Synonym for `--date=relative`.
---date={relative,local,default,iso,rfc,short}::
+--date={relative,local,default,iso,rfc,short,raw}::
Only takes effect for dates shown in human-readable format, such
as when using "--pretty". `log.date` config variable sets a default
+
`--date=short` shows only date but not time, in `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
+
+`--date=raw` shows the date in the internal raw git format `%s %z` format.
++
`--date=default` shows timestamps in the original timezone
(either committer's or author's).
--parents::
- Print the parents of the commit.
+ Print the parents of the commit. Also enables parent
+ rewriting, see 'History Simplification' below.
+
+--children::
+
+ Print the children of the commit. Also enables parent
+ rewriting, see 'History Simplification' below.
ifdef::git-rev-list[]
--timestamp::
o---x---a---a branch A
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+
-you would get an output line this:
+you would get an output like this:
+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
$ git rev-list --left-right --boundary --pretty=oneline A...B
Limit the commits output to ones with log message that
matches the specified pattern (regular expression).
+--all-match::
+ Limit the commits output to ones that match all given --grep,
+ --author and --committer instead of ones that match at least one.
+
-i::
--regexp-ignore-case::
Stop when a given path disappears from the tree.
---full-history::
-
- Show also parts of history irrelevant to current state of a given
- path. This turns off history simplification, which removed merges
- which didn't change anything at all at some child. It will still actually
- simplify away merges that didn't change anything at all into either
- child.
-
--no-merges::
Do not print commits with more than one parent.
Pretend as if all the refs in `$GIT_DIR/refs/` are listed on the
command line as '<commit>'.
+--branches::
+
+ Pretend as if all the refs in `$GIT_DIR/refs/heads` are listed
+ on the command line as '<commit>'.
+
+--tags::
+
+ Pretend as if all the refs in `$GIT_DIR/refs/tags` are listed
+ on the command line as '<commit>'.
+
+--remotes::
+
+ Pretend as if all the refs in `$GIT_DIR/refs/remotes` are listed
+ on the command line as '<commit>'.
+
ifdef::git-rev-list[]
--stdin::
Output uninteresting commits at the boundary, which are usually
not shown.
+--
+
+History Simplification
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Sometimes you are only interested in parts of the history, for example the
+commits modifying a particular <path>. But there are two parts of
+'History Simplification', one part is selecting the commits and the other
+is how to do it, as there are various strategies to simplify the history.
+
+The following options select the commits to be shown:
+
+<paths>::
+
+ Commits modifying the given <paths> are selected.
+
+--simplify-by-decoration::
+
+ Commits that are referred by some branch or tag are selected.
+
+Note that extra commits can be shown to give a meaningful history.
+
+The following options affect the way the simplification is performed:
+
+Default mode::
+
+ Simplifies the history to the simplest history explaining the
+ final state of the tree. Simplest because it prunes some side
+ branches if the end result is the same (i.e. merging branches
+ with the same content)
+
+--full-history::
+
+ As the default mode but does not prune some history.
+
+--dense::
+
+ Only the selected commits are shown, plus some to have a
+ meaningful history.
+
+--sparse::
+
+ All commits in the simplified history are shown.
+
+--simplify-merges::
+
+ Additional option to '--full-history' to remove some needless
+ merges from the resulting history, as there are no selected
+ commits contributing to this merge.
+
+A more detailed explanation follows.
+
+Suppose you specified `foo` as the <paths>. We shall call commits
+that modify `foo` !TREESAME, and the rest TREESAME. (In a diff
+filtered for `foo`, they look different and equal, respectively.)
+
+In the following, we will always refer to the same example history to
+illustrate the differences between simplification settings. We assume
+that you are filtering for a file `foo` in this commit graph:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ .-A---M---N---O---P
+ / / / / /
+ I B C D E
+ \ / / / /
+ `-------------'
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+The horizontal line of history A--P is taken to be the first parent of
+each merge. The commits are:
+
+* `I` is the initial commit, in which `foo` exists with contents
+ "asdf", and a file `quux` exists with contents "quux". Initial
+ commits are compared to an empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
+
+* In `A`, `foo` contains just "foo".
+
+* `B` contains the same change as `A`. Its merge `M` is trivial and
+ hence TREESAME to all parents.
+
+* `C` does not change `foo`, but its merge `N` changes it to "foobar",
+ so it is not TREESAME to any parent.
+
+* `D` sets `foo` to "baz". Its merge `O` combines the strings from
+ `N` and `D` to "foobarbaz"; i.e., it is not TREESAME to any parent.
+
+* `E` changes `quux` to "xyzzy", and its merge `P` combines the
+ strings to "quux xyzzy". Despite appearing interesting, `P` is
+ TREESAME to all parents.
+
+'rev-list' walks backwards through history, including or excluding
+commits based on whether '\--full-history' and/or parent rewriting
+(via '\--parents' or '\--children') are used. The following settings
+are available.
+
+Default mode::
+
+ Commits are included if they are not TREESAME to any parent
+ (though this can be changed, see '\--sparse' below). If the
+ commit was a merge, and it was TREESAME to one parent, follow
+ only that parent. (Even if there are several TREESAME
+ parents, follow only one of them.) Otherwise, follow all
+ parents.
