doc: clarify "do not capitalize the first word" rule

The same "do not capitalize the first word" rule is applied to both
our patch titles and error messages, but the existing description
was fuzzy in two aspects.

 * For error messages, it was not said that this was only about the
   first word that begins the sentence.

 * For both, it was not clear when a capital letter there was not an
   error.  We avoid capitalizing the first word when the only reason
   you would capitalize it is because it happens to be the first
   word in the sentence.  If a proper noun, which is usually spelled
   in capital letters, happens to come at the beginning of the
   sentence, it should be kept in capital letters.

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

diff --git a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
index 45465bc..1ff6d8e 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
+++ b/Documentation/CodingGuidelines
@@ -498,7 +498,12 @@ Error Messages
 
  - Do not end error messages with a full stop.
 
- - Do not capitalize ("unable to open %s", not "Unable to open %s")
+ - Do not capitalize the first word, only because it is the first word
+   in the message ("unable to open %s", not "Unable to open %s").  But
+   "SHA-3 not supported" is fine, because the reason the first word is
+   capitalized is not because it is at the beginning of the sentence,
+   but because the word would be spelled in capital letters even when
+   it appeared in the middle of the sentence.
 
  - Say what the error is first ("cannot open %s", not "%s: cannot open")
 

diff --git a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
index 0452db2..55287d7 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
+++ b/Documentation/SubmittingPatches
@@ -117,10 +117,13 @@ If in doubt which identifier to use, run `git log --no-merges` on the
 files you are modifying to see the current conventions.
 
 [[summary-section]]
-It's customary to start the remainder of the first line after "area: "
-with a lower-case letter. E.g. "doc: clarify...", not "doc:
-Clarify...", or "githooks.txt: improve...", not "githooks.txt:
-Improve...".
+The title sentence after the "area:" prefix omits the full stop at the
+end, and its first word is not capitalized unless there is a reason to
+capitalize it other than because it is the first word in the sentence.
+E.g. "doc: clarify...", not "doc: Clarify...", or "githooks.txt:
+improve...", not "githooks.txt: Improve...".  But "refs: HEAD is also
+treated as a ref" is correct, as we spell `HEAD` in all caps even when
+it appears in the middle of a sentence.
 
 [[meaningful-message]]
 The body should provide a meaningful commit message, which: