Re: fixing old commit messages

Hendrik Boom <[email protected]> writes:

> Is there any way to edit an old commit message?

The commit message for a revision is stored in the "changlog" cert:

$ mtn ls certs h:org.opentoken
mtn: expanding selection 'h:org.opentoken'
mtn: expanded to '99db28068fc5a79e3e6137777f8d64dc273a4870'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key   : [email protected] (ed5da650ec...)
Sig   : ok
Name  : author
Value : [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key   : [email protected] (ed5da650ec...)
Sig   : ok
Name  : branch
Value : org.opentoken
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key   : [email protected] (ed5da650ec...)
Sig   : ok
Name  : changelog
Value : * opentoken-recognizer-graphic_character.adb (Analyze): fix if/then layout
      : * opentoken-recognizer-html_entity.adb (Analyze):
      : * opentoken-recognizer-real.adb:
      : * opentoken-token-enumerated-analyzer.adb (Find_Best_Match):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key   : [email protected] (ed5da650ec...)
Sig   : ok
Name  : date
Value : 2014-06-14T06:41:14


You can't delete or change an old cert, but you can add a new one:

$ mtn cert h:org.opentoken changelog "additional changelog"

However, that might cause problems with tools that expect only one
changelog per revision.

So the best answer is "no, you can't change commit messages".

Part of the point of the name "monotone" is that history changes
monotonically; you can only add to it, never subtract (a change is a
subtract plus add).

-- 
-- Stephe