X-Git-Url: https://git.tokkee.org/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fgit-commit.txt;h=d4bfd49ce12ebe8f7b172d6f682d64ccbce66087;hb=10455d2a955a29db1809be139177e4e298771eb0;hp=627994eb9727379183c40dde786b80c53d3e2af3;hpb=11bb2d4fa9ebc7481828c25752d8c23233b24c76;p=git.git

diff --git a/Documentation/git-commit.txt b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
index 627994eb9..d4bfd49ce 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-commit.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-commit.txt
@@ -15,26 +15,27 @@ SYNOPSIS
 
 DESCRIPTION
 -----------
-Use 'git commit' when you want to record your changes into the repository
-along with a log message describing what the commit is about. All changes
-to be committed must be explicitly identified using one of the following
-methods:
+Use 'git commit' to store the current contents of the index in a new
+commit along with a log message describing the changes you have made.
+
+The content to be added can be specified in several ways:
 
 1. by using gitlink:git-add[1] to incrementally "add" changes to the
-   next commit before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified
+   index before using the 'commit' command (Note: even modified
    files must be "added");
 
-2. by using gitlink:git-rm[1] to identify content removal for the next
-   commit, again before using the 'commit' command;
+2. by using gitlink:git-rm[1] to remove files from the working tree
+   and the index, again before using the 'commit' command;
 
-3. by directly listing files containing changes to be committed as arguments
-   to the 'commit' command, in which cases only those files alone will be
-   considered for the commit;
+3. by listing files as arguments to the 'commit' command, in which
+   case the commit will ignore changes staged in the index, and instead
+   record the current content of the listed files;
 
-4. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically "add"
-   changes from all known files i.e. files that have already been committed
-   before, and to automatically "rm" files that have been
-   removed from the working tree, and perform the actual commit.
+4. by using the -a switch with the 'commit' command to automatically
+   "add" changes from all known files (i.e. all files that are already
+   listed in the index) and to automatically "rm" files in the index
+   that have been removed from the working tree, and then perform the
+   actual commit;
 
 5. by using the --interactive switch with the 'commit' command to decide one
    by one which files should be part of the commit, before finalizing the
@@ -153,10 +154,13 @@ EXAMPLES
 --------
 When recording your own work, the contents of modified files in
 your working tree are temporarily stored to a staging area
-called the "index" with gitlink:git-add[1].  Removal
-of a file is staged with gitlink:git-rm[1].  After building the
-state to be committed incrementally with these commands, `git
-commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
+called the "index" with gitlink:git-add[1].  A file can be
+reverted back, only in the index but not in the working tree,
+to that of the last commit with `git-reset HEAD -- <file>`,
+which effectively reverts `git-add` and prevents the changes to
+this file from participating in the next commit.  After building
+the state to be committed incrementally with these commands,
+`git commit` (without any pathname parameter) is used to record what
 has been staged so far.  This is the most basic form of the
 command.  An example: