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1 Commit Limiting
2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3
4 Besides specifying a range of commits that should be listed using the
5 special notations explained in the description, additional commit
6 limiting may be applied.
7
8 Using more options generally further limits the output (e.g.
9 `--since=<date1>` limits to commits newer than `<date1>`, and using it
10 with `--grep=<pattern>` further limits to commits whose log message
11 has a line that matches `<pattern>`), unless otherwise noted.
12
13 Note that these are applied before commit
14 ordering and formatting options, such as `--reverse`.
15
16 -<number>::
17 -n <number>::
18 --max-count=<number>::
19 Limit the number of commits to output.
20
21 --skip=<number>::
22 Skip 'number' commits before starting to show the commit output.
23
24 --since=<date>::
25 --after=<date>::
26 Show commits more recent than a specific date.
27
28 --until=<date>::
29 --before=<date>::
30 Show commits older than a specific date.
31
32 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
33 --max-age=<timestamp>::
34 --min-age=<timestamp>::
35 Limit the commits output to specified time range.
36 endif::git-rev-list[]
37
38 --author=<pattern>::
39 --committer=<pattern>::
40 Limit the commits output to ones with author/committer
41 header lines that match the specified pattern (regular
42 expression). With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
43 commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
44 chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
45
46 --grep-reflog=<pattern>::
47 Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
48 match the specified pattern (regular expression). With
49 more than one `--grep-reflog`, commits whose reflog message
50 matches any of the given patterns are chosen. It is an
51 error to use this option unless `--walk-reflogs` is in use.
52
53 --grep=<pattern>::
54 Limit the commits output to ones with log message that
55 matches the specified pattern (regular expression). With
56 more than one `--grep=<pattern>`, commits whose message
57 matches any of the given patterns are chosen (but see
58 `--all-match`).
59 ifndef::git-rev-list[]
60 +
61 When `--notes` is in effect, the message from the notes is
62 matched as if it were part of the log message.
63 endif::git-rev-list[]
64
65 --all-match::
66 Limit the commits output to ones that match all given `--grep`,
67 instead of ones that match at least one.
68
69 --invert-grep::
70 Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
71 match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
72
73 -i::
74 --regexp-ignore-case::
75 Match the regular expression limiting patterns without regard to letter
76 case.
77
78 --basic-regexp::
79 Consider the limiting patterns to be basic regular expressions;
80 this is the default.
81
82 -E::
83 --extended-regexp::
84 Consider the limiting patterns to be extended regular expressions
85 instead of the default basic regular expressions.
86
87 -F::
88 --fixed-strings::
89 Consider the limiting patterns to be fixed strings (don't interpret
90 pattern as a regular expression).
91
92 -P::
93 --perl-regexp::
94 Consider the limiting patterns to be Perl-compatible regular
95 expressions.
96 +
97 Support for these types of regular expressions is an optional
98 compile-time dependency. If Git wasn't compiled with support for them
99 providing this option will cause it to die.
100
101 --remove-empty::
102 Stop when a given path disappears from the tree.
103
104 --merges::
105 Print only merge commits. This is exactly the same as `--min-parents=2`.
106
107 --no-merges::
108 Do not print commits with more than one parent. This is
109 exactly the same as `--max-parents=1`.
110
111 --min-parents=<number>::
112 --max-parents=<number>::
113 --no-min-parents::
114 --no-max-parents::
115 Show only commits which have at least (or at most) that many parent
116 commits. In particular, `--max-parents=1` is the same as `--no-merges`,
117 `--min-parents=2` is the same as `--merges`. `--max-parents=0`
118 gives all root commits and `--min-parents=3` all octopus merges.
119 +
120 `--no-min-parents` and `--no-max-parents` reset these limits (to no limit)
121 again. Equivalent forms are `--min-parents=0` (any commit has 0 or more
122 parents) and `--max-parents=-1` (negative numbers denote no upper limit).
123
124 --first-parent::
125 Follow only the first parent commit upon seeing a merge
126 commit. This option can give a better overview when
127 viewing the evolution of a particular topic branch,
128 because merges into a topic branch tend to be only about
129 adjusting to updated upstream from time to time, and
130 this option allows you to ignore the individual commits
131 brought in to your history by such a merge. Cannot be
132 combined with --bisect.
133
134 --not::
135 Reverses the meaning of the '{caret}' prefix (or lack thereof)
136 for all following revision specifiers, up to the next `--not`.
137
138 --all::
139 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/`, along with `HEAD`, are
140 listed on the command line as '<commit>'.
141
142 --branches[=<pattern>]::
143 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/heads` are listed
144 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
145 branches to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?',
146 '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
147
148 --tags[=<pattern>]::
149 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/tags` are listed
150 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
151 tags to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
152 or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
153
154 --remotes[=<pattern>]::
155 Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/remotes` are listed
156 on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
157 remote-tracking branches to ones matching given shell glob.
158 If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
159
160 --glob=<glob-pattern>::
161 Pretend as if all the refs matching shell glob '<glob-pattern>'
162 are listed on the command line as '<commit>'. Leading 'refs/',
163 is automatically prepended if missing. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
164 or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
165
166 --exclude=<glob-pattern>::
167
168 Do not include refs matching '<glob-pattern>' that the next `--all`,
169 `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or `--glob` would otherwise
170 consider. Repetitions of this option accumulate exclusion patterns
171 up to the next `--all`, `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or
172 `--glob` option (other options or arguments do not clear
173 accumulated patterns).
