Documentation / git-for-each-ref.txton commit revision.h: introduce blob/tree walking in order of the commits (ce5b6f9)
   1git-for-each-ref(1)
   2===================
   3
   4NAME
   5----
   6git-for-each-ref - Output information on each ref
   7
   8SYNOPSIS
   9--------
  10[verse]
  11'git for-each-ref' [--count=<count>] [--shell|--perl|--python|--tcl]
  12                   [(--sort=<key>)...] [--format=<format>] [<pattern>...]
  13                   [--points-at=<object>]
  14                   (--merged[=<object>] | --no-merged[=<object>])
  15                   [--contains[=<object>]] [--no-contains[=<object>]]
  16
  17DESCRIPTION
  18-----------
  19
  20Iterate over all refs that match `<pattern>` and show them
  21according to the given `<format>`, after sorting them according
  22to the given set of `<key>`.  If `<count>` is given, stop after
  23showing that many refs.  The interpolated values in `<format>`
  24can optionally be quoted as string literals in the specified
  25host language allowing their direct evaluation in that language.
  26
  27OPTIONS
  28-------
  29<pattern>...::
  30        If one or more patterns are given, only refs are shown that
  31        match against at least one pattern, either using fnmatch(3) or
  32        literally, in the latter case matching completely or from the
  33        beginning up to a slash.
  34
  35--count=<count>::
  36        By default the command shows all refs that match
  37        `<pattern>`.  This option makes it stop after showing
  38        that many refs.
  39
  40--sort=<key>::
  41        A field name to sort on.  Prefix `-` to sort in
  42        descending order of the value.  When unspecified,
  43        `refname` is used.  You may use the --sort=<key> option
  44        multiple times, in which case the last key becomes the primary
  45        key.
  46
  47--format=<format>::
  48        A string that interpolates `%(fieldname)` from a ref being shown
  49        and the object it points at.  If `fieldname`
  50        is prefixed with an asterisk (`*`) and the ref points
  51        at a tag object, use the value for the field in the object
  52        which the tag object refers to (instead of the field in the tag object).
  53        When unspecified, `<format>` defaults to
  54        `%(objectname) SPC %(objecttype) TAB %(refname)`.
  55        It also interpolates `%%` to `%`, and `%xx` where `xx`
  56        are hex digits interpolates to character with hex code
  57        `xx`; for example `%00` interpolates to `\0` (NUL),
  58        `%09` to `\t` (TAB) and `%0a` to `\n` (LF).
  59
  60--color[=<when>]:
  61        Respect any colors specified in the `--format` option. The
  62        `<when>` field must be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto` (if
  63        `<when>` is absent, behave as if `always` was given).
  64
  65--shell::
  66--perl::
  67--python::
  68--tcl::
  69        If given, strings that substitute `%(fieldname)`
  70        placeholders are quoted as string literals suitable for
  71        the specified host language.  This is meant to produce
  72        a scriptlet that can directly be `eval`ed.
  73
  74--points-at=<object>::
  75        Only list refs which points at the given object.
  76
  77--merged[=<object>]::
  78        Only list refs whose tips are reachable from the
  79        specified commit (HEAD if not specified),
  80        incompatible with `--no-merged`.
  81
  82--no-merged[=<object>]::
  83        Only list refs whose tips are not reachable from the
  84        specified commit (HEAD if not specified),
  85        incompatible with `--merged`.
  86
  87--contains[=<object>]::
  88        Only list refs which contain the specified commit (HEAD if not
  89        specified).
  90
  91--no-contains[=<object>]::
  92        Only list refs which don't contain the specified commit (HEAD
  93        if not specified).
  94
  95--ignore-case::
  96        Sorting and filtering refs are case insensitive.
  97
  98FIELD NAMES
  99-----------
 100
 101Various values from structured fields in referenced objects can
 102be used to interpolate into the resulting output, or as sort
 103keys.
 104
 105For all objects, the following names can be used:
 106
 107refname::
 108        The name of the ref (the part after $GIT_DIR/).
 109        For a non-ambiguous short name of the ref append `:short`.
 110        The option core.warnAmbiguousRefs is used to select the strict
 111        abbreviation mode. If `lstrip=<N>` (`rstrip=<N>`) is appended, strips `<N>`
 112        slash-separated path components from the front (back) of the refname
 113        (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `foo` and
 114        `%(refname:rstrip=2)` turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`).
