Documentation / rev-list-options.txton commit config.txt: move sequence.editor out of "core" part (8dc9d22)
   1Commit Limiting
   2~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   3
   4Besides specifying a range of commits that should be listed using the
   5special notations explained in the description, additional commit
   6limiting may be applied.
   7
   8Using more options generally further limits the output (e.g.
   9`--since=<date1>` limits to commits newer than `<date1>`, and using it
  10with `--grep=<pattern>` further limits to commits whose log message
  11has a line that matches `<pattern>`), unless otherwise noted.
  12
  13Note that these are applied before commit
  14ordering and formatting options, such as `--reverse`.
  15
  16--
  17
  18-<number>::
  19-n <number>::
  20--max-count=<number>::
  21        Limit the number of commits to output.
  22
  23--skip=<number>::
  24        Skip 'number' commits before starting to show the commit output.
  25
  26--since=<date>::
  27--after=<date>::
  28        Show commits more recent than a specific date.
  29
  30--until=<date>::
  31--before=<date>::
  32        Show commits older than a specific date.
  33
  34ifdef::git-rev-list[]
  35--max-age=<timestamp>::
  36--min-age=<timestamp>::
  37        Limit the commits output to specified time range.
  38endif::git-rev-list[]
  39
  40--author=<pattern>::
  41--committer=<pattern>::
  42        Limit the commits output to ones with author/committer
  43        header lines that match the specified pattern (regular
  44        expression).  With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
  45        commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
  46        chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
  47
  48--grep-reflog=<pattern>::
  49        Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
  50        match the specified pattern (regular expression). With
  51        more than one `--grep-reflog`, commits whose reflog message
  52        matches any of the given patterns are chosen.  It is an
  53        error to use this option unless `--walk-reflogs` is in use.
  54
  55--grep=<pattern>::
  56        Limit the commits output to ones with log message that
  57        matches the specified pattern (regular expression).  With
  58        more than one `--grep=<pattern>`, commits whose message
  59        matches any of the given patterns are chosen (but see
  60        `--all-match`).
  61ifndef::git-rev-list[]
  62+
  63When `--show-notes` is in effect, the message from the notes is
  64matched as if it were part of the log message.
  65endif::git-rev-list[]
  66
  67--all-match::
  68        Limit the commits output to ones that match all given `--grep`,
  69        instead of ones that match at least one.
  70
  71--invert-grep::
  72        Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
  73        match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
  74
  75-i::
  76--regexp-ignore-case::
  77        Match the regular expression limiting patterns without regard to letter
  78        case.
  79
  80--basic-regexp::
  81        Consider the limiting patterns to be basic regular expressions;
  82        this is the default.
  83
  84-E::
  85--extended-regexp::
  86        Consider the limiting patterns to be extended regular expressions
  87        instead of the default basic regular expressions.
  88
  89-F::
  90--fixed-strings::
  91        Consider the limiting patterns to be fixed strings (don't interpret
  92        pattern as a regular expression).
  93
  94-P::
  95--perl-regexp::
  96        Consider the limiting patterns to be Perl-compatible regular
  97        expressions.
  98+
  99Support for these types of regular expressions is an optional
 100compile-time dependency. If Git wasn't compiled with support for them
 101providing this option will cause it to die.
 102
 103--remove-empty::
 104        Stop when a given path disappears from the tree.
 105
 106--merges::
 107        Print only merge commits. This is exactly the same as `--min-parents=2`.
 108
 109--no-merges::
 110        Do not print commits with more than one parent. This is
 111        exactly the same as `--max-parents=1`.
 112
 113--min-parents=<number>::
 114--max-parents=<number>::
 115--no-min-parents::
 116--no-max-parents::
 117        Show only commits which have at least (or at most) that many parent
 118        commits. In particular, `--max-parents=1` is the same as `--no-merges`,
 119        `--min-parents=2` is the same as `--merges`.  `--max-parents=0`
 120        gives all root commits and `--min-parents=3` all octopus merges.
 121+
 122`--no-min-parents` and `--no-max-parents` reset these limits (to no limit)
 123again.  Equivalent forms are `--min-parents=0` (any commit has 0 or more
 124parents) and `--max-parents=-1` (negative numbers denote no upper limit).
 125
 126--first-parent::
 127        Follow only the first parent commit upon seeing a merge
 128        commit.  This option can give a better overview when
 129        viewing the evolution of a particular topic branch,
 130        because merges into a topic branch tend to be only about
 131        adjusting to updated upstream from time to time, and
 132        this option allows you to ignore the individual commits
 133        brought in to your history by such a merge. Cannot be
 134        combined with --bisect.
 135
 136--not::
 137        Reverses the meaning of the '{caret}' prefix (or lack thereof)
 138        for all following revision specifiers, up to the next `--not`.
 139
 140--all::
 141        Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/`, along with `HEAD`, are
 142        listed on the command line as '<commit>'.
 143
 144--branches[=<pattern>]::
 145        Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/heads` are listed
 146        on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
 147        branches to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?',
 148        '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
 149
 150--tags[=<pattern>]::
 151        Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/tags` are listed
 152        on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
 153        tags to ones matching given shell glob. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
 154        or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
 155
 156--remotes[=<pattern>]::
 157        Pretend as if all the refs in `refs/remotes` are listed
 158        on the command line as '<commit>'. If '<pattern>' is given, limit
 159        remote-tracking branches to ones matching given shell glob.
 160        If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}', or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
 161
 162--glob=<glob-pattern>::
 163        Pretend as if all the refs matching shell glob '<glob-pattern>'
 164        are listed on the command line as '<commit>'. Leading 'refs/',
 165        is automatically prepended if missing. If pattern lacks '?', '{asterisk}',
 166        or '[', '/{asterisk}' at the end is implied.
 167
 168--exclude=<glob-pattern>::
 169
 170        Do not include refs matching '<glob-pattern>' that the next `--all`,
 171        `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or `--glob` would otherwise
 172        consider. Repetitions of this option accumulate exclusion patterns
 173        up to the next `--all`, `--branches`, `--tags`, `--remotes`, or
 174        `--glob` option (other options or arguments do not clear
 175        accumulated patterns).
 176+
 177The patterns given should not begin with `refs/heads`, `refs/tags`, or
 178`refs/remotes` when applied to `--branches`, `--tags`, or `--remotes`,
 179respectively, and they must begin with `refs/` when applied to `--glob`
 180or `--all`. If a trailing '/{asterisk}' is intended, it must be given
 181explicitly.
 182
 183--reflog::
 184        Pretend as if all objects mentioned by reflogs are listed on the
 185        command line as `<commit>`.
 186
 187--single-worktree::
 188        By default, all working trees will be examined by the
 189        following options when there are more than one (see
 190        linkgit:git-worktree[1]): `--all`, `--reflog` and
 191        `--indexed-objects`.
 192        This option forces them to examine the current working tree
 193        only.
 194
 195--ignore-missing::
 196        Upon seeing an invalid object name in the input, pretend as if
 197        the bad input was not given.
 198
 199ifndef::git-rev-list[]
 200--bisect::
 201        Pretend as if the bad bisection ref `refs/bisect/bad`
 202        was listed and as if it was followed by `--not` and the good
 203        bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` on the command
 204        line. Cannot be combined with --first-parent.
 205endif::git-rev-list[]
 206
 207--stdin::
 208        In addition to the '<commit>' listed on the command
 209        line, read them from the standard input. If a `--` separator is
 210        seen, stop reading commits and start reading paths to limit the
 211        result.
 212
 213ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 214--quiet::
 215        Don't print anything to standard output.  This form
 216        is primarily meant to allow the caller to
 217        test the exit status to see if a range of objects is fully
 218        connected (or not).  It is faster than redirecting stdout
 219        to `/dev/null` as the output does not have to be formatted.
 220endif::git-rev-list[]
 221
 222--cherry-mark::
 223        Like `--cherry-pick` (see below) but mark equivalent commits
 224        with `=` rather than omitting them, and inequivalent ones with `+`.
 225
 226--cherry-pick::
 227        Omit any commit that introduces the same change as
 228        another commit on the ``other side'' when the set of
 229        commits are limited with symmetric difference.
 230+
 231For example, if you have two branches, `A` and `B`, a usual way
 232to list all commits on only one side of them is with
 233`--left-right` (see the example below in the description of
 234the `--left-right` option). However, it shows the commits that were
 235cherry-picked from the other branch (for example, ``3rd on b'' may be
 236cherry-picked from branch A). With this option, such pairs of commits are
 237excluded from the output.
 238
 239--left-only::
 240--right-only::
 241        List only commits on the respective side of a symmetric difference,
 242        i.e. only those which would be marked `<` resp. `>` by
 243        `--left-right`.
