Documentation/git-for-each-ref.txt

   1 git-for-each-ref(1)
   2 ===================
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-for-each-ref - Output information on each ref
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git for-each-ref' [--count=<count>] [--shell|--perl|--python|--tcl]
  12                    [(--sort=<key>)...] [--format=<format>] [<pattern>...]
  13                    [--points-at <object>] [(--merged | --no-merged) [<object>]]
  14                    [--contains [<object>]] [--no-contains [<object>]]
  15
  16 DESCRIPTION
  17 -----------
  18
  19 Iterate over all refs that match `<pattern>` and show them
  20 according to the given `<format>`, after sorting them according
  21 to the given set of `<key>`.  If `<count>` is given, stop after
  22 showing that many refs.  The interpolated values in `<format>`
  23 can optionally be quoted as string literals in the specified
  24 host language allowing their direct evaluation in that language.
  25
  26 OPTIONS
  27 -------
  28 <count>::
  29         By default the command shows all refs that match
  30         `<pattern>`.  This option makes it stop after showing
  31         that many refs.
  32
  33 <key>::
  34         A field name to sort on.  Prefix `-` to sort in
  35         descending order of the value.  When unspecified,
  36         `refname` is used.  You may use the --sort=<key> option
  37         multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
  38         key.
  39
  40 <format>::
  41         A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from the
  42         object pointed at by a ref being shown.  If `fieldname`
  43         is prefixed with an asterisk (`*`) and the ref points
  44         at a tag object, the value for the field in the object
  45         tag refers is used.  When unspecified, defaults to
  46         `%(objectname) SPC %(objecttype) TAB %(refname)`.
  47         It also interpolates `%%` to `%`, and `%xx` where `xx`
  48         are hex digits interpolates to character with hex code
  49         `xx`; for example `%00` interpolates to `\0` (NUL),
  50         `%09` to `\t` (TAB) and `%0a` to `\n` (LF).
  51
  52 <pattern>...::
  53         If one or more patterns are given, only refs are shown that
  54         match against at least one pattern, either using fnmatch(3) or
  55         literally, in the latter case matching completely or from the
  56         beginning up to a slash.
  57
  58 --color[=<when>]:
  59         Respect any colors specified in the `--format` option. The
  60         `<when>` field must be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto` (if
  61         `<when>` is absent, behave as if `always` was given).
  62
  63 --shell::
  64 --perl::
  65 --python::
  66 --tcl::
  67         If given, strings that substitute `%(fieldname)`
  68         placeholders are quoted as string literals suitable for
  69         the specified host language.  This is meant to produce
  70         a scriptlet that can directly be `eval`ed.
  71
  72 --points-at <object>::
  73         Only list refs which points at the given object.
  74
  75 --merged [<object>]::
  76         Only list refs whose tips are reachable from the
  77         specified commit (HEAD if not specified),
  78         incompatible with `--no-merged`.
  79
  80 --no-merged [<object>]::
  81         Only list refs whose tips are not reachable from the
  82         specified commit (HEAD if not specified),
  83         incompatible with `--merged`.
  84
  85 --contains [<object>]::
  86         Only list refs which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
  87         specified).
  88
  89 --no-contains [<object>]::
  90         Only list refs which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD
  91         if not specified).
  92
  93 --ignore-case::
  94         Sorting and filtering refs are case insensitive.
  95
  96 FIELD NAMES
  97 -----------
  98
  99 Various values from structured fields in referenced objects can
 100 be used to interpolate into the resulting output, or as sort
 101 keys.
 102
 103 For all objects, the following names can be used:
 104
 105 refname::
 106         The name of the ref (the part after $GIT_DIR/).
 107         For a non-ambiguous short name of the ref append `:short`.
 108         The option core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict
 109         abbreviation mode. If `lstrip=<N>` (`rstrip=<N>`) is appended, strips `<N>`
 110         slash-separated path components from the front (back) of the refname
 111         (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `foo` and
 112         `%(refname:rstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`).
 113         If `<N>` is a negative number, strip as many path components as
 114         necessary from the specified end to leave `-<N>` path components
 115         (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=-2)` turns
 116         `refs/tags/foo` into `tags/foo` and `%(refname:rstrip=-1)`
 117         turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`). When the ref does not have
 118         enough components, the result becomes an empty string if
 119         stripping with positive <N>, or it becomes the full refname if
 120         stripping with negative <N>.  Neither is an error.