174 +
175 The patterns given should not begin with `refs/heads`, `refs/tags`, or
176 `refs/remotes` when applied to `--branches`, `--tags`, or `--remotes`,
177 respectively, and they must begin with `refs/` when applied to `--glob`
178 or `--all`. If a trailing '/{asterisk}' is intended, it must be given
179 explicitly.
180
181 --reflog::
182 Pretend as if all objects mentioned by reflogs are listed on the
183 command line as `<commit>`.
184
185 --alternate-refs::
186 Pretend as if all objects mentioned as ref tips of alternate
187 repositories were listed on the command line. An alternate
188 repository is any repository whose object directory is specified
189 in `objects/info/alternates`. The set of included objects may
190 be modified by `core.alternateRefsCommand`, etc. See
191 linkgit:git-config[1].
192
193 --single-worktree::
194 By default, all working trees will be examined by the
195 following options when there are more than one (see
196 linkgit:git-worktree[1]): `--all`, `--reflog` and
197 `--indexed-objects`.
198 This option forces them to examine the current working tree
199 only.
200
201 --ignore-missing::
202 Upon seeing an invalid object name in the input, pretend as if
203 the bad input was not given.
204
205 ifndef::git-rev-list[]
206 --bisect::
207 Pretend as if the bad bisection ref `refs/bisect/bad`
208 was listed and as if it was followed by `--not` and the good
209 bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` on the command
210 line. Cannot be combined with --first-parent.
211 endif::git-rev-list[]
212
213 --stdin::
214 In addition to the '<commit>' listed on the command
215 line, read them from the standard input. If a `--` separator is
216 seen, stop reading commits and start reading paths to limit the
217 result.
218
219 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
220 --quiet::
221 Don't print anything to standard output. This form
222 is primarily meant to allow the caller to
223 test the exit status to see if a range of objects is fully
224 connected (or not). It is faster than redirecting stdout
225 to `/dev/null` as the output does not have to be formatted.
226 endif::git-rev-list[]
227
228 --cherry-mark::
229 Like `--cherry-pick` (see below) but mark equivalent commits
230 with `=` rather than omitting them, and inequivalent ones with `+`.
231
232 --cherry-pick::
233 Omit any commit that introduces the same change as
234 another commit on the ``other side'' when the set of
235 commits are limited with symmetric difference.
236 +
237 For example, if you have two branches, `A` and `B`, a usual way
238 to list all commits on only one side of them is with
239 `--left-right` (see the example below in the description of
240 the `--left-right` option). However, it shows the commits that were
241 cherry-picked from the other branch (for example, ``3rd on b'' may be
242 cherry-picked from branch A). With this option, such pairs of commits are
243 excluded from the output.
244
245 --left-only::
246 --right-only::
247 List only commits on the respective side of a symmetric difference,
248 i.e. only those which would be marked `<` resp. `>` by
249 `--left-right`.
250 +
251 For example, `--cherry-pick --right-only A...B` omits those
252 commits from `B` which are in `A` or are patch-equivalent to a commit in
253 `A`. In other words, this lists the `+` commits from `git cherry A B`.
254 More precisely, `--cherry-pick --right-only --no-merges` gives the exact
255 list.
256
257 --cherry::
258 A synonym for `--right-only --cherry-mark --no-merges`; useful to
259 limit the output to the commits on our side and mark those that
260 have been applied to the other side of a forked history with
261 `git log --cherry upstream...mybranch`, similar to
262 `git cherry upstream mybranch`.
263
264 -g::
265 --walk-reflogs::
266 Instead of walking the commit ancestry chain, walk
267 reflog entries from the most recent one to older ones.
268 When this option is used you cannot specify commits to
269 exclude (that is, '{caret}commit', 'commit1..commit2',
270 and 'commit1\...commit2' notations cannot be used).
271 +
272 With `--pretty` format other than `oneline` and `reference` (for obvious reasons),
273 this causes the output to have two extra lines of information
274 taken from the reflog. The reflog designator in the output may be shown
275 as `ref@{Nth}` (where `Nth` is the reverse-chronological index in the
276 reflog) or as `ref@{timestamp}` (with the timestamp for that entry),
277 depending on a few rules:
278 +
279 --
280 1. If the starting point is specified as `ref@{Nth}`, show the index
281 format.
282 +
283 2. If the starting point was specified as `ref@{now}`, show the
284 timestamp format.
285 +
286 3. If neither was used, but `--date` was given on the command line, show
287 the timestamp in the format requested by `--date`.
288 +
289 4. Otherwise, show the index format.
290 --
291 +
292 Under `--pretty=oneline`, the commit message is
293 prefixed with this information on the same line.
294 This option cannot be combined with `--reverse`.
295 See also linkgit:git-reflog[1].
296 +
297 Under `--pretty=reference`, this information will not be shown at all.
298
299 --merge::
300 After a failed merge, show refs that touch files having a
301 conflict and don't exist on all heads to merge.
302
303 --boundary::
304 Output excluded boundary commits. Boundary commits are
305 prefixed with `-`.
