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2cf565c5 DG |
1 | git-cat-file(1) |
2 | =============== | |
2cf565c5 DG |
3 | |
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
d83a42f3 | 6 | git-cat-file - Provide content or type and size information for repository objects |
2cf565c5 DG |
7 | |
8 | ||
9 | SYNOPSIS | |
10 | -------- | |
cdf222f5 | 11 | [verse] |
97fe7250 ÆAB |
12 | 'git cat-file' <type> <object> |
13 | 'git cat-file' (-e | -p) <object> | |
83dc4434 | 14 | 'git cat-file' (-t | -s) [--allow-unknown-type] <object> |
473fa2df | 15 | 'git cat-file' (--batch | --batch-check | --batch-command) [--batch-all-objects] |
97fe7250 ÆAB |
16 | [--buffer] [--follow-symlinks] [--unordered] |
17 | [--textconv | --filters] | |
83dc4434 | 18 | 'git cat-file' (--textconv | --filters) |
97fe7250 | 19 | [<rev>:<path|tree-ish> | --path=<path|tree-ish> <rev>] |
2cf565c5 DG |
20 | |
21 | DESCRIPTION | |
22 | ----------- | |
d83a42f3 | 23 | In its first form, the command provides the content or the type of an object in |
23f8239b | 24 | the repository. The type is required unless `-t` or `-p` is used to find the |
b9e62f60 JS |
25 | object type, or `-s` is used to find the object size, or `--textconv` or |
26 | `--filters` is used (which imply type "blob"). | |
05d5667f | 27 | |
d83a42f3 | 28 | In the second form, a list of objects (separated by linefeeds) is provided on |
32145943 JS |
29 | stdin, and the SHA-1, type, and size of each object is printed on stdout. The |
30 | output format can be overridden using the optional `<format>` argument. If | |
31 | either `--textconv` or `--filters` was specified, the input is expected to | |
748aa1aa PW |
32 | list the object names followed by the path name, separated by a single |
33 | whitespace, so that the appropriate drivers can be determined. | |
2cf565c5 DG |
34 | |
35 | OPTIONS | |
36 | ------- | |
37 | <object>:: | |
8933364d AK |
38 | The name of the object to show. |
39 | For a more complete list of ways to spell object names, see | |
9d83e382 | 40 | the "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7]. |
2cf565c5 DG |
41 | |
42 | -t:: | |
43 | Instead of the content, show the object type identified by | |
4f0ba2d5 | 44 | `<object>`. |
2cf565c5 | 45 | |
62bb9960 JH |
46 | -s:: |
47 | Instead of the content, show the object size identified by | |
4f0ba2d5 | 48 | `<object>`. |
62bb9960 | 49 | |
7950571a | 50 | -e:: |
4f0ba2d5 DL |
51 | Exit with zero status if `<object>` exists and is a valid |
52 | object. If `<object>` is of an invalid format exit with non-zero and | |
9bd2ce54 | 53 | emits an error on stderr. |
7950571a | 54 | |
ed90cbf5 | 55 | -p:: |
4f0ba2d5 | 56 | Pretty-print the contents of `<object>` based on its type. |
ed90cbf5 | 57 | |
2cf565c5 | 58 | <type>:: |
4f0ba2d5 | 59 | Typically this matches the real type of `<object>` but asking |
f73ae1fc | 60 | for a type that can trivially be dereferenced from the given |
4f0ba2d5 DL |
61 | `<object>` is also permitted. An example is to ask for a |
62 | "tree" with `<object>` being a commit object that contains it, | |
63 | or to ask for a "blob" with `<object>` being a tag object that | |
2cf565c5 DG |
64 | points at it. |
65 | ||
9f77fe02 MG |
66 | --textconv:: |
67 | Show the content as transformed by a textconv filter. In this case, | |
4f0ba2d5 | 68 | `<object>` has to be of the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>` in |
16dcc299 | 69 | order to apply the filter to the content recorded in the index at |
4f0ba2d5 | 70 | `<path>`. |
9f77fe02 | 71 | |
b9e62f60 JS |
72 | --filters:: |
73 | Show the content as converted by the filters configured in | |
4f0ba2d5 DL |
74 | the current working tree for the given `<path>` (i.e. smudge filters, |
75 | end-of-line conversion, etc). In this case, `<object>` has to be of | |
76 | the form `<tree-ish>:<path>`, or `:<path>`. | |
b9e62f60 | 77 | |
7bcf3414 | 78 | --path=<path>:: |
4f0ba2d5 | 79 | For use with `--textconv` or `--filters`, to allow specifying an object |
7bcf3414 JS |
80 | name and a path separately, e.g. when it is difficult to figure out |
81 | the revision from which the blob came. | |
82 | ||
a8128ed6 | 83 | --batch:: |
93d2a607 JK |
84 | --batch=<format>:: |
