--------------------
A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
-commit object. It uses what is called an 'extended SHA1'
+commit object. It uses what is called an 'extended SHA-1'
syntax. Here are various ways to spell object names. The
ones listed near the end of this list name trees and
blobs contained in a commit.
'<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
- The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
+ The full SHA-1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
a leading substring that is unique within the repository.
E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
name the same commit object if there is no other object in
While the ref name encoding is unspecified, UTF-8 is preferred as
some output processing may assume ref names in UTF-8.
+'@'::
+ '@' alone is a shortcut for 'HEAD'.
+
'<refname>@\{<date>\}', e.g. 'master@\{yesterday\}', 'HEAD@\{5 minutes ago\}'::
A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
enclosed in a brace
branch 'blabla' then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
- The construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
+ The construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch/commit checked out
before the current one.
'<branchname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
'<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
- brace pair means the object
- could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
- object of that type is found or the object cannot be
- dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf). '<rev>{caret}0'
+ brace pair means dereference the object at '<rev>' recursively until
+ an object of type '<type>' is found or the object cannot be
+ dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).
+ For example, if '<rev>' is a commit-ish, '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'
+ describes the corresponding commit object.
+ Similarly, if '<rev>' is a tree-ish, '<rev>{caret}\{tree\}'
+ describes the corresponding tree object.
+ '<rev>{caret}0'
is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
++
+'rev{caret}\{object\}' can be used to make sure 'rev' names an
+object that exists, without requiring 'rev' to be a tag, and
+without dereferencing 'rev'; because a tag is already an object,
+it does not have to be dereferenced even once to get to an object.
++
+'rev{caret}\{tag\}' can be used to ensure that 'rev' identifies an
+existing tag object.
'<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
'<rev1>..<rev2>'::
Include commits that are reachable from <rev2> but exclude
- those that are reachable from <rev1>.
+ those that are reachable from <rev1>. When either <rev1> or
+ <rev2> is omitted, it defaults to 'HEAD'.
'<rev1>\...<rev2>'::
Include commits that are reachable from either <rev1> or
- <rev2> but exclude those that are reachable from both.
+ <rev2> but exclude those that are reachable from both. When
+ either <rev1> or <rev2> is omitted, it defaults to 'HEAD'.
'<rev>{caret}@', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}@'::
A suffix '{caret}' followed by an at sign is the same as listing