++
+This results in:
++
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ .-A---N---O
+ / /
+ I---------D
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
++
+Note how the rule to only follow the TREESAME parent, if one is
+available, removed `B` from consideration entirely. `C` was
+considered via `N`, but is TREESAME. Root commits are compared to an
+empty tree, so `I` is !TREESAME.
++
+Parent/child relations are only visible with --parents, but that does
+not affect the commits selected in default mode, so we have shown the
+parent lines.
+
+--full-history without parent rewriting::
+
+ This mode differs from the default in one point: always follow
+ all parents of a merge, even if it is TREESAME to one of them.
+ Even if more than one side of the merge has commits that are
+ included, this does not imply that the merge itself is! In
+ the example, we get
++
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ I A B N D O
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
++
+`P` and `M` were excluded because they are TREESAME to a parent. `E`,
+`C` and `B` were all walked, but only `B` was !TREESAME, so the others
+do not appear.
++
+Note that without parent rewriting, it is not really possible to talk
+about the parent/child relationships between the commits, so we show
+them disconnected.
+
+--full-history with parent rewriting::
+
+ Ordinary commits are only included if they are !TREESAME
+ (though this can be changed, see '\--sparse' below).
++
+Merges are always included. However, their parent list is rewritten:
+Along each parent, prune away commits that are not included
+themselves. This results in
++
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ .-A---M---N---O---P
+ / / / / /
+ I B / D /
+ \ / / / /
+ `-------------'
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
++
+Compare to '\--full-history' without rewriting above. Note that `E`
+was pruned away because it is TREESAME, but the parent list of P was
+rewritten to contain `E`'s parent `I`. The same happened for `C` and
+`N`. Note also that `P` was included despite being TREESAME.
+
+In addition to the above settings, you can change whether TREESAME
+affects inclusion:
+
--dense::
+
+ Commits that are walked are included if they are not TREESAME
+ to any parent.
+
--sparse::
-When optional paths are given, the default behaviour ('--dense') is to
-only output commits that changes at least one of them, and also ignore
-merges that do not touch the given paths.
+ All commits that are walked are included.
++
+Note that without '\--full-history', this still simplifies merges: if
+one of the parents is TREESAME, we follow only that one, so the other
+sides of the merge are never walked.
+
+Finally, there is a fourth simplification mode available:
-Use the '--sparse' flag to makes the command output all eligible commits
-(still subject to count and age limitation), but apply merge
-simplification nevertheless.
+--simplify-merges::
+
+ First, build a history graph in the same way that
+ '\--full-history' with parent rewriting does (see above).
++
+Then simplify each commit `C` to its replacement `C'` in the final
+history according to the following rules:
++
+--
+* Set `C'` to `C`.
++
+* Replace each parent `P` of `C'` with its simplification `P'`. In
+ the process, drop parents that are ancestors of other parents, and
+ remove duplicates.
++
+* If after this parent rewriting, `C'` is a root or merge commit (has
+ zero or >1 parents), a boundary commit, or !TREESAME, it remains.
+ Otherwise, it is replaced with its only parent.
+--
++
+The effect of this is best shown by way of comparing to
+'\--full-history' with parent rewriting. The example turns into:
++
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+ .-A---M---N---O
+ / / /
+ I B D
+ \ / /
+ `---------'
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
++
+Note the major differences in `N` and `P` over '\--full-history':
++
+--
+* `N`'s parent list had `I` removed, because it is an ancestor of the
+ other parent `M`. Still, `N` remained because it is !TREESAME.
++
+* `P`'s parent list similarly had `I` removed. `P` was then
+ removed completely, because it had one parent and is TREESAME.
+--
+
+The '\--simplify-by-decoration' option allows you to view only the
+big picture of the topology of the history, by omitting commits
+that are not referenced by tags. Commits are marked as !TREESAME
+(in other words, kept after history simplification rules described
+above) if (1) they are referenced by tags, or (2) they change the
+contents of the paths given on the command line. All other
+commits are marked as TREESAME (subject to be simplified away).
ifdef::git-rev-list[]
+Bisection Helpers
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
--bisect::
Limit output to the one commit object which is roughly halfway between
the included and excluded commits. Thus, if
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- $ git-rev-list --bisect foo ^bar ^baz
+ $ git rev-list --bisect foo ^bar ^baz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
outputs 'midpoint', the output of the two commands
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
- $ git-rev-list foo ^midpoint
- $ git-rev-list midpoint ^bar ^baz
+ $ git rev-list foo ^midpoint
+ $ git rev-list midpoint ^bar ^baz
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
would be of roughly the same length. Finding the change which
commits, ordered by their distance to the included and excluded
commits. The farthest from them is displayed first. (This is the only
one displayed by `--bisect`.)
-
++
This is useful because it makes it easy to choose a good commit to
test when you want to avoid to test some of them for some reason (they
may not compile for example).
-
++
This option can be used along with `--bisect-vars`, in this case,
after all the sorted commit objects, there will be the same text as if
`--bisect-vars` had been used alone.
endif::git-rev-list[]
---
Commit Ordering
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~