85 | Print object information and contents for each object provided | |
32145943 JS |
86 | on stdin. May not be combined with any other options or arguments |
87 | except `--textconv` or `--filters`, in which case the input lines | |
748aa1aa | 88 | also need to specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the |
32145943 | 89 | section `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details. |
a8128ed6 | 90 | |
05d5667f | 91 | --batch-check:: |
93d2a607 JK |
92 | --batch-check=<format>:: |
93 | Print object information for each object provided on stdin. May | |
32145943 JS |
94 | not be combined with any other options or arguments except |
95 | `--textconv` or `--filters`, in which case the input lines also | |
748aa1aa | 96 | need to specify the path, separated by whitespace. See the |
93d2a607 | 97 | section `BATCH OUTPUT` below for details. |
05d5667f | 98 | |
440c705e JC |
99 | --batch-command:: |
100 | --batch-command=<format>:: | |
101 | Enter a command mode that reads commands and arguments from stdin. May | |
102 | only be combined with `--buffer`, `--textconv` or `--filters`. In the | |
103 | case of `--textconv` or `--filters`, the input lines also need to specify | |
104 | the path, separated by whitespace. See the section `BATCH OUTPUT` below | |
105 | for details. | |
106 | + | |
107 | `--batch-command` recognizes the following commands: | |
108 | + | |
109 | -- | |
110 | contents <object>:: | |
111 | Print object contents for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to | |
112 | the output of `--batch`. | |
113 | ||
114 | info <object>:: | |
115 | Print object info for object reference `<object>`. This corresponds to the | |
116 | output of `--batch-check`. | |
117 | ||
118 | flush:: | |
119 | Used with `--buffer` to execute all preceding commands that were issued | |
120 | since the beginning or since the last flush was issued. When `--buffer` | |
121 | is used, no output will come until a `flush` is issued. When `--buffer` | |
122 | is not used, commands are flushed each time without issuing `flush`. | |
123 | -- | |
124 | + | |
125 | ||
6a951937 JK |
126 | --batch-all-objects:: |
127 | Instead of reading a list of objects on stdin, perform the | |
128 | requested batch operation on all objects in the repository and | |
129 | any alternate object stores (not just reachable objects). | |
c3660cfb JK |
130 | Requires `--batch` or `--batch-check` be specified. By default, |
131 | the objects are visited in order sorted by their hashes; see | |
5c5b29b4 JK |
132 | also `--unordered` below. Objects are presented as-is, without |
133 | respecting the "replace" mechanism of linkgit:git-replace[1]. | |
6a951937 | 134 | |
fc4937c3 JK |
135 | --buffer:: |
136 | Normally batch output is flushed after each object is output, so | |
137 | that a process can interactively read and write from | |
138 | `cat-file`. With this option, the output uses normal stdio | |
139 | buffering; this is much more efficient when invoking | |
440c705e | 140 | `--batch-check` or `--batch-command` on a large number of objects. |
fc4937c3 | 141 | |
0750bb5b JK |
142 | --unordered:: |
143 | When `--batch-all-objects` is in use, visit objects in an | |
144 | order which may be more efficient for accessing the object | |
145 | contents than hash order. The exact details of the order are | |
146 | unspecified, but if you do not require a specific order, this | |
147 | should generally result in faster output, especially with | |
148 | `--batch`. Note that `cat-file` will still show each object | |
149 | only once, even if it is stored multiple times in the | |
150 | repository. | |
151 | ||
39e4ae38 | 152 | --allow-unknown-type:: |
4f0ba2d5 | 153 | Allow `-s` or `-t` to query broken/corrupt objects of unknown type. |
39e4ae38 | 154 | |
122d5346 | 155 | --follow-symlinks:: |
4f0ba2d5 | 156 | With `--batch` or `--batch-check`, follow symlinks inside the |
122d5346 DT |
157 | repository when requesting objects with extended SHA-1 |
158 | expressions of the form tree-ish:path-in-tree. Instead of | |
159 | providing output about the link itself, provide output about | |
160 | the linked-to object. If a symlink points outside the | |
4f0ba2d5 | 161 | tree-ish (e.g. a link to `/foo` or a root-level link to `../foo`), |
122d5346 DT |
162 | the portion of the link which is outside the tree will be |
163 | printed. | |
164 | + | |
165 | This option does not (currently) work correctly when an object in the | |
166 | index is specified (e.g. `:link` instead of `HEAD:link`) rather than | |
167 | one in the tree. | |
168 | + | |
169 | This option cannot (currently) be used unless `--batch` or | |
170 | `--batch-check` is used. | |
171 | + | |
172 | For example, consider a git repository containing: | |
173 | + | |
174 | -- | |
175 | f: a file containing "hello\n" | |
176 | link: a symlink to f | |
177 | dir/link: a symlink to ../f | |
178 | plink: a symlink to ../f | |
179 | alink: a symlink to /etc/passwd | |
180 | -- | |
181 | + | |
182 | For a regular file `f`, `echo HEAD:f | git cat-file --batch` would print | |
183 | + | |
184 | -- | |
185 | ce013625030ba8dba906f756967f9e9ca394464a blob 6 | |
186 | -- | |
187 | + | |
188 | And `echo HEAD:link | git cat-file --batch --follow-symlinks` would | |
189 | print the same thing, as would `HEAD:dir/link`, as they both point at | |
190 | `HEAD:f`. | |
191 | + | |
192 | Without `--follow-symlinks`, these would print data about the symlink | |
193 | itself. In the case of `HEAD:link`, you would see | |
194 | + | |
195 | -- | |
196 | 4d1ae35ba2c8ec712fa2a379db44ad639ca277bd blob 1 | |
197 | -- | |
198 | + | |
199 | Both `plink` and `alink` point outside the tree, so they would | |
200 | respectively print: | |
201 | + | |
202 | -- | |
203 | symlink 4 | |
204 | ../f | |
205 | ||
206 | symlink 11 | |
207 | /etc/passwd | |
208 | -- | |
209 | ||
210 | ||
2cf565c5 DG |
211 | OUTPUT |
212 | ------ | |
4f0ba2d5 | 213 | If `-t` is specified, one of the `<type>`. |
7950571a | 214 | |
4f0ba2d5 | 215 | If `-s` is specified, the size of the `<object>` in bytes. |
7950571a | 216 | |
4f0ba2d5 | 217 | If `-e` is specified, no output, unless the `<object>` is malformed. |
2cf565c5 | 218 | |
4f0ba2d5 | 219 | If `-p` is specified, the contents of `<object>` are pretty-printed. |
ed90cbf5 | 220 | |
4f0ba2d5 | 221 | If `<type>` is specified, the raw (though uncompressed) contents of the `<object>` |
05d5667f AR |
222 | will be returned. |
223 | ||
93d2a607 JK |
224 | BATCH OUTPUT |
225 | ------------ | |
226 | ||
227 | If `--batch` or `--batch-check` is given, `cat-file` will read objects | |
97be0407 JK |
228 | from stdin, one per line, and print information about them. By default, |
229 | the whole line is considered as an object, as if it were fed to | |
230 | linkgit:git-rev-parse[1]. | |
93d2a607 | 231 | |
440c705e JC |
232 | When `--batch-command` is given, `cat-file` will read commands from stdin, |
233 | one per line, and print information based on the command given. With | |
234 | `--batch-command`, the `info` command followed by an object will print | |
235 | information about the object the same way `--batch-check` would, and the | |
236 | `contents` command followed by an object prints contents in the same way | |
237 | `--batch` would. | |
238 | ||
93d2a607 JK |
239 | You can specify the information shown for each object by using a custom |
240 | `<format>`. The `<format>` is copied literally to stdout for each | |
241 | object, with placeholders of the form `%(atom)` expanded, followed by a | |
242 | newline. The available atoms are: | |
243 | ||
244 | `objectname`:: | |
f4519607 | 245 | The full hex representation of the object name. |
93d2a607 JK |
246 | |
247 | `objecttype`:: | |
be94568b | 248 | The type of the object (the same as `cat-file -t` reports). |
93d2a607 JK |
249 | |
250 | `objectsize`:: | |
251 | The size, in bytes, of the object (the same as `cat-file -s` | |
252 | reports). | |
253 | ||
a4ac1061 JK |
254 | `objectsize:disk`:: |
255 | The size, in bytes, that the object takes up on disk. See the | |
256 | note about on-disk sizes in the `CAVEATS` section below. | |
257 | ||
65ea9c3c JK |
258 | `deltabase`:: |
259 | If the object is stored as a delta on-disk, this expands to the | |
f4519607 DL |
260 | full hex representation of the delta base object name. |
261 | Otherwise, expands to the null OID (all zeroes). See `CAVEATS` | |
262 | below. | |
65ea9c3c | 263 | |
97be0407 JK |
264 | `rest`:: |
