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