doc: convert git-describe manual page to synopsis style
* convert commands and options to synopsis style * use _<placeholder>_ for arguments Signed-off-by: Jean-Noël Avila <jn.avila@free.fr> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Jean-Noël Avila committed
Apr 4, 2026 at 17:12 UTC
80f4b802e964559c65b08641c07a8acb95d0617e
1 file changed
+48
-48
Documentation/git-describe.adoc
+48
-48
@@ -7,10 +7,10 @@ git-describe - Give an object a human readable name based on an available ref
7
8
SYNOPSIS
9
--------
10
-[verse]
11
-'git describe' [--all] [--tags] [--contains] [--abbrev=<n>] [<commit-ish>...]
12
-'git describe' [--all] [--tags] [--contains] [--abbrev=<n>] --dirty[=<mark>]
13
-'git describe' <blob>
10
+[synopsis]
11
+git describe [--all] [--tags] [--contains] [--abbrev=<n>] [<commit-