Trivial merge rules
===================

This document describes the outcomes of the trivial merge logic in read-tree.

One-way merge
-------------

This replaces the index with a different tree, keeping the stat info
for entries that don't change, and allowing -u to make the minimum
required changes to the working tree to have it match.

   index   tree    result
   -----------------------
   *       (empty) (empty)
   (empty) tree    tree
   index+  tree    tree
   index+  index   index+

Two-way merge
-------------


Three-way merge
---------------

It is permitted for the index to lack an entry; this does not prevent
any case from applying.

If the index exists, it is an error for it not to match either the
head or (if the merge is trivial) the result.

If multiple cases apply, the one used is listed first.

A result of "no merge" means that index is left in stage 0, ancest in
stage 1, head in stage 2, and remote in stage 3 (if any of these are
empty, no entry is left for that stage). Otherwise, the given entry is
left in stage 0, and there are no other entries.

A result of "no merge" is an error if the index is not empty and not
up-to-date.

*empty* means that the tree must not have a directory-file conflict
 with the entry.

For multiple ancestors or remotes, a '+' means that this case applies
even if only one ancestor or remote fits; normally, all of the
ancestors or remotes must be the same.

case  ancest    head    remote    result
----------------------------------------
1     (empty)+  (empty) (empty)   (empty)
2ALT  (empty)+  *empty* remote    remote
2ALT  (empty)+  *empty* remote    remote
2     (empty)^  (empty) remote    no merge
3ALT  (empty)+  head    *empty*   head
3     (empty)^  head    (empty)   no merge
4     (empty)^  head    remote    no merge
5ALT  *         head    head      head
6     ancest^   (empty) (empty)   no merge
8ALT  ancest    (empty) ancest    (empty)
7     ancest+   (empty) remote    no merge
9     ancest+   head    (empty)   no merge
10ALT ancest    ancest  (empty)   (empty)
11    ancest+   head    remote    no merge
16    anc1/anc2 anc1    anc2      no merge
13    ancest+   head    ancest    head
14    ancest+   ancest  remote    remote
14ALT ancest+   ancest  remote    remote

Only #2ALT and #3ALT use *empty*, because these are the only cases
where there can be conflicts that didn't exist before. Note that we
allow directory-file conflicts between things in different stages
after the trivial merge.

A possible alternative for #6 is (empty), which would make it like
#1. This is not used, due to the likelihood that it arises due to
moving the file to multiple different locations or moving and deleting
it in different branches.

Case #1 is included for completeness, and also in case we decide to
put on '+' markings; any path that is never mentioned at all isn't
handled.

Note that #16 is when both #13 and #14 apply; in this case, we refuse
the trivial merge, because we can't tell from this data which is
right. This is a case of a reverted patch (in some direction, maybe
multiple times), and the right answer depends on looking at crossings
of history or common ancestors of the ancestors.

The status as of Sep 5 is that multiple remotes are not supported