265 | If this atom is used in the output string, input lines are split | |
266 | at the first whitespace boundary. All characters before that | |
267 | whitespace are considered to be the object name; characters | |
268 | after that first run of whitespace (i.e., the "rest" of the | |
269 | line) are output in place of the `%(rest)` atom. | |
270 | ||
93d2a607 JK |
271 | If no format is specified, the default format is `%(objectname) |
272 | %(objecttype) %(objectsize)`. | |
273 | ||
440c705e JC |
274 | If `--batch` is specified, or if `--batch-command` is used with the `contents` |
275 | command, the object information is followed by the object contents (consisting | |
276 | of `%(objectsize)` bytes), followed by a newline. | |
93d2a607 JK |
277 | |
278 | For example, `--batch` without a custom format would produce: | |
a8128ed6 AR |
279 | |
280 | ------------ | |
f4519607 | 281 | <oid> SP <type> SP <size> LF |
a8128ed6 AR |
282 | <contents> LF |
283 | ------------ | |
284 | ||
93d2a607 | 285 | Whereas `--batch-check='%(objectname) %(objecttype)'` would produce: |
05d5667f AR |
286 | |
287 | ------------ | |
f4519607 | 288 | <oid> SP <type> LF |
05d5667f AR |
289 | ------------ |
290 | ||
93d2a607 JK |
291 | If a name is specified on stdin that cannot be resolved to an object in |
292 | the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print: | |
2cf565c5 | 293 | |
05d5667f AR |
294 | ------------ |
295 | <object> SP missing LF | |
296 | ------------ | |
2cf565c5 | 297 | |
d1dd94b3 DT |
298 | If a name is specified that might refer to more than one object (an ambiguous short sha), then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format and print: |
299 | ||
300 | ------------ | |
301 | <object> SP ambiguous LF | |
302 | ------------ | |
303 | ||
4f0ba2d5 | 304 | If `--follow-symlinks` is used, and a symlink in the repository points |
122d5346 DT |
305 | outside the repository, then `cat-file` will ignore any custom format |
306 | and print: | |
307 | ||
308 | ------------ | |
309 | symlink SP <size> LF | |
310 | <symlink> LF | |
311 | ------------ | |
312 | ||
4f0ba2d5 DL |
313 | The symlink will either be absolute (beginning with a `/`), or relative |
314 | to the tree root. For instance, if dir/link points to `../../foo`, then | |
315 | `<symlink>` will be `../foo`. `<size>` is the size of the symlink in bytes. | |
122d5346 | 316 | |
4f0ba2d5 | 317 | If `--follow-symlinks` is used, the following error messages will be |
122d5346 DT |
318 | displayed: |
319 | ||
320 | ------------ | |
321 | <object> SP missing LF | |
322 | ------------ | |
323 | is printed when the initial symlink requested does not exist. | |
324 | ||
325 | ------------ | |
326 | dangling SP <size> LF | |
327 | <object> LF | |
328 | ------------ | |
329 | is printed when the initial symlink exists, but something that | |
330 | it (transitive-of) points to does not. | |
331 | ||
332 | ------------ | |
333 | loop SP <size> LF | |
334 | <object> LF | |
335 | ------------ | |
336 | is printed for symlink loops (or any symlinks that | |
337 | require more than 40 link resolutions to resolve). | |
338 | ||
339 | ------------ | |
340 | notdir SP <size> LF | |
341 | <object> LF | |
342 | ------------ | |
343 | is printed when, during symlink resolution, a file is used as a | |
344 | directory name. | |
a4ac1061 JK |
345 | |
346 | CAVEATS | |
347 | ------- | |
348 | ||
349 | Note that the sizes of objects on disk are reported accurately, but care | |
350 | should be taken in drawing conclusions about which refs or objects are | |
351 | responsible for disk usage. The size of a packed non-delta object may be | |
352 | much larger than the size of objects which delta against it, but the | |
353 | choice of which object is the base and which is the delta is arbitrary | |
65ea9c3c | 354 | and is subject to change during a repack. |
a4ac1061 | 355 | |
65ea9c3c JK |
356 | Note also that multiple copies of an object may be present in the object |
357 | database; in this case, it is undefined which copy's size or delta base | |
358 | will be reported. | |
a4ac1061 | 359 | |
2cf565c5 DG |
360 | GIT |
361 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 362 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |