
>>> >>> welcome them for the space and time they do save for those creating
>>> >>> the messages as well as those reading them.   They embody all things
>>> >>> good about shorthand, codes, keys, names, IDs, stereotypes, labels,
>>> >>> acronyms, and abbrevs. in a simple, universally accepted package that
>>> >>> only requires 4-5 characters per usage :)
>>> >>>
>>> >>> s
>>> >>
>>> >> I'm not sure how many prefixes there are, but the ones I know are BUG,
>>> >> STYLE, and ENH. If character count is the only concern, could they be
>>> >> shortened to B:, S:, and E: ? I vote +1 for mandatory prefixes.
>>> >> David
>>> >> _______________________________________________
>>> >> Powered by www.kitware.com
>>> >>
>>> >> Visit other Kitware open-source projects at
>>> >> http://www.kitware.com/opensource/opensource.html
>>> >>
>>> >> Kitware offers ITK Training Courses, for more information visit:
>>> >> http://kitware.com/products/protraining.html
>>> >>
>>> >> Please keep messages on-topic and check the ITK FAQ at:
>>> >> http://www.itk.org/Wiki/ITK_FAQ
>>> >>
>>> >> Follow this link to subscribe/unsubscribe:
>>> >> http://www.itk.org/mailman/listinfo/insight-developers
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> > The argument was brought up due to the switch to git. Since there are
>>> > many
>>> > tools/places where git is used ( 'git log --oneline' or 'git shortlog'
>>> > ) to
>>> > produce summary output, it is best to describe the change in 78
>>> > characters
>>> > or less for the first line, and then elaborate on that in subsequent
>>> > lines
>>> > if necessary.
>>> >
>>> > Some commits are easy to describe in one line, others not so much.
>>> >
>>> > For bug fix commits, Brad and I have taken to using "(#12345)" as the
>>> > suffix
>>> > on the first line.
>>> >
>>> > All other commits should be sufficiently described in English such that
>>> > reading the one line indicates it's type.
>>> >
>>> > The prefixes make it harder to come up with the one-liner....
>>> >
>>> > At least those are the arguments.
>>> >
>>> > I prefer not having the prefixes enforced. That way, I can just
>>> > describe
>>> > what I did, and not worry about categorizing it and whether or not the
>>> > community will agree with my own categorization.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Another 2 cents,
>>> > David C.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > Powered by www.kitware.com
>>> >
>>> > Visit other Kitware open-source projects at
>>> > http://www.kitware.com/opensource/opensource.html
>>> >
>>> > Kitware offers ITK Training Courses, for more information visit:
>>> > http://kitware.com/products/protraining.html
>>> >
>>> > Please keep messages on-topic and check the ITK FAQ at:
>>> > http://www.itk.org/Wiki/ITK_FAQ
>>> >
>>> > Follow this link to subscribe/unsubscribe:
>>> > http://www.itk.org/mailman/listinfo/insight-developers
>>> >
>>> >
>>
>
>



-- 

==============================
Stephen R. Aylward, Ph.D.
Director of Medical Imaging Research
Kitware, Inc. - North Carolina Office
http://www.kitware.com
stephen.aylward (Skype)
(919) 969-6990 x300