 121 +
 122 `strip` can be used as a synomym to `lstrip`.
 123
 124 objecttype::
 125         The type of the object (`blob`, `tree`, `commit`, `tag`).
 126
 127 objectsize::
 128         The size of the object (the same as 'git cat-file -s' reports).
 129
 130 objectname::
 131         The object name (aka SHA-1).
 132         For a non-ambiguous abbreviation of the object name append `:short`.
 133         For an abbreviation of the object name with desired length append
 134         `:short=<length>`, where the minimum length is MINIMUM_ABBREV. The
 135         length may be exceeded to ensure unique object names.
 136
 137 upstream::
 138         The name of a local ref which can be considered ``upstream''
 139         from the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip` and
 140         `:rstrip` in the same way as `refname` above.  Additionally
 141         respects `:track` to show "[ahead N, behind M]" and
 142         `:trackshort` to show the terse version: ">" (ahead), "<"
 143         (behind), "<>" (ahead and behind), or "=" (in sync). `:track`
 144         also prints "[gone]" whenever unknown upstream ref is
 145         encountered. Append `:track,nobracket` to show tracking
 146         information without brackets (i.e "ahead N, behind M").  Has
 147         no effect if the ref does not have tracking information
 148         associated with it.  All the options apart from `nobracket`
 149         are mutually exclusive, but if used together the last option
 150         is selected.
 151
 152 push::
 153         The name of a local ref which represents the `@{push}`
 154         location for the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip`,
 155         `:rstrip`, `:track`, and `:trackshort` options as `upstream`
 156         does. Produces an empty string if no `@{push}` ref is
 157         configured.
 158
 159 HEAD::
 160         '*' if HEAD matches current ref (the checked out branch), ' '
 161         otherwise.
 162
 163 color::
 164         Change output color. Followed by `:<colorname>`, where color
 165         names are described under Values in the "CONFIGURATION FILE"
 166         section of linkgit:git-config[1].  For example,
 167         `%(color:bold red)`.
 168
 169 align::
 170         Left-, middle-, or right-align the content between
 171         %(align:...) and %(end). The "align:" is followed by
 172         `width=<width>` and `position=<position>` in any order
 173         separated by a comma, where the `<position>` is either left,
 174         right or middle, default being left and `<width>` is the total
 175         length of the content with alignment. For brevity, the
 176         "width=" and/or "position=" prefixes may be omitted, and bare
 177         <width> and <position> used instead.  For instance,
 178         `%(align:<width>,<position>)`. If the contents length is more
 179         than the width then no alignment is performed. If used with
 180         `--quote` everything in between %(align:...) and %(end) is
 181         quoted, but if nested then only the topmost level performs
 182         quoting.
 183
 184 if::
 185         Used as %(if)...%(then)...%(end) or
 186         %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end).  If there is an atom with
 187         value or string literal after the %(if) then everything after
 188         the %(then) is printed, else if the %(else) atom is used, then
 189         everything after %(else) is printed. We ignore space when
 190         evaluating the string before %(then), this is useful when we
 191         use the %(HEAD) atom which prints either "*" or " " and we
 192         want to apply the 'if' condition only on the 'HEAD' ref.
 193         Append ":equals=<string>" or ":notequals=<string>" to compare
 194         the value between the %(if:...) and %(then) atoms with the
 195         given string.
 196
 197 symref::
 198         The ref which the given symbolic ref refers to. If not a
 199         symbolic ref, nothing is printed. Respects the `:short`,
 200         `:lstrip` and `:rstrip` options in the same way as `refname`
 201         above.
 202
 203 In addition to the above, for commit and tag objects, the header
 204 field names (`tree`, `parent`, `object`, `type`, and `tag`) can
 205 be used to specify the value in the header field.
 206
 207 For commit and tag objects, the special `creatordate` and `creator`
 208 fields will correspond to the appropriate date or name-email-date tuple
 209 from the `committer` or `tagger` fields depending on the object type.
 210 These are intended for working on a mix of annotated and lightweight tags.
 211
 212 Fields that have name-email-date tuple as its value (`author`,
 213 `committer`, and `tagger`) can be suffixed with `name`, `email`,
 214 and `date` to extract the named component.
 215
 216 The complete message in a commit and tag object is `contents`.
 217 Its first line is `contents:subject`, where subject is the concatenation
 218 of all lines of the commit message up to the first blank line.  The next
 219 line is 'contents:body', where body is all of the lines after the first
 220 blank line.  The optional GPG signature is `contents:signature`.  The
 221 first `N` lines of the message is obtained using `contents:lines=N`.
 222 Additionally, the trailers as interpreted by linkgit:git-interpret-trailers[1]
 223 are obtained as 'contents:trailers'.
 224
 225 For sorting purposes, fields with numeric values sort in numeric order
 226 (`objectsize`, `authordate`, `committerdate`, `creatordate`, `taggerdate`).
 227 All other fields are used to sort in their byte-value order.
 228
 229 There is also an option to sort by versions, this can be done by using
 230 the fieldname `version:refname` or its alias `v:refname`.
 231
 232 In any case, a field name that refers to a field inapplicable to
 233 the object referred by the ref does not cause an error.  It
 234 returns an empty string instead.
 235
 236 As a special case for the date-type fields, you may specify a format for
 237 the date by adding `:` followed by date format name (see the
 238 values the `--date` option to linkgit:git-rev-list[1] takes).
 239
 240 Some atoms like %(align) and %(if) always require a matching %(end).
 241 We call them "opening atoms" and sometimes denote them as %($open).
 242
 243 When a scripting language specific quoting is in effect, everything
 244 between a top-level opening atom and its matching %(end) is evaluated
 245 according to the semantics of the opening atom and only its result
 246 from the top-level is quoted.
 247
 248
 249 EXAMPLES
 250 --------
 251
 252 An example directly producing formatted text.  Show the most recent
 253 3 tagged commits:
 254
 255 ------------
 256 #!/bin/sh
 257
 258 git for-each-ref --count=3 --sort='-*authordate' \
 259 --format='From: %(*authorname) %(*authoremail)
 260 Subject: %(*subject)
 261 Date: %(*authordate)
 262 Ref: %(*refname)
 263
 264 %(*body)
 265 ' 'refs/tags'
 266 ------------
 267
 268
 269 A simple example showing the use of shell eval on the output,
 270 demonstrating the use of --shell.  List the prefixes of all heads:
 271 ------------
 272 #!/bin/sh
 273
 274 git for-each-ref --shell --format="ref=%(refname)" refs/heads | \
 275 while read entry
 276 do
 277         eval "$entry"
 278         echo `dirname $ref`
 279 done
 280 ------------
 281
 282
 283 A bit more elaborate report on tags, demonstrating that the format
 284 may be an entire script:
 285 ------------
 286 #!/bin/sh
 287
 288 fmt='
 289         r=%(refname)
 290         t=%(*objecttype)
 291         T=${r#refs/tags/}
 292
 293         o=%(*objectname)
 294         n=%(*authorname)
 295         e=%(*authoremail)
 296         s=%(*subject)
 297         d=%(*authordate)
 298         b=%(*body)
 299
 300         kind=Tag
 301         if test "z$t" = z
 302         then
 303                 # could be a lightweight tag
 304                 t=%(objecttype)
 305                 kind="Lightweight tag"
 306                 o=%(objectname)
 307                 n=%(authorname)
 308                 e=%(authoremail)
 309                 s=%(subject)
 310                 d=%(authordate)
 311                 b=%(body)
 312         fi
 313         echo "$kind $T points at a $t object $o"
 314         if test "z$t" = zcommit
 315         then
 316                 echo "The commit was authored by $n $e
 317 at $d, and titled
 318
 319     $s
 320
 321 Its message reads as:
 322 "
 323                 echo "$b" | sed -e "s/^/    /"
 324                 echo
 325         fi
 326 '
 327
 328 eval=`git for-each-ref --shell --format="$fmt" \
 329         --sort='*objecttype' \
 330         --sort=-taggerdate \
 331         refs/tags`
 332 eval "$eval"
 333 ------------
 334
 335
 336 An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end).
 337 This prefixes the current branch with a star.
 338
 339 ------------
 340 git for-each-ref --format="%(if)%(HEAD)%(then)* %(else)  %(end)%(refname:short)" refs/heads/
 341 ------------
 342
 343
 344 An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(end).
 345 This prints the authorname, if present.
 346
 347 ------------
 348 git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)%(if)%(authorname)%(then) Authored by: %(authorname)%(end)"
 349 ------------
 350
 351 SEE ALSO
 352 --------
 353 linkgit:git-show-ref[1]
 354
 355 GIT
 356 ---
 357 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite