Documentation / line-range-format.txton commit Git 1.8.5.1 (a155a5f)
   1<start> and <end> can take one of these forms:
   2
   3- number
   4+
   5If <start> or <end> is a number, it specifies an
   6absolute line number (lines count from 1).
   7+
   8
   9- /regex/
  10+
  11This form will use the first line matching the given
  12POSIX regex. If <start> is a regex, it will search from the end of
  13the previous `-L` range, if any, otherwise from the start of file.
  14If <start> is ``^/regex/'', it will search from the start of file.
  15If <end> is a regex, it will search
  16starting at the line given by <start>.
  17+
  18
  19- +offset or -offset
  20+
  21This is only valid for <end> and will specify a number
  22of lines before or after the line given by <start>.
  23
  24+
  25If ``:<regex>'' is given in place of <start> and <end>, it denotes the range
  26from the first funcname line that matches <regex>, up to the next
  27funcname line. ``:<regex>'' searches from the end of the previous `-L` range,
  28if any, otherwise from the start of file.
  29``^:<regex>'' searches from the start of file.