revisions.txt: structure with a labelled list
Currently, the reader has to parse a textual description in order to find a specific syntax in the list. Restructure as a labelled list with systematic labels as well as concrete examples as a visual guide. Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Michael J Gruber committed
Apr 1, 2011 at 11:27 UTC
61e508d9738a0f5f9daa1553e71a412c43ecc0f4
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Documentation/revisions.txt
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@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
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SPECIFYING REVISIONS
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--------------------
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-A revision parameter typically, but not necessarily, names a
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+A revision parameter '<rev>' typically, but not necessarily, names a
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commit object. They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
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syntax. Here are various ways to spell object names. The
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ones listed near the end of this list are to name trees and
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blobs contained in a commit.
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-* The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
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+'<sha1>', e.g. 'dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735', 'dae86e'::
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+ The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
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a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
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E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
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name the same commit object if there are no other object in
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your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
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-* An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
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+'<describeOutput>', e.g. 'v1.7.4.2-679-g3bee7fb'::
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+ An output from `git describe`; i.e. a closest tag, optionally
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followed by a dash and a number of commits, followed by a dash, a
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'g', and an abbreviated object name.
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-* A symbolic ref name. E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
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+'<refname>', e.g. 'master', 'heads/master', 'refs/heads/master'::
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+ A symbolic ref name. E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
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object referenced by 'refs/heads/master'. If you
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happen to have both 'heads/master' and 'tags/master', you can
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explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ blobs contained in a commit.
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. otherwise, 'refs/<name>' if exists;
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- . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<name>' if exists;
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+ . otherwise, 'refs/tags/<refname>' if exists;
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. otherwise, 'refs/heads/<name>' if exists;
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@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ when you run `git cherry-pick`.
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Note that any of the 'refs/*' cases above may come either from
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the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
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-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
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+'<refname>@\{<date>\}', e.g. 'master@\{yesterday\}', 'HEAD@\{5 minutes ago\}'::
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+ A ref followed by the suffix '@' with a date specification
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enclosed in a brace
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pair (e.g. '\{yesterday\}', '\{1 month 2 weeks 3 days 1 hour 1
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second ago\}' or '\{1979-02-26 18:30:00\}') to specify the value
@@ -64,58 +68,68 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
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'master' branch last week. If you want to look at commits made during
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certain times, see '--since' and '--until'.
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-* A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
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+'<refname>@\{<n>\}', e.g. 'master@\{1\}'::
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+ A ref followed by the suffix '@' with an ordinal specification
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enclosed in a brace pair (e.g. '\{1\}', '\{15\}') to specify
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the n-th prior value of that ref. For example 'master@\{1\}'
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is the immediate prior value of 'master' while 'master@\{5\}'
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is the 5th prior value of 'master'. This suffix may only be used
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immediately following a ref name and the ref must have an existing
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- log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<ref>').
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+ log ('$GIT_DIR/logs/<refname>').
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-* You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
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+'@\{<n>\}', e.g. '@\{1\}'::
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+ You can use the '@' construct with an empty ref part to get at a
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reflog of the current branch. For example, if you are on the
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branch 'blabla', then '@\{1\}' means the same as 'blabla@\{1\}'.
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-* The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
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+'@\{-<n>\}', e.g. '@\{-1\}'::
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+ The special construct '@\{-<n>\}' means the <n>th branch checked out
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before the current one.
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-* The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form 'ref@\{u\}') refers to
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+'<refname>@\{upstream\}', e.g. 'master@\{upstream\}', '@\{u\}'::
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+ The suffix '@\{upstream\}' to a ref (short form '<refname>@\{u\}') refers to
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the branch the ref is set to build on top of. Missing ref defaults
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to the current branch.
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-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter (e.g. 'HEAD{caret}') means the first parent of
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+'<rev>{caret}', e.g. 'HEAD{caret}, v1.5.1{caret}0'::
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+ A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
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that commit object. '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
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- 'rev{caret}'
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- is equivalent to 'rev{caret}1'). As a special rule,
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- 'rev{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when 'rev' is the
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+ '<rev>{caret}'
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+ is equivalent to '<rev>{caret}1'). As a special rule,
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+ '<rev>{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when '<rev>' is the
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object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.
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-* A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
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+'<rev>{tilde}<n>', e.g. 'master{tilde}3'::
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+ A suffix '{tilde}<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
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object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
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- commit object, following only the first parent. I.e. rev~3 is
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- equivalent to rev{caret}{caret}{caret} which is equivalent to
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- rev{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1. See below for a illustration of
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+ commit object, following only the first parent. I.e. '<rev>{tilde}3' is
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+ equivalent to '<rev>{caret}{caret}{caret}' which is equivalent to
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+ '<rev>{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1'. See below for a illustration of
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the usage of this form.
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-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
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- brace pair (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}') means the object
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+'<rev>{caret}\{<type>\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}'::
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+ A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
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+ brace pair means the object
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could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
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object of that type is found or the object cannot be
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- dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf). 'rev{caret}0'
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- introduced earlier is a short-hand for 'rev{caret}\{commit\}'.
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+ dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf). '<rev>{caret}0'
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+ introduced earlier is a short-hand for '<rev>{caret}\{commit\}'.
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-* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
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- (e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}') means the object could be a tag,
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+'<rev>{caret}\{\}', e.g. 'v0.99.8{caret}\{\}'::
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+ A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
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+ means the object could be a tag,
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and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
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found.
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-* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter followed by a brace
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- pair that contains a text led by a slash (e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'):
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- this is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
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+'<rev>{caret}\{/<text>\}', e.g. 'HEAD^{/fix nasty bug}'::
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+ A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter, followed by a brace
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+ pair that contains a text led by a slash,
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+ is the same as ':/fix nasty bug' syntax below except that
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it returns the youngest matching commit which is reachable from
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- the ref before '{caret}'.
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+ the '<rev>' before '{caret}'.
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-* A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text (e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'): this names
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+':/<text>', e.g. ':/fix nasty bug'::
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+ A colon, followed by a slash, followed by a text, names
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a commit whose commit message matches the specified regular expression.
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This name returns the youngest matching commit which is
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reachable from any ref. If the commit message starts with a
@@ -124,10 +138,11 @@ the '$GIT_DIR/refs' directory or from the '$GIT_DIR/packed-refs' file.
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The regular expression can match any part of the commit message. To
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match messages starting with a string, one can use e.g. ':/^foo'.
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-* A suffix ':' followed by a path (e.g. 'HEAD:README'); this names the blob or tree
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+'<rev>:<path>', e.g. 'HEAD:README', ':README', 'master:./README'::
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+ A suffix ':' followed by a path names the blob or tree
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at the given path in the tree-ish object named by the part
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before the colon.
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- ':path' (with an empty part before the colon, e.g. ':README')
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+ ':path' (with an empty part before the colon)
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is a special case of the syntax described next: content
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recorded in the index at the given path.
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A path starting with './' or '../' is relative to current working directory.
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This is most useful to address a blob or tree from a commit or tree that has
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the same tree structure with the working tree.
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-* A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
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- colon, followed by a path (e.g. ':0:README'); this names a blob object in the
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+':<n>:<path>', e.g. ':0:README', ':README'::
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+ A colon, optionally followed by a stage number (0 to 3) and a
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+ colon, followed by a path, names a blob object in the
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index at the given path. Missing stage number (and the colon
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- that follows it, e.g. ':README') names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
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+ that follows it) names a stage 0 entry. During a merge, stage
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1 is the common ancestor, stage 2 is the target branch's version
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(typically the current branch), and stage 3 is the version from
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the branch being merged.