Merge branch 'mm/maint-hint-failed-merge' into maint

* mm/maint-hint-failed-merge:
  user-manual: Document that "git merge" doesn't like uncommited changes.
  merge-recursive: point the user to commit when file would be overwritten.

2 files changed, 22 insertions, 2 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 35e72e4a3..35e26972e 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -126,6 +126,10 @@ advice.*::
 		Directions on how to stage/unstage/add shown in the
 		output of linkgit:git-status[1] and the template shown
 		when writing commit messages. Default: true.
+	commitBeforeMerge::
+		Advice shown when linkgit:git-merge[1] refuses to
+		merge to avoid overwritting local changes.
+		Default: true.
 --
 
 core.fileMode::
diff --git a/Documentation/user-manual.txt b/Documentation/user-manual.txt
index 67ebffa56..c32dd87c8 100644
--- a/Documentation/user-manual.txt
+++ b/Documentation/user-manual.txt
@@ -1183,7 +1183,23 @@ $ git merge branchname
 -------------------------------------------------
 
 merges the development in the branch "branchname" into the current
-branch.  If there are conflicts--for example, if the same file is
+branch.
+
+A merge is made by combining the changes made in "branchname" and the
+changes made up to the latest commit in your current branch since
+their histories forked. The work tree is overwritten by the result of
+the merge when this combining is done cleanly, or overwritten by a
+half-merged results when this combining results in conflicts.
+Therefore, if you have uncommitted changes touching the same files as
+the ones impacted by the merge, Git will refuse to proceed. Most of
+the time, you will want to commit your changes before you can merge,
+and if you don't, then linkgit:git-stash[1] can take these changes
+away while you're doing the merge, and reapply them afterwards.
+
+If the changes are independant enough, Git will automatically complete
+the merge and commit the result (or reuse an existing commit in case
+of <<fast-forwards,fast-forward>>, see below). On the other hand,
+if there are conflicts--for example, if the same file is
 modified in two different ways in the remote branch and the local
 branch--then you are warned; the output may look something like this:
 
@@ -1679,7 +1695,7 @@ Sharing development with others
 Getting updates with git pull
 -----------------------------
 
-After you clone a repository and make a few changes of your own, you
+After you clone a repository and commit a few changes of your own, you
 may wish to check the original repository for updates and merge them
 into your own work.