306
307 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
308 --use-bitmap-index::
309
310 Try to speed up the traversal using the pack bitmap index (if
311 one is available). Note that when traversing with `--objects`,
312 trees and blobs will not have their associated path printed.
313
314 --progress=<header>::
315 Show progress reports on stderr as objects are considered. The
316 `<header>` text will be printed with each progress update.
317 endif::git-rev-list[]
318
319 History Simplification
320 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
321
322 Sometimes you are only interested in parts of the history, for example the
323 commits modifying a particular <path>. But there are two parts of
324 'History Simplification', one part is selecting the commits and the other
325 is how to do it, as there are various strategies to simplify the history.
326
327 The following options select the commits to be shown:
328
329 <paths>::
330 Commits modifying the given <paths> are selected.
331
332 --simplify-by-decoration::
333 Commits that are referred by some branch or tag are selected.
334
335 Note that extra commits can be shown to give a meaningful history.
336
337 The following options affect the way the simplification is performed:
338
339 Default mode::
340 Simplifies the history to the simplest history explaining the
341 final state of the tree. Simplest because it prunes some side
342 branches if the end result is the same (i.e. merging branches
343 with the same content)
344
345 --show-pulls::
346 Include all commits from the default mode, but also any merge
347 commits that are not TREESAME to the first parent but are
348 TREESAME to a later parent. This mode is helpful for showing
349 the merge commits that "first introduced" a change to a branch.
350
351 --full-history::
352 Same as the default mode, but does not prune some history.
353
354 --dense::
355 Only the selected commits are shown, plus some to have a
356 meaningful history.
357
358 --sparse::
359 All commits in the simplified history are shown.
360
361 --simplify-merges::
362 Additional option to `--full-history` to remove some needless
363 merges from the resulting history, as there are no selected
364 commits contributing to this merge.
365
366 --ancestry-path::
367 When given a range of commits to display (e.g. 'commit1..commit2'
368 or 'commit2 {caret}commit1'), only display commits that exist
369 directly on the ancestry chain between the 'commit1' and
370 'commit2', i.e. commits that are both descendants of 'commit1',
371 and ancestors of 'commit2'.
372
373 A more detailed explanation follows.
374
375 Suppose you specified `foo` as the <paths>. We shall call commits
376 that modify `foo` !TREESAME, and the rest TREESAME. (In a diff
377 filtered for `foo`, they look different and equal, respectively.)
378
379 In the following, we will always refer to the same example history to
380 illustrate the differences between simplification settings. We assume
381 that you are filtering for a file `foo` in this commit graph:
382 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
383 .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
384 / / / / / /
385 I B C D E Y
386 \ / / / / /
387 `-------------' X
388 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
389 The horizontal line of history A---Q is taken to be the first parent of
390 each merge. The commits are:
391
392 * `I` is the initial commit, in which `foo` exists with contents
393 ``asdf'', and a file `quux` exists with contents ``quux''. Initial
394 commits are compared to an empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
395
396 * In `A`, `foo` contains just ``foo''.
397
398 * `B` contains the same change as `A`. Its merge `M` is trivial and
399 hence TREESAME to all parents.
400
401 * `C` does not change `foo`, but its merge `N` changes it to ``foobar'',
402 so it is not TREESAME to any parent.
403
404 * `D` sets `foo` to ``baz''. Its merge `O` combines the strings from
405 `N` and `D` to ``foobarbaz''; i.e., it is not TREESAME to any parent.
406
407 * `E` changes `quux` to ``xyzzy'', and its merge `P` combines the
408 strings to ``quux xyzzy''. `P` is TREESAME to `O`, but not to `E`.
409
410 * `X` is an independent root commit that added a new file `side`, and `Y`
411 modified it. `Y` is TREESAME to `X`. Its merge `Q` added `side` to `P`, and
412 `Q` is TREESAME to `P`, but not to `Y`.
413
414 `rev-list` walks backwards through history, including or excluding
415 commits based on whether `--full-history` and/or parent rewriting
416 (via `--parents` or `--children`) are used. The following settings
417 are available.
418
419 Default mode::
420 Commits are included if they are not TREESAME to any parent
421 (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below). If the
422 commit was a merge, and it was TREESAME to one parent, follow
423 only that parent. (Even if there are several TREESAME
424 parents, follow only one of them.) Otherwise, follow all
425 parents.
426 +
427 This results in:
428 +
429 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
430 .-A---N---O
431 / / /
432 I---------D
433 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
434 +
435 Note how the rule to only follow the TREESAME parent, if one is
436 available, removed `B` from consideration entirely. `C` was
437 considered via `N`, but is TREESAME. Root commits are compared to an
438 empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
439 +
440 Parent/child relations are only visible with `--parents`, but that does
441 not affect the commits selected in default mode, so we have shown the
442 parent lines.
443
444 --full-history without parent rewriting::
445 This mode differs from the default in one point: always follow
446 all parents of a merge, even if it is TREESAME to one of them.
447 Even if more than one side of the merge has commits that are
448 included, this does not imply that the merge itself is! In
449 the example, we get
450 +
451 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
452 I A B N D O P Q
453 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
454 +
455 `M` was excluded because it is TREESAME to both parents. `E`,
456 `C` and `B` were all walked, but only `B` was !TREESAME, so the others
457 do not appear.
458 +
459 Note that without parent rewriting, it is not really possible to talk
460 about the parent/child relationships between the commits, so we show
461 them disconnected.
462
463 --full-history with parent rewriting::
464 Ordinary commits are only included if they are !TREESAME
465 (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below).
466 +
467 Merges are always included. However, their parent list is rewritten:
468 Along each parent, prune away commits that are not included
469 themselves. This results in
470 +
471 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
472 .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
473 / / / / /
474 I B / D /
475 \ / / / /
476 `-------------'
477 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
478 +
479 Compare to `--full-history` without rewriting above. Note that `E`
480 was pruned away because it is TREESAME, but the parent list of P was
481 rewritten to contain `E`'s parent `I`. The same happened for `C` and
482 `N`, and `X`, `Y` and `Q`.
483
484 In addition to the above settings, you can change whether TREESAME
485 affects inclusion:
486
487 --dense::
488 Commits that are walked are included if they are not TREESAME
489 to any parent.
490
491 --sparse::
492 All commits that are walked are included.
493 +
494 Note that without `--full-history`, this still simplifies merges: if
495 one of the parents is TREESAME, we follow only that one, so the other
496 sides of the merge are never walked.
497
498 --simplify-merges::
499 First, build a history graph in the same way that
500 `--full-history` with parent rewriting does (see above).
501 +
502 Then simplify each commit `C` to its replacement `C'` in the final
503 history according to the following rules:
504 +
505 --
506 * Set `C'` to `C`.
507 +
508 * Replace each parent `P` of `C'` with its simplification `P'`. In
509 the process, drop parents that are ancestors of other parents or that are
510 root commits TREESAME to an empty tree, and remove duplicates, but take care
511 to never drop all parents that we are TREESAME to.
512 +
513 * If after this parent rewriting, `C'` is a root or merge commit (has
514 zero or >1 parents), a boundary commit, or !TREESAME, it remains.
515 Otherwise, it is replaced with its only parent.
516 --
517 +
518 The effect of this is best shown by way of comparing to
519 `--full-history` with parent rewriting. The example turns into:
520 +
521 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
522 .-A---M---N---O
523 / / /
524 I B D
525 \ / /
526 `---------'
527 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
528 +
529 Note the major differences in `N`, `P`, and `Q` over `--full-history`:
530 +
531 --
532 * `N`'s parent list had `I` removed, because it is an ancestor of the
533 other parent `M`. Still, `N` remained because it is !TREESAME.
534 +
535 * `P`'s parent list similarly had `I` removed. `P` was then
536 removed completely, because it had one parent and is TREESAME.
537 +
538 * `Q`'s parent list had `Y` simplified to `X`. `X` was then removed, because it
539 was a TREESAME root. `Q` was then removed completely, because it had one
540 parent and is TREESAME.
541 --
542
543 There is another simplification mode available:
544
545 --ancestry-path::
546 Limit the displayed commits to those directly on the ancestry
547 chain between the ``from'' and ``to'' commits in the given commit
548 range. I.e. only display commits that are ancestor of the ``to''
549 commit and descendants of the ``from'' commit.
550 +
551 As an example use case, consider the following commit history:
552 +
553 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
554 D---E-------F
555 / \ \
556 B---C---G---H---I---J
557 / \
558 A-------K---------------L--M
559 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
560 +
561 A regular 'D..M' computes the set of commits that are ancestors of `M`,
562 but excludes the ones that are ancestors of `D`. This is useful to see
563 what happened to the history leading to `M` since `D`, in the sense
564 that ``what does `M` have that did not exist in `D`''. The result in this
565 example would be all the commits, except `A` and `B` (and `D` itself,
566 of course).
567 +
568 When we want to find out what commits in `M` are contaminated with the
569 bug introduced by `D` and need fixing, however, we might want to view
570 only the subset of 'D..M' that are actually descendants of `D`, i.e.
571 excluding `C` and `K`. This is exactly what the `--ancestry-path`
572 option does. Applied to the 'D..M' range, it results in:
573 +
574 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
575 E-------F
576 \ \
577 G---H---I---J
578 \
579 L--M
580 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
581
582 Before discussing another option, `--show-pulls`, we need to
583 create a new example history.
584 +
585 A common problem users face when looking at simplified history is that a
586 commit they know changed a file somehow does not appear in the file's
587 simplified history. Let's demonstrate a new example and show how options
588 such as `--full-history` and `--simplify-merges` works in that case:
589 +
590 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
591 .-A---M-----C--N---O---P
592 / / \ \ \/ / /
593 I B \ R-'`-Z' /
594 \ / \/ /
595 \ / /\ /
596 `---X--' `---Y--'
597 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
598 +
599 For this example, suppose `I` created `file.txt` which was modified by
600 `A`, `B`, and `X` in different ways. The single-parent commits `C`, `Z`,
601 and `Y` do not change `file.txt`. The merge commit `M` was created by
602 resolving the merge conflict to include both changes from `A` and `B`
603 and hence is not TREESAME to either. The merge commit `R`, however, was
604 created by ignoring the contents of `file.txt` at `M` and taking only
605 the contents of `file.txt` at `X`. Hence, `R` is TREESAME to `X` but not
606 `M`. Finally, the natural merge resolution to create `N` is to take the
607 contents of `file.txt` at `R`, so `N` is TREESAME to `R` but not `C`.