 244+
 245For example, `--cherry-pick --right-only A...B` omits those
 246commits from `B` which are in `A` or are patch-equivalent to a commit in
 247`A`. In other words, this lists the `+` commits from `git cherry A B`.
 248More precisely, `--cherry-pick --right-only --no-merges` gives the exact
 249list.
 250
 251--cherry::
 252        A synonym for `--right-only --cherry-mark --no-merges`; useful to
 253        limit the output to the commits on our side and mark those that
 254        have been applied to the other side of a forked history with
 255        `git log --cherry upstream...mybranch`, similar to
 256        `git cherry upstream mybranch`.
 257
 258-g::
 259--walk-reflogs::
 260        Instead of walking the commit ancestry chain, walk
 261        reflog entries from the most recent one to older ones.
 262        When this option is used you cannot specify commits to
 263        exclude (that is, '{caret}commit', 'commit1..commit2',
 264        and 'commit1\...commit2' notations cannot be used).
 265+
 266With `--pretty` format other than `oneline` (for obvious reasons),
 267this causes the output to have two extra lines of information
 268taken from the reflog.  The reflog designator in the output may be shown
 269as `ref@{Nth}` (where `Nth` is the reverse-chronological index in the
 270reflog) or as `ref@{timestamp}` (with the timestamp for that entry),
 271depending on a few rules:
 272+
 273--
 2741. If the starting point is specified as `ref@{Nth}`, show the index
 275format.
 276+
 2772. If the starting point was specified as `ref@{now}`, show the
 278timestamp format.
 279+
 2803. If neither was used, but `--date` was given on the command line, show
 281the timestamp in the format requested by `--date`.
 282+
 2834. Otherwise, show the index format.
 284--
 285+
 286Under `--pretty=oneline`, the commit message is
 287prefixed with this information on the same line.
 288This option cannot be combined with `--reverse`.
 289See also linkgit:git-reflog[1].
 290
 291--merge::
 292        After a failed merge, show refs that touch files having a
 293        conflict and don't exist on all heads to merge.
 294
 295--boundary::
 296        Output excluded boundary commits. Boundary commits are
 297        prefixed with `-`.
 298
 299ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 300--use-bitmap-index::
 301
 302        Try to speed up the traversal using the pack bitmap index (if
 303        one is available). Note that when traversing with `--objects`,
 304        trees and blobs will not have their associated path printed.
 305
 306--progress=<header>::
 307        Show progress reports on stderr as objects are considered. The
 308        `<header>` text will be printed with each progress update.
 309endif::git-rev-list[]
 310
 311--
 312
 313History Simplification
 314~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 315
 316Sometimes you are only interested in parts of the history, for example the
 317commits modifying a particular <path>. But there are two parts of
 318'History Simplification', one part is selecting the commits and the other
 319is how to do it, as there are various strategies to simplify the history.
 320
 321The following options select the commits to be shown:
 322
 323<paths>::
 324        Commits modifying the given <paths> are selected.
 325
 326--simplify-by-decoration::
 327        Commits that are referred by some branch or tag are selected.
 328
 329Note that extra commits can be shown to give a meaningful history.
 330
 331The following options affect the way the simplification is performed:
 332
 333Default mode::
 334        Simplifies the history to the simplest history explaining the
 335        final state of the tree. Simplest because it prunes some side
 336        branches if the end result is the same (i.e. merging branches
 337        with the same content)
 338
 339--full-history::
 340        Same as the default mode, but does not prune some history.
 341
 342--dense::
 343        Only the selected commits are shown, plus some to have a
 344        meaningful history.
 345
 346--sparse::
 347        All commits in the simplified history are shown.
 348
 349--simplify-merges::
 350        Additional option to `--full-history` to remove some needless
 351        merges from the resulting history, as there are no selected
 352        commits contributing to this merge.
 353
 354--ancestry-path::
 355        When given a range of commits to display (e.g. 'commit1..commit2'
 356        or 'commit2 {caret}commit1'), only display commits that exist
 357        directly on the ancestry chain between the 'commit1' and
 358        'commit2', i.e. commits that are both descendants of 'commit1',
 359        and ancestors of 'commit2'.
 360
 361A more detailed explanation follows.
 362
 363Suppose you specified `foo` as the <paths>.  We shall call commits
 364that modify `foo` !TREESAME, and the rest TREESAME.  (In a diff
 365filtered for `foo`, they look different and equal, respectively.)
 366
 367In the following, we will always refer to the same example history to
 368illustrate the differences between simplification settings.  We assume
 369that you are filtering for a file `foo` in this commit graph:
 370-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 371          .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
 372         /     /   /   /   /   /
 373        I     B   C   D   E   Y
 374         \   /   /   /   /   /
 375          `-------------'   X
 376-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 377The horizontal line of history A---Q is taken to be the first parent of
 378each merge.  The commits are:
 379
 380* `I` is the initial commit, in which `foo` exists with contents
 381  ``asdf'', and a file `quux` exists with contents ``quux''. Initial
 382  commits are compared to an empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
 383
 384* In `A`, `foo` contains just ``foo''.
 385
 386* `B` contains the same change as `A`.  Its merge `M` is trivial and
 387  hence TREESAME to all parents.
 388
 389* `C` does not change `foo`, but its merge `N` changes it to ``foobar'',
 390  so it is not TREESAME to any parent.
 391
 392* `D` sets `foo` to ``baz''. Its merge `O` combines the strings from
 393  `N` and `D` to ``foobarbaz''; i.e., it is not TREESAME to any parent.
 394
 395* `E` changes `quux` to ``xyzzy'', and its merge `P` combines the
 396  strings to ``quux xyzzy''. `P` is TREESAME to `O`, but not to `E`.
 397
 398* `X` is an independent root commit that added a new file `side`, and `Y`
 399  modified it. `Y` is TREESAME to `X`. Its merge `Q` added `side` to `P`, and
 400  `Q` is TREESAME to `P`, but not to `Y`.
 401
 402`rev-list` walks backwards through history, including or excluding
 403commits based on whether `--full-history` and/or parent rewriting
 404(via `--parents` or `--children`) are used. The following settings
 405are available.
 406
 407Default mode::
 408        Commits are included if they are not TREESAME to any parent
 409        (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below).  If the
 410        commit was a merge, and it was TREESAME to one parent, follow
 411        only that parent.  (Even if there are several TREESAME
 412        parents, follow only one of them.)  Otherwise, follow all
 413        parents.
 414+
 415This results in:
 416+
 417-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 418          .-A---N---O
 419         /     /   /
 420        I---------D
 421-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 422+
 423Note how the rule to only follow the TREESAME parent, if one is
 424available, removed `B` from consideration entirely.  `C` was
 425considered via `N`, but is TREESAME.  Root commits are compared to an
 426empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
 427+
 428Parent/child relations are only visible with `--parents`, but that does
 429not affect the commits selected in default mode, so we have shown the
 430parent lines.
 431
 432--full-history without parent rewriting::
 433        This mode differs from the default in one point: always follow
 434        all parents of a merge, even if it is TREESAME to one of them.
 435        Even if more than one side of the merge has commits that are
 436        included, this does not imply that the merge itself is!  In
 437        the example, we get
 438+
 439-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 440        I  A  B  N  D  O  P  Q
 441-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 442+
 443`M` was excluded because it is TREESAME to both parents.  `E`,
 444`C` and `B` were all walked, but only `B` was !TREESAME, so the others
 445do not appear.
 446+
 447Note that without parent rewriting, it is not really possible to talk
 448about the parent/child relationships between the commits, so we show
 449them disconnected.
 450
 451--full-history with parent rewriting::
 452        Ordinary commits are only included if they are !TREESAME
 453        (though this can be changed, see `--sparse` below).
 454+
 455Merges are always included.  However, their parent list is rewritten:
 456Along each parent, prune away commits that are not included
 457themselves.  This results in
 458+
 459-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 460          .-A---M---N---O---P---Q
 461         /     /   /   /   /
 462        I     B   /   D   /
 463         \   /   /   /   /
 464          `-------------'
 465-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 466+
 467Compare to `--full-history` without rewriting above.  Note that `E`
 468was pruned away because it is TREESAME, but the parent list of P was
 469rewritten to contain `E`'s parent `I`.  The same happened for `C` and
 470`N`, and `X`, `Y` and `Q`.
 471
 472In addition to the above settings, you can change whether TREESAME
 473affects inclusion:
 474
 475--dense::
 476        Commits that are walked are included if they are not TREESAME
 477        to any parent.
 478
 479--sparse::
 480        All commits that are walked are included.
 481+
 482Note that without `--full-history`, this still simplifies merges: if
 483one of the parents is TREESAME, we follow only that one, so the other
 484sides of the merge are never walked.
 485
 486--simplify-merges::
 487        First, build a history graph in the same way that
 488        `--full-history` with parent rewriting does (see above).
 489+
 490Then simplify each commit `C` to its replacement `C'` in the final
 491history according to the following rules:
 492+
 493--
 494* Set `C'` to `C`.
 495+
 496* Replace each parent `P` of `C'` with its simplification `P'`.  In
 497  the process, drop parents that are ancestors of other parents or that are
 498  root commits TREESAME to an empty tree, and remove duplicates, but take care
 499  to never drop all parents that we are TREESAME to.
 500+
 501* If after this parent rewriting, `C'` is a root or merge commit (has
 502  zero or >1 parents), a boundary commit, or !TREESAME, it remains.
 503  Otherwise, it is replaced with its only parent.
 504--
 505+
 506The effect of this is best shown by way of comparing to
 507`--full-history` with parent rewriting.  The example turns into:
 508+
 509-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 510          .-A---M---N---O
 511         /     /       /
 512        I     B       D
 513         \   /       /
 514          `---------'
 515-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 516+
 517Note the major differences in `N`, `P`, and `Q` over `--full-history`:
 518+
 519--
 520* `N`'s parent list had `I` removed, because it is an ancestor of the
 521  other parent `M`.  Still, `N` remained because it is !TREESAME.
 522+
 523* `P`'s parent list similarly had `I` removed.  `P` was then
 524  removed completely, because it had one parent and is TREESAME.
 525+
 526* `Q`'s parent list had `Y` simplified to `X`. `X` was then removed, because it
 527  was a TREESAME root. `Q` was then removed completely, because it had one
 528  parent and is TREESAME.
 529--
 530
 531Finally, there is a fifth simplification mode available:
 532
 533--ancestry-path::
 534        Limit the displayed commits to those directly on the ancestry
 535        chain between the ``from'' and ``to'' commits in the given commit
 536        range. I.e. only display commits that are ancestor of the ``to''
 537        commit and descendants of the ``from'' commit.
 538+
 539As an example use case, consider the following commit history:
 540+
 541-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 542            D---E-------F
 543           /     \       \
 544          B---C---G---H---I---J
 545         /                     \
 546        A-------K---------------L--M
 547-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 548+
 549A regular 'D..M' computes the set of commits that are ancestors of `M`,
 550but excludes the ones that are ancestors of `D`. This is useful to see
 551what happened to the history leading to `M` since `D`, in the sense
 552that ``what does `M` have that did not exist in `D`''. The result in this
 553example would be all the commits, except `A` and `B` (and `D` itself,
 554of course).
 555+
 556When we want to find out what commits in `M` are contaminated with the
 557bug introduced by `D` and need fixing, however, we might want to view
 558only the subset of 'D..M' that are actually descendants of `D`, i.e.
 559excluding `C` and `K`. This is exactly what the `--ancestry-path`
 560option does. Applied to the 'D..M' range, it results in:
 561+
 562-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 563                E-------F
 564                 \       \
 565                  G---H---I---J
 566                               \
 567                                L--M
 568-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 569
 570The `--simplify-by-decoration` option allows you to view only the
 571big picture of the topology of the history, by omitting commits
 572that are not referenced by tags.  Commits are marked as !TREESAME
 573(in other words, kept after history simplification rules described
 574above) if (1) they are referenced by tags, or (2) they change the
 575contents of the paths given on the command line.  All other
 576commits are marked as TREESAME (subject to be simplified away).
 577
 578ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 579Bisection Helpers
 580~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 581
 582--bisect::
 583        Limit output to the one commit object which is roughly halfway between
 584        included and excluded commits. Note that the bad bisection ref
 585        `refs/bisect/bad` is added to the included commits (if it
 586        exists) and the good bisection refs `refs/bisect/good-*` are
 587        added to the excluded commits (if they exist). Thus, supposing there
 588        are no refs in `refs/bisect/`, if
 589+
 590-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 591        $ git rev-list --bisect foo ^bar ^baz
 592-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 593+
 594outputs 'midpoint', the output of the two commands
 595+
 596-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 597        $ git rev-list foo ^midpoint
 598        $ git rev-list midpoint ^bar ^baz
 599-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 600+
 601would be of roughly the same length.  Finding the change which
 602introduces a regression is thus reduced to a binary search: repeatedly
 603generate and test new 'midpoint's until the commit chain is of length
 604one. Cannot be combined with --first-parent.
 605
 606--bisect-vars::
 607        This calculates the same as `--bisect`, except that refs in
 608        `refs/bisect/` are not used, and except that this outputs
 609        text ready to be eval'ed by the shell. These lines will assign the
 610        name of the midpoint revision to the variable `bisect_rev`, and the
 611        expected number of commits to be tested after `bisect_rev` is tested
 612        to `bisect_nr`, the expected number of commits to be tested if
 613        `bisect_rev` turns out to be good to `bisect_good`, the expected
 614        number of commits to be tested if `bisect_rev` turns out to be bad to
 615        `bisect_bad`, and the number of commits we are bisecting right now to
 616        `bisect_all`.
 617
 618--bisect-all::
 619        This outputs all the commit objects between the included and excluded
 620        commits, ordered by their distance to the included and excluded
 621        commits. Refs in `refs/bisect/` are not used. The farthest
 622        from them is displayed first. (This is the only one displayed by
 623        `--bisect`.)
 624+
 625This is useful because it makes it easy to choose a good commit to
 626test when you want to avoid to test some of them for some reason (they
 627may not compile for example).
 628+
 629This option can be used along with `--bisect-vars`, in this case,
 630after all the sorted commit objects, there will be the same text as if
 631`--bisect-vars` had been used alone.
 632endif::git-rev-list[]
 633
 634
 635Commit Ordering
 636~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 637
 638By default, the commits are shown in reverse chronological order.
 639
 640--date-order::
 641        Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
 642        otherwise show commits in the commit timestamp order.
 643
 644--author-date-order::
 645        Show no parents before all of its children are shown, but
 646        otherwise show commits in the author timestamp order.
 647
 648--topo-order::
 649        Show no parents before all of its children are shown, and
 650        avoid showing commits on multiple lines of history
 651        intermixed.
 652+
 653For example, in a commit history like this:
 654+
 655----------------------------------------------------------------
 656
 657    ---1----2----4----7
 658        \              \
 659         3----5----6----8---
 660
 661----------------------------------------------------------------
 662+
 663where the numbers denote the order of commit timestamps, `git
 664rev-list` and friends with `--date-order` show the commits in the
 665timestamp order: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
 666+
 667With `--topo-order`, they would show 8 6 5 3 7 4 2 1 (or 8 7 4 2 6 5
 6683 1); some older commits are shown before newer ones in order to
 669avoid showing the commits from two parallel development track mixed
 670together.
 671
 672--reverse::
 673        Output the commits chosen to be shown (see Commit Limiting
 674        section above) in reverse order. Cannot be combined with
 675        `--walk-reflogs`.
 676
 677Object Traversal
 678~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 679
 680These options are mostly targeted for packing of Git repositories.
 681
 682ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 683--objects::
 684        Print the object IDs of any object referenced by the listed
 685        commits.  `--objects foo ^bar` thus means ``send me
 686        all object IDs which I need to download if I have the commit
 687        object _bar_ but not _foo_''.
 688
 689--in-commit-order::
 690        Print tree and blob ids in order of the commits. The tree
 691        and blob ids are printed after they are first referenced
 692        by a commit.
 693
 694--objects-edge::
 695        Similar to `--objects`, but also print the IDs of excluded
 696        commits prefixed with a ``-'' character.  This is used by
 697        linkgit:git-pack-objects[1] to build a ``thin'' pack, which records
 698        objects in deltified form based on objects contained in these
 699        excluded commits to reduce network traffic.
 700
 701--objects-edge-aggressive::
 702        Similar to `--objects-edge`, but it tries harder to find excluded
 703        commits at the cost of increased time.  This is used instead of
 704        `--objects-edge` to build ``thin'' packs for shallow repositories.
 705
 706--indexed-objects::
 707        Pretend as if all trees and blobs used by the index are listed
 708        on the command line.  Note that you probably want to use
 709        `--objects`, too.
 710
 711--unpacked::
 712        Only useful with `--objects`; print the object IDs that are not
 713        in packs.
 714
 715--filter=<filter-spec>::
 716        Only useful with one of the `--objects*`; omits objects (usually
 717        blobs) from the list of printed objects.  The '<filter-spec>'
 718        may be one of the following:
 719+
 720The form '--filter=blob:none' omits all blobs.
 721+
 722The form '--filter=blob:limit=<n>[kmg]' omits blobs larger than n bytes
 723or units.  n may be zero.  The suffixes k, m, and g can be used to name
 724units in KiB, MiB, or GiB.  For example, 'blob:limit=1k' is the same
 725as 'blob:limit=1024'.
 726+
 727The form '--filter=sparse:oid=<blob-ish>' uses a sparse-checkout
 728specification contained in the blob (or blob-expression) '<blob-ish>'
 729to omit blobs that would not be not required for a sparse checkout on
 730the requested refs.
 731+
 732The form '--filter=sparse:path=<path>' similarly uses a sparse-checkout
 733specification contained in <path>.
 734
 735--no-filter::
 736        Turn off any previous `--filter=` argument.
 737
 738--filter-print-omitted::
 739        Only useful with `--filter=`; prints a list of the objects omitted
 740        by the filter.  Object IDs are prefixed with a ``~'' character.
 741
 742--missing=<missing-action>::
 743        A debug option to help with future "partial clone" development.
 744        This option specifies how missing objects are handled.
 745+
 746The form '--missing=error' requests that rev-list stop with an error if
 747a missing object is encountered.  This is the default action.
 748+
 749The form '--missing=allow-any' will allow object traversal to continue
 750if a missing object is encountered.  Missing objects will silently be
 751omitted from the results.
 752+
 753The form '--missing=allow-promisor' is like 'allow-any', but will only
 754allow object traversal to continue for EXPECTED promisor missing objects.
 755Unexpected missing objects will raise an error.
 756+
 757The form '--missing=print' is like 'allow-any', but will also print a
 758list of the missing objects.  Object IDs are prefixed with a ``?'' character.
 759endif::git-rev-list[]
 760
 761--exclude-promisor-objects::
 762        (For internal use only.)  Prefilter object traversal at
 763        promisor boundary.  This is used with partial clone.  This is
 764        stronger than `--missing=allow-promisor` because it limits the
 765        traversal, rather than just silencing errors about missing
 766        objects.
 767
 768--no-walk[=(sorted|unsorted)]::
 769        Only show the given commits, but do not traverse their ancestors.
 770        This has no effect if a range is specified. If the argument
 771        `unsorted` is given, the commits are shown in the order they were
 772        given on the command line. Otherwise (if `sorted` or no argument
 773        was given), the commits are shown in reverse chronological order
 774        by commit time.
 775        Cannot be combined with `--graph`.
 776
 777--do-walk::
 778        Overrides a previous `--no-walk`.
 779
 780Commit Formatting
 781~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 782
 783ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 784Using these options, linkgit:git-rev-list[1] will act similar to the
 785more specialized family of commit log tools: linkgit:git-log[1],
 786linkgit:git-show[1], and linkgit:git-whatchanged[1]
 787endif::git-rev-list[]
 788
 789include::pretty-options.txt[]
 790
 791--relative-date::
 792        Synonym for `--date=relative`.
 793
 794--date=<format>::
 795        Only takes effect for dates shown in human-readable format, such
 796        as when using `--pretty`. `log.date` config variable sets a default
 797        value for the log command's `--date` option. By default, dates
 798        are shown in the original time zone (either committer's or
 799        author's). If `-local` is appended to the format (e.g.,
 800        `iso-local`), the user's local time zone is used instead.
 801+
 802`--date=relative` shows dates relative to the current time,
 803e.g. ``2 hours ago''. The `-local` option has no effect for
 804`--date=relative`.
 805+
 806`--date=local` is an alias for `--date=default-local`.
 807+
 808`--date=iso` (or `--date=iso8601`) shows timestamps in a ISO 8601-like format.
 809The differences to the strict ISO 8601 format are:
 810
 811        - a space instead of the `T` date/time delimiter
 812        - a space between time and time zone
 813        - no colon between hours and minutes of the time zone
 814
 815+
 816`--date=iso-strict` (or `--date=iso8601-strict`) shows timestamps in strict
 817ISO 8601 format.
 818+
 819`--date=rfc` (or `--date=rfc2822`) shows timestamps in RFC 2822
 820format, often found in email messages.
 821+
 822`--date=short` shows only the date, but not the time, in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
 823+
 824`--date=raw` shows the date as seconds since the epoch (1970-01-01
 82500:00:00 UTC), followed by a space, and then the timezone as an offset
 826from UTC (a `+` or `-` with four digits; the first two are hours, and
 827the second two are minutes). I.e., as if the timestamp were formatted
 828with `strftime("%s %z")`).
 829Note that the `-local` option does not affect the seconds-since-epoch
 830value (which is always measured in UTC), but does switch the accompanying
 831timezone value.
 832+
 833`--date=unix` shows the date as a Unix epoch timestamp (seconds since
 8341970).  As with `--raw`, this is always in UTC and therefore `-local`
 835has no effect.
 836+
 837`--date=format:...` feeds the format `...` to your system `strftime`,
 838except for %z and %Z, which are handled internally.
 839Use `--date=format:%c` to show the date in your system locale's
 840preferred format.  See the `strftime` manual for a complete list of
 841format placeholders. When using `-local`, the correct syntax is
 842`--date=format-local:...`.
 843+
 844`--date=default` is the default format, and is similar to
 845`--date=rfc2822`, with a few exceptions:
 846
 847        - there is no comma after the day-of-week
 848
 849        - the time zone is omitted when the local time zone is used
 850
 851ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 852--header::
 853        Print the contents of the commit in raw-format; each record is
 854        separated with a NUL character.
 855endif::git-rev-list[]
 856
 857--parents::
 858        Print also the parents of the commit (in the form "commit parent...").
 859        Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
 860
 861--children::
 862        Print also the children of the commit (in the form "commit child...").
 863        Also enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
 864
 865ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 866--timestamp::
 867        Print the raw commit timestamp.
 868endif::git-rev-list[]
 869
 870--left-right::
 871        Mark which side of a symmetric difference a commit is reachable from.
 872        Commits from the left side are prefixed with `<` and those from
 873        the right with `>`.  If combined with `--boundary`, those
 874        commits are prefixed with `-`.
 875+
 876For example, if you have this topology:
 877+
 878-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 879             y---b---b  branch B
 880            / \ /
 881           /   .
 882          /   / \
 883         o---x---a---a  branch A
 884-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 885+
 886you would get an output like this:
 887+
 888-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 889        $ git rev-list --left-right --boundary --pretty=oneline A...B
 890
 891        >bbbbbbb... 3rd on b
 892        >bbbbbbb... 2nd on b
 893        <aaaaaaa... 3rd on a
 894        <aaaaaaa... 2nd on a
 895        -yyyyyyy... 1st on b
 896        -xxxxxxx... 1st on a
 897-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 898
 899--graph::
 900        Draw a text-based graphical representation of the commit history
 901        on the left hand side of the output.  This may cause extra lines
 902        to be printed in between commits, in order for the graph history
 903        to be drawn properly.
 904        Cannot be combined with `--no-walk`.
 905+
 906This enables parent rewriting, see 'History Simplification' above.
 907+
 908This implies the `--topo-order` option by default, but the
 909`--date-order` option may also be specified.
 910
 911--show-linear-break[=<barrier>]::
 912        When --graph is not used, all history branches are flattened
 913        which can make it hard to see that the two consecutive commits
 914        do not belong to a linear branch. This option puts a barrier
 915        in between them in that case. If `<barrier>` is specified, it
 916        is the string that will be shown instead of the default one.
 917
 918ifdef::git-rev-list[]
 919--count::
 920        Print a number stating how many commits would have been
 921        listed, and suppress all other output.  When used together
 922        with `--left-right`, instead print the counts for left and
 923        right commits, separated by a tab. When used together with
 924        `--cherry-mark`, omit patch equivalent commits from these
 925        counts and print the count for equivalent commits separated
 926        by a tab.
 927endif::git-rev-list[]
 928
 929ifndef::git-rev-list[]
 930Diff Formatting
 931~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 932
 933Listed below are options that control the formatting of diff output.
 934Some of them are specific to linkgit:git-rev-list[1], however other diff
 935options may be given. See linkgit:git-diff-files[1] for more options.
 936
 937-c::
 938        With this option, diff output for a merge commit
 939        shows the differences from each of the parents to the merge result
 940        simultaneously instead of showing pairwise diff between a parent
 941        and the result one at a time. Furthermore, it lists only files
 942        which were modified from all parents.
 943
 944--cc::
 945        This flag implies the `-c` option and further compresses the
 946        patch output by omitting uninteresting hunks whose contents in
 947        the parents have only two variants and the merge result picks
 948        one of them without modification.
 949
 950-m::
 951        This flag makes the merge commits show the full diff like
 952        regular commits; for each merge parent, a separate log entry
 953        and diff is generated. An exception is that only diff against
 954        the first parent is shown when `--first-parent` option is given;
 955        in that case, the output represents the changes the merge
 956        brought _into_ the then-current branch.
 957
 958-r::
 959        Show recursive diffs.
 960
 961-t::
 962        Show the tree objects in the diff output. This implies `-r`.
 963endif::git-rev-list[]