#
#
# patch "NEWS"
#  from [d10c8da088f4fee2dbbb13134c642e89300dd66d]
#    to [b0195c16dd7d40f8f0fa237f2ae39dcc386dd1f3]
# 
# patch "monotone.texi"
#  from [052708a573fa282057916ea145b1b4df34c22e3c]
#    to [ef8a5a77add25ad77eb1c135a73b504846878ed7]
#
============================================================
--- NEWS	d10c8da088f4fee2dbbb13134c642e89300dd66d
+++ NEWS	b0195c16dd7d40f8f0fa237f2ae39dcc386dd1f3
@@ -57,15 +57,19 @@ Xxx Xxx 99 99:99:99 UTC 2010
           commands such as `clone`, `automate remote` and
           `automate remote_stdio`.
 
-        - The following characters have been deprecated in branch names:
+        - The following characters have been deprecated in branch names
 
                 ?,*%+{}[]!^
 
           as they denote either meta characters in monotone's URI syntax
-          or in globs which are used to resolve branch patterns.
-          monotone now warns on the creation of branches with those
-          characters and gives further directions.
+          or are used in globs to resolve branch patterns.
+          Furthermore, branch names should no longer start with a dash
+          (-), since this character is used to denote an exclude pattern
+          in the aforementioned URI syntax.
 
+          monotone warns on the creation of branches which violate these
+          restrictions and gives further directions.
+
         - The `import` command now keeps the created bookkeeping root if
           --dry-run is not specified.  This makes it possible to re-use
           the import directory as workspace and is also more closely
============================================================
--- monotone.texi	052708a573fa282057916ea145b1b4df34c22e3c
+++ monotone.texi	ef8a5a77add25ad77eb1c135a73b504846878ed7
@@ -927,6 +927,8 @@ @section Branches
 
 You can see all the available branches using @command{mtn list branches}.
 
address@hidden Heads and merging
+
 Branches are indicated with certs.  The cert name @code{branch} is
 reserved for use by monotone, for the purpose of identifying the
 revisions which are members of a branch. A @code{branch} cert has a
@@ -1046,12 +1048,12 @@ @subsection Branch Names
 world.  Otherwise, bad things can happen.  Fortunately, we have a handy
 source of globally unique names --- the DNS system.
 
-When naming a branch, always prepend the reversed, fully qualified, domain name of a host that
-you control or are otherwise authorized to use.  For example, monotone
-development happens on the branch @code{net.venge.monotone}, because
address@hidden belongs to monotone's primary author.  The idea is that
-this way, you can coordinate with other people using a host to make sure
-there are no conflicts --- in the example, monotone's primary author can
+When naming a branch, always prepend the reversed, fully qualified, domain
+name of a host that you control or are otherwise authorized to use.  For
+example, monotone development happens on the branch @code{net.venge.monotone},
+because @code{venge.net} belongs to monotone's original author.  The idea is
+that this way, you can coordinate with other people using a host to make sure
+there are no conflicts --- in the example, monotone's original author can
 be certain that no-one else using @code{venge.net} will start up a
 different program named @code{monotone}.  If you work for Yoyodyne,
 Inc. (owners of yoyodyne.com), then all your branch names should look
@@ -1061,10 +1063,23 @@ @subsection Branch Names
 usually the first part is the project name (the @code{monotone} in
 @code{net.venge.monotone}), and then possibly more stuff after that to
 describe a particular branch.  For example, monotone's win32 support
-was initially developed on the branch @code{net.venge.monotone.win32}.
+was initially developed on the branch @code{net.venge.monotone.win32}
+(for more information, see @ref{Naming Conventions}).
 
-(For more information, see @ref{Naming Conventions}.)
+It has to be noted that earlier versions of monotone enforced no restrictions
+on branch names.  Newer versions, starting with 0.99, exclude a set of control
+characters though, which mostly denote either meta characters in monotone's 
+URI syntax or are used in globs to resolve branch patterns.  These characters are
address@hidden, @code{,}, @code{*}, @code{%}, @code{+}, @address@hidden, @address@hidden, @code{[},
address@hidden, @code{!} and @code{^}.  Additionally, @code{-} is deprecated as first 
+character of a branch name, since it is used to denote branch exclude patterns
+in the aforementioned URI syntax.
 
+monotone warns on the creation of branch names which violate one of the above
+restrictions and gives further directions.  Future versions of monotone are
+likely to enforce these restrictions by disallowing such branch names completely.
+
+
 @page
 @node    Tutorial, Advanced Uses, Concepts, Top
 @chapter Tutorial