608 The merge commits `O` and `P` are TREESAME to their first parents, but
609 not to their second parents, `Z` and `Y` respectively.
610 +
611 When using the default mode, `N` and `R` both have a TREESAME parent, so
612 those edges are walked and the others are ignored. The resulting history
613 graph is:
614 +
615 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
616 I---X
617 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
618 +
619 When using `--full-history`, Git walks every edge. This will discover
620 the commits `A` and `B` and the merge `M`, but also will reveal the
621 merge commits `O` and `P`. With parent rewriting, the resulting graph is:
622 +
623 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
624 .-A---M--------N---O---P
625 / / \ \ \/ / /
626 I B \ R-'`--' /
627 \ / \/ /
628 \ / /\ /
629 `---X--' `------'
630 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
631 +
632 Here, the merge commits `O` and `P` contribute extra noise, as they did
633 not actually contribute a change to `file.txt`. They only merged a topic
634 that was based on an older version of `file.txt`. This is a common
635 issue in repositories using a workflow where many contributors work in
636 parallel and merge their topic branches along a single trunk: manu
637 unrelated merges appear in the `--full-history` results.
638 +
639 When using the `--simplify-merges` option, the commits `O` and `P`
640 disappear from the results. This is because the rewritten second parents
641 of `O` and `P` are reachable from their first parents. Those edges are
642 removed and then the commits look like single-parent commits that are
643 TREESAME to their parent. This also happens to the commit `N`, resulting
644 in a history view as follows:
645 +
646 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
647 .-A---M--.
648 / / \
649 I B R
650 \ / /
651 \ / /
652 `---X--'
653 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
654 +
655 In this view, we see all of the important single-parent changes from
656 `A`, `B`, and `X`. We also see the carefully-resolved merge `M` and the
657 not-so-carefully-resolved merge `R`. This is usually enough information
658 to determine why the commits `A` and `B` "disappeared" from history in
659 the default view. However, there are a few issues with this approach.
660 +
661 The first issue is performance. Unlike any previous option, the
662 `--simplify-merges` option requires walking the entire commit history
663 before returning a single result. This can make the option difficult to
664 use for very large repositories.
665 +
666 The second issue is one of auditing. When many contributors are working
667 on the same repository, it is important which merge commits introduced
668 a change into an important branch. The problematic merge `R` above is
669 not likely to be the merge commit that was used to merge into an
670 important branch. Instead, the merge `N` was used to merge `R` and `X`
671 into the important branch. This commit may have information about why
672 the change `X` came to override the changes from `A` and `B` in its
673 commit message.
674 +
675 The `--show-pulls` option helps with both of these issues by adding more
676 merge commits to the history results. If a merge is not TREESAME to its
677 first parent but is TREESAME to a later parent, then that merge is
678 treated as if it "pulled" the change from another branch. When using
679 `--show-pulls` on this example (and no other options) the resulting
680 graph is:
681 +
682 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
683 I---X---R---N
684 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
685 +
686 Here, the merge commits `R` and `N` are included because they pulled
687 the commits `X` and `R` into the base branch, respectively. These
688 merges are the reason the commits `A` and `B` do not appear in the
689 default history.
690 +
691 When `--show-pulls` is paired with `--simplify-merges`, the
692 graph includes all of the necessary information:
693 +
694 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
695 .-A---M--. N
696 / / \ /
697 I B R
698 \ / /
699 \ / /
700 `---X--'
701 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
702 +
703 Notice that since `M` is reachable from `R`, the edge from `N` to `M`
704 was simplified away. However, `N` still appears in the history as an
705 important commit because it "pulled" the change `R` into the main
706 branch.
707
708 The `--simplify-by-decoration` option allows you to view only the
709 big picture of the topology of the history, by omitting commits
710 that are not referenced by tags. Commits are marked as !TREESAME
711 (in other words, kept after history simplification rules described
712 above) if (1) they are referenced by tags, or (2) they change the
713 contents of the paths given on the command line. All other
714 commits are marked as TREESAME (subject to be simplified away).
715
716 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
717 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
718 Bisection Helpers
719 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
720
721 --bisect::
722 Limit output to the one commit object which is roughly halfway between
723 included and excluded commits. Note that the bad bisection ref
724 `refs/bisect/bad` is added to the included commits (if it
725 exists) and the good bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` are
726 added to the excluded commits (if they exist). Thus, supposing there
727 are no refs in `refs/bisect/`, if
728 +
729 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
730 $ git rev-list --bisect foo ^bar ^baz
731 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
732 +
733 outputs 'midpoint', the output of the two commands
734 +
735 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
736 $ git rev-list foo ^midpoint
737 $ git rev-list midpoint ^bar ^baz
738 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
739 +
740 would be of roughly the same length. Finding the change which
741 introduces a regression is thus reduced to a binary search: repeatedly
742 generate and test new 'midpoint's until the commit chain is of length
743 one. Cannot be combined with --first-parent.