 115        If `<N>` is a negative number, strip as many path components as
 116        necessary from the specified end to leave `-<N>` path components
 117        (e.g. `%(refname:lstrip=-2)` turns
 118        `refs/tags/foo` into `tags/foo` and `%(refname:rstrip=-1)`
 119        turns `refs/tags/foo` into `refs`). When the ref does not have
 120        enough components, the result becomes an empty string if
 121        stripping with positive <N>, or it becomes the full refname if
 122        stripping with negative <N>.  Neither is an error.
 123+
 124`strip` can be used as a synomym to `lstrip`.
 125
 126objecttype::
 127        The type of the object (`blob`, `tree`, `commit`, `tag`).
 128
 129objectsize::
 130        The size of the object (the same as 'git cat-file -s' reports).
 131
 132objectname::
 133        The object name (aka SHA-1).
 134        For a non-ambiguous abbreviation of the object name append `:short`.
 135        For an abbreviation of the object name with desired length append
 136        `:short=<length>`, where the minimum length is MINIMUM_ABBREV. The
 137        length may be exceeded to ensure unique object names.
 138
 139upstream::
 140        The name of a local ref which can be considered ``upstream''
 141        from the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip` and
 142        `:rstrip` in the same way as `refname` above.  Additionally
 143        respects `:track` to show "[ahead N, behind M]" and
 144        `:trackshort` to show the terse version: ">" (ahead), "<"
 145        (behind), "<>" (ahead and behind), or "=" (in sync). `:track`
 146        also prints "[gone]" whenever unknown upstream ref is
 147        encountered. Append `:track,nobracket` to show tracking
 148        information without brackets (i.e "ahead N, behind M").  Has
 149        no effect if the ref does not have tracking information
 150        associated with it.  All the options apart from `nobracket`
 151        are mutually exclusive, but if used together the last option
 152        is selected.
 153
 154push::
 155        The name of a local ref which represents the `@{push}`
 156        location for the displayed ref. Respects `:short`, `:lstrip`,
 157        `:rstrip`, `:track`, and `:trackshort` options as `upstream`
 158        does. Produces an empty string if no `@{push}` ref is
 159        configured.
 160
 161HEAD::
 162        '*' if HEAD matches current ref (the checked out branch), ' '
 163        otherwise.
 164
 165color::
 166        Change output color. Followed by `:<colorname>`, where color
 167        names are described under Values in the "CONFIGURATION FILE"
 168        section of linkgit:git-config[1].  For example,
 169        `%(color:bold red)`.
 170
 171align::
 172        Left-, middle-, or right-align the content between
 173        %(align:...) and %(end). The "align:" is followed by
 174        `width=<width>` and `position=<position>` in any order
 175        separated by a comma, where the `<position>` is either left,
 176        right or middle, default being left and `<width>` is the total
 177        length of the content with alignment. For brevity, the
 178        "width=" and/or "position=" prefixes may be omitted, and bare
 179        <width> and <position> used instead.  For instance,
 180        `%(align:<width>,<position>)`. If the contents length is more
 181        than the width then no alignment is performed. If used with
 182        `--quote` everything in between %(align:...) and %(end) is
 183        quoted, but if nested then only the topmost level performs
 184        quoting.
 185
 186if::
 187        Used as %(if)...%(then)...%(end) or
 188        %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end).  If there is an atom with
 189        value or string literal after the %(if) then everything after
 190        the %(then) is printed, else if the %(else) atom is used, then
 191        everything after %(else) is printed. We ignore space when
 192        evaluating the string before %(then), this is useful when we
 193        use the %(HEAD) atom which prints either "*" or " " and we
 194        want to apply the 'if' condition only on the 'HEAD' ref.
 195        Append ":equals=<string>" or ":notequals=<string>" to compare
 196        the value between the %(if:...) and %(then) atoms with the
 197        given string.
 198
 199symref::
 200        The ref which the given symbolic ref refers to. If not a
 201        symbolic ref, nothing is printed. Respects the `:short`,
 202        `:lstrip` and `:rstrip` options in the same way as `refname`
 203        above.
 204
 205In addition to the above, for commit and tag objects, the header
 206field names (`tree`, `parent`, `object`, `type`, and `tag`) can
 207be used to specify the value in the header field.
 208
 209For commit and tag objects, the special `creatordate` and `creator`
 210fields will correspond to the appropriate date or name-email-date tuple
 211from the `committer` or `tagger` fields depending on the object type.
 212These are intended for working on a mix of annotated and lightweight tags.
 213
 214Fields that have name-email-date tuple as its value (`author`,
 215`committer`, and `tagger`) can be suffixed with `name`, `email`,
 216and `date` to extract the named component.
 217
 218The complete message in a commit and tag object is `contents`.
 219Its first line is `contents:subject`, where subject is the concatenation
 220of all lines of the commit message up to the first blank line.  The next
 221line is `contents:body`, where body is all of the lines after the first
 222blank line.  The optional GPG signature is `contents:signature`.  The
 223first `N` lines of the message is obtained using `contents:lines=N`.
 224Additionally, the trailers as interpreted by linkgit:git-interpret-trailers[1]
 225are obtained as `trailers` (or by using the historical alias
 226`contents:trailers`).  Non-trailer lines from the trailer block can be omitted
 227with `trailers:only`. Whitespace-continuations can be removed from trailers so
 228that each trailer appears on a line by itself with its full content with
 229`trailers:unfold`. Both can be used together as `trailers:unfold,only`.
 230
 231For sorting purposes, fields with numeric values sort in numeric order
 232(`objectsize`, `authordate`, `committerdate`, `creatordate`, `taggerdate`).
 233All other fields are used to sort in their byte-value order.
 234
 235There is also an option to sort by versions, this can be done by using
 236the fieldname `version:refname` or its alias `v:refname`.
 237
 238In any case, a field name that refers to a field inapplicable to
 239the object referred by the ref does not cause an error.  It
 240returns an empty string instead.
 241
 242As a special case for the date-type fields, you may specify a format for
 243the date by adding `:` followed by date format name (see the
 244values the `--date` option to linkgit:git-rev-list[1] takes).
 245
 246Some atoms like %(align) and %(if) always require a matching %(end).
 247We call them "opening atoms" and sometimes denote them as %($open).
 248
 249When a scripting language specific quoting is in effect, everything
 250between a top-level opening atom and its matching %(end) is evaluated
 251according to the semantics of the opening atom and only its result
 252from the top-level is quoted.
 253
 254
 255EXAMPLES
 256--------
 257
 258An example directly producing formatted text.  Show the most recent
 2593 tagged commits:
 260
 261------------
 262#!/bin/sh
 263
 264git for-each-ref --count=3 --sort='-*authordate' \
 265--format='From: %(*authorname) %(*authoremail)
 266Subject: %(*subject)
 267Date: %(*authordate)
 268Ref: %(*refname)
 269
 270%(*body)
 271' 'refs/tags'
 272------------
 273
 274
 275A simple example showing the use of shell eval on the output,
 276demonstrating the use of --shell.  List the prefixes of all heads:
 277------------
 278#!/bin/sh
 279
 280git for-each-ref --shell --format="ref=%(refname)" refs/heads | \
 281while read entry
 282do
 283        eval "$entry"
 284        echo `dirname $ref`
 285done
 286------------
 287
 288
 289A bit more elaborate report on tags, demonstrating that the format
 290may be an entire script:
 291------------
 292#!/bin/sh
 293
 294fmt='
 295        r=%(refname)
 296        t=%(*objecttype)
 297        T=${r#refs/tags/}
 298
 299        o=%(*objectname)
 300        n=%(*authorname)
 301        e=%(*authoremail)
 302        s=%(*subject)
 303        d=%(*authordate)
 304        b=%(*body)
 305
 306        kind=Tag
 307        if test "z$t" = z
 308        then
 309                # could be a lightweight tag
 310                t=%(objecttype)
 311                kind="Lightweight tag"
 312                o=%(objectname)
 313                n=%(authorname)
 314                e=%(authoremail)
 315                s=%(subject)
 316                d=%(authordate)
 317                b=%(body)
 318        fi
 319        echo "$kind $T points at a $t object $o"
 320        if test "z$t" = zcommit
 321        then
 322                echo "The commit was authored by $n $e
 323at $d, and titled
 324
 325    $s
 326
 327Its message reads as:
 328"
 329                echo "$b" | sed -e "s/^/    /"
 330                echo
 331        fi
 332'
 333
 334eval=`git for-each-ref --shell --format="$fmt" \
 335        --sort='*objecttype' \
 336        --sort=-taggerdate \
 337        refs/tags`
 338eval "$eval"
 339------------
 340
 341
 342An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(else)...%(end).
 343This prefixes the current branch with a star.
 344
 345------------
 346git for-each-ref --format="%(if)%(HEAD)%(then)* %(else)  %(end)%(refname:short)" refs/heads/
 347------------
 348
 349
 350An example to show the usage of %(if)...%(then)...%(end).
 351This prints the authorname, if present.
 352
 353------------
 354git for-each-ref --format="%(refname)%(if)%(authorname)%(then) Authored by: %(authorname)%(end)"
 355------------
 356
 357SEE ALSO
 358--------
 359linkgit:git-show-ref[1]
 360
 361GIT
 362---
 363Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite