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