744
745 --bisect-vars::
746 This calculates the same as `--bisect`, except that refs in
747 `refs/bisect/` are not used, and except that this outputs
748 text ready to be eval'ed by the shell. These lines will assign the
749 name of the midpoint revision to the variable `bisect_rev`, and the
750 expected number of commits to be tested after `bisect_rev` is tested
751 to `bisect_nr`, the expected number of commits to be tested if
752 `bisect_rev` turns out to be good to `bisect_good`, the expected
753 number of commits to be tested if `bisect_rev` turns out to be bad to
754 `bisect_bad`, and the number of commits we are bisecting right now to
755 `bisect_all`.
756
757 --bisect-all::
758 This outputs all the commit objects between the included and excluded
759 commits, ordered by their distance to the included and excluded
760 commits. Refs in `refs/bisect/` are not used. The farthest
761 from them is displayed first. (This is the only one displayed by
762 `--bisect`.)
763 +
764 This is useful because it makes it easy to choose a good commit to
765 test when you want to avoid to test some of them for some reason (they
766 may not compile for example).
767 +
768 This option can be used along with `--bisect-vars`, in this case,
769 after all the sorted commit objects, there will be the same text as if
770 `--bisect-vars` had been used alone.
771 endif::git-rev-list[]
772 endif::git-shortlog[]
773
774 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
775 Commit Ordering
776 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
777
778 By default, the commits are shown in reverse chronological order.
779
780 --date-order::
781 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
782 otherwise show commits in the commit timestamp order.
783
784 --author-date-order::
785 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
786 otherwise show commits in the author timestamp order.
787
788 --topo-order::
789 Show no parents before all of its children are shown, and
790 avoid showing commits on multiple lines of history
791 intermixed.
792 +
793 For example, in a commit history like this:
794 +
795 ----------------------------------------------------------------
796
797 ---1----2----4----7
798 \ \
799 3----5----6----8---
800
801 ----------------------------------------------------------------
802 +
803 where the numbers denote the order of commit timestamps, `git
804 rev-list` and friends with `--date-order` show the commits in the
805 timestamp order: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
806 +
807 With `--topo-order`, they would show 8 6 5 3 7 4 2 1 (or 8 7 4 2 6 5
808 3 1); some older commits are shown before newer ones in order to
809 avoid showing the commits from two parallel development track mixed
810 together.
811
812 --reverse::
813 Output the commits chosen to be shown (see Commit Limiting
814 section above) in reverse order. Cannot be combined with
815 `--walk-reflogs`.
816 endif::git-shortlog[]
817
818 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
819 Object Traversal
820 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
821
822 These options are mostly targeted for packing of Git repositories.
823
824 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
825 --objects::
826 Print the object IDs of any object referenced by the listed
827 commits. `--objects foo ^bar` thus means ``send me
828 all object IDs which I need to download if I have the commit
829 object _bar_ but not _foo_''.
830
831 --in-commit-order::
832 Print tree and blob ids in order of the commits. The tree
833 and blob ids are printed after they are first referenced
834 by a commit.
835
836 --objects-edge::
837 Similar to `--objects`, but also print the IDs of excluded
838 commits prefixed with a ``-'' character. This is used by
839 linkgit:git-pack-objects[1] to build a ``thin'' pack, which records
840 objects in deltified form based on objects contained in these
841 excluded commits to reduce network traffic.
842
843 --objects-edge-aggressive::
844 Similar to `--objects-edge`, but it tries harder to find excluded
845 commits at the cost of increased time. This is used instead of
846 `--objects-edge` to build ``thin'' packs for shallow repositories.
847
848 --indexed-objects::
849 Pretend as if all trees and blobs used by the index are listed
850 on the command line. Note that you probably want to use
851 `--objects`, too.
852
853 --unpacked::
854 Only useful with `--objects`; print the object IDs that are not
855 in packs.
856
857 --object-names::
858 Only useful with `--objects`; print the names of the object IDs
859 that are found. This is the default behavior.
860
861 --no-object-names::
862 Only useful with `--objects`; does not print the names of the object
863 IDs that are found. This inverts `--object-names`. This flag allows
864 the output to be more easily parsed by commands such as
865 linkgit:git-cat-file[1].
866
867 --filter=<filter-spec>::
868 Only useful with one of the `--objects*`; omits objects (usually
869 blobs) from the list of printed objects. The '<filter-spec>'
870 may be one of the following:
871 +
872 The form '--filter=blob:none' omits all blobs.
873 +
874 The form '--filter=blob:limit=<n>[kmg]' omits blobs larger than n bytes
875 or units. n may be zero. The suffixes k, m, and g can be used to name
876 units in KiB, MiB, or GiB. For example, 'blob:limit=1k' is the same
877 as 'blob:limit=1024'.
878 +
879 The form '--filter=sparse:oid=<blob-ish>' uses a sparse-checkout
880 specification contained in the blob (or blob-expression) '<blob-ish>'
881 to omit blobs that would not be not required for a sparse checkout on
882 the requested refs.
883 +
884 The form '--filter=tree:<depth>' omits all blobs and trees whose depth
885 from the root tree is >= <depth> (minimum depth if an object is located
886 at multiple depths in the commits traversed). <depth>=0 will not include
887 any trees or blobs unless included explicitly in the command-line (or
888 standard input when --stdin is used). <depth>=1 will include only the
889 tree and blobs which are referenced directly by a commit reachable from
890 <commit> or an explicitly-given object. <depth>=2 is like <depth>=1
891 while also including trees and blobs one more level removed from an
892 explicitly-given commit or tree.
893 +
894 Note that the form '--filter=sparse:path=<path>' that wants to read
895 from an arbitrary path on the filesystem has been dropped for security
896 reasons.
897 +
898 Multiple '--filter=' flags can be specified to combine filters. Only
899 objects which are accepted by every filter are included.
900 +
901 The form '--filter=combine:<filter1>+<filter2>+...<filterN>' can also be
902 used to combined several filters, but this is harder than just repeating
903 the '--filter' flag and is usually not necessary. Filters are joined by
904 '{plus}' and individual filters are %-encoded (i.e. URL-encoded).
905 Besides the '{plus}' and '%' characters, the following characters are
906 reserved and also must be encoded: `~!@#$^&*()[]{}\;",<>?`+&#39;&#96;+
907 as well as all characters with ASCII code &lt;= `0x20`, which includes
908 space and newline.
909 +
910 Other arbitrary characters can also be encoded. For instance,
911 'combine:tree:3+blob:none' and 'combine:tree%3A3+blob%3Anone' are
912 equivalent.
913
914 --no-filter::
915 Turn off any previous `--filter=` argument.
916
917 --filter-print-omitted::
918 Only useful with `--filter=`; prints a list of the objects omitted
919 by the filter. Object IDs are prefixed with a ``~'' character.
920
921 --missing=<missing-action>::
922 A debug option to help with future "partial clone" development.
923 This option specifies how missing objects are handled.
924 +
925 The form '--missing=error' requests that rev-list stop with an error if
926 a missing object is encountered. This is the default action.
927 +
928 The form '--missing=allow-any' will allow object traversal to continue
929 if a missing object is encountered. Missing objects will silently be
930 omitted from the results.
931 +
932 The form '--missing=allow-promisor' is like 'allow-any', but will only
933 allow object traversal to continue for EXPECTED promisor missing objects.
934 Unexpected missing objects will raise an error.
935 +
936 The form '--missing=print' is like 'allow-any', but will also print a
937 list of the missing objects. Object IDs are prefixed with a ``?'' character.
938
939 --exclude-promisor-objects::
940 (For internal use only.) Prefilter object traversal at
941 promisor boundary. This is used with partial clone. This is
942 stronger than `--missing=allow-promisor` because it limits the
943 traversal, rather than just silencing errors about missing
944 objects.
945 endif::git-rev-list[]
946
947 --no-walk[=(sorted|unsorted)]::
948 Only show the given commits, but do not traverse their ancestors.
949 This has no effect if a range is specified. If the argument
950 `unsorted` is given, the commits are shown in the order they were
951 given on the command line. Otherwise (if `sorted` or no argument
952 was given), the commits are shown in reverse chronological order
953 by commit time.
954 Cannot be combined with `--graph`.
955
956 --do-walk::
957 Overrides a previous `--no-walk`.
958 endif::git-shortlog[]
959
960 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
961 Commit Formatting
962 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
963
964 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
965 Using these options, linkgit:git-rev-list[1] will act similar to the
966 more specialized family of commit log tools: linkgit:git-log[1],
967 linkgit:git-show[1], and linkgit:git-whatchanged[1]
968 endif::git-rev-list[]
969
970 include::pretty-options.txt[]
971
972 --relative-date::
973 Synonym for `--date=relative`.
974
975 --date=<format>::
976 Only takes effect for dates shown in human-readable format, such
977 as when using `--pretty`. `log.date` config variable sets a default
978 value for the log command's `--date` option. By default, dates
979 are shown in the original time zone (either committer's or
980 author's). If `-local` is appended to the format (e.g.,
981 `iso-local`), the user's local time zone is used instead.
982 +
983 --
984 `--date=relative` shows dates relative to the current time,
985 e.g. ``2 hours ago''. The `-local` option has no effect for
986 `--date=relative`.
987
988 `--date=local` is an alias for `--date=default-local`.
989
990 `--date=iso` (or `--date=iso8601`) shows timestamps in a ISO 8601-like format.
991 The differences to the strict ISO 8601 format are:
992
993 - a space instead of the `T` date/time delimiter
994 - a space between time and time zone
995 - no colon between hours and minutes of the time zone
996
997 `--date=iso-strict` (or `--date=iso8601-strict`) shows timestamps in strict
998 ISO 8601 format.
999
1000 `--date=rfc` (or `--date=rfc2822`) shows timestamps in RFC 2822
1001 format, often found in email messages.
1002
1003 `--date=short` shows only the date, but not the time, in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
1004
1005 `--date=raw` shows the date as seconds since the epoch (1970-01-01
1006 00:00:00 UTC), followed by a space, and then the timezone as an offset
1007 from UTC (a `+` or `-` with four digits; the first two are hours, and
1008 the second two are minutes). I.e., as if the timestamp were formatted
1009 with `strftime("%s %z")`).
1010 Note that the `-local` option does not affect the seconds-since-epoch
1011 value (which is always measured in UTC), but does switch the accompanying
1012 timezone value.
1013
1014 `--date=human` shows the timezone if the timezone does not match the
1015 current time-zone, and doesn't print the whole date if that matches
1016 (ie skip printing year for dates that are "this year", but also skip
1017 the whole date itself if it's in the last few days and we can just say
1018 what weekday it was). For older dates the hour and minute is also
1019 omitted.
1020
1021 `--date=unix` shows the date as a Unix epoch timestamp (seconds since
1022 1970). As with `--raw`, this is always in UTC and therefore `-local`
1023 has no effect.
1024
1025 `--date=format:...` feeds the format `...` to your system `strftime`,
1026 except for %z and %Z, which are handled internally.
1027 Use `--date=format:%c` to show the date in your system locale's
1028 preferred format. See the `strftime` manual for a complete list of
1029 format placeholders. When using `-local`, the correct syntax is
1030 `--date=format-local:...`.
1031
1032 `--date=default` is the default format, and is similar to
1033 `--date=rfc2822`, with a few exceptions:
1034 --
1035 - there is no comma after the day-of-week
1036
1037 - the time zone is omitted when the local time zone is used
1038
1039 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1040 --header::
1041 Print the contents of the commit in raw-format; each record is
1042 separated with a NUL character.
1043 endif::git-rev-list[]
1044
1045 --parents::
1046 Print also the parents of the commit (in the form "commit parent...").
1047 Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1048
1049 --children::
1050 Print also the children of the commit (in the form "commit child...").
1051 Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1052
1053 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1054 --timestamp::
1055 Print the raw commit timestamp.
1056 endif::git-rev-list[]
1057
1058 --left-right::
1059 Mark which side of a symmetric difference a commit is reachable from.
1060 Commits from the left side are prefixed with `<` and those from
1061 the right with `>`. If combined with `--boundary`, those
1062 commits are prefixed with `-`.
1063 +
1064 For example, if you have this topology:
1065 +
1066 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1067 y---b---b branch B
1068 / \ /
1069 / .
1070 / / \
1071 o---x---a---a branch A
1072 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1073 +
1074 you would get an output like this:
1075 +
1076 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1077 $ git rev-list --left-right --boundary --pretty=oneline A...B
1078
1079 >bbbbbbb... 3rd on b
1080 >bbbbbbb... 2nd on b
1081 <aaaaaaa... 3rd on a
1082 <aaaaaaa... 2nd on a
1083 -yyyyyyy... 1st on b
1084 -xxxxxxx... 1st on a
1085 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
1086
1087 --graph::
1088 Draw a text-based graphical representation of the commit history
1089 on the left hand side of the output. This may cause extra lines
1090 to be printed in between commits, in order for the graph history
1091 to be drawn properly.
1092 Cannot be combined with `--no-walk`.
1093 +
1094 This enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
1095 +
1096 This implies the `--topo-order` option by default, but the
1097 `--date-order` option may also be specified.
1098
1099 --show-linear-break[=<barrier>]::
1100 When --graph is not used, all history branches are flattened
1101 which can make it hard to see that the two consecutive commits
1102 do not belong to a linear branch. This option puts a barrier
1103 in between them in that case. If `<barrier>` is specified, it
1104 is the string that will be shown instead of the default one.
1105
1106 ifdef::git-rev-list[]
1107 --count::
1108 Print a number stating how many commits would have been
1109 listed, and suppress all other output. When used together
1110 with `--left-right`, instead print the counts for left and
1111 right commits, separated by a tab. When used together with
1112 `--cherry-mark`, omit patch equivalent commits from these
1113 counts and print the count for equivalent commits separated
1114 by a tab.
1115 endif::git-rev-list[]
1116 endif::git-shortlog[]
1117
1118 ifndef::git-shortlog[]
1119 ifndef::git-rev-list[]
1120 Diff Formatting
1121 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1122
1123 Listed below are options that control the formatting of diff output.
1124 Some of them are specific to linkgit:git-rev-list[1], however other diff
1125 options may be given. See linkgit:git-diff-files[1] for more options.
1126
1127 -c::
1128 With this option, diff output for a merge commit
1129 shows the differences from each of the parents to the merge result
1130 simultaneously instead of showing pairwise diff between a parent
1131 and the result one at a time. Furthermore, it lists only files
1132 which were modified from all parents.
1133
1134 --cc::
1135 This flag implies the `-c` option and further compresses the
1136 patch output by omitting uninteresting hunks whose contents in
1137 the parents have only two variants and the merge result picks
1138 one of them without modification.
1139
1140 --combined-all-paths::
1141 This flag causes combined diffs (used for merge commits) to
1142 list the name of the file from all parents. It thus only has
1143 effect when -c or --cc are specified, and is likely only
1144 useful if filename changes are detected (i.e. when either
1145 rename or copy detection have been requested).
1146
1147 -m::
1148 This flag makes the merge commits show the full diff like
1149 regular commits; for each merge parent, a separate log entry
1150 and diff is generated. An exception is that only diff against
1151 the first parent is shown when `--first-parent` option is given;
1152 in that case, the output represents the changes the merge
1153 brought _into_ the then-current branch.
1154
1155 -r::
1156 Show recursive diffs.
1157
1158 -t::
1159 Show the tree objects in the diff output. This implies `-r`.
1160 endif::git-rev-list[]
1161 endif::git-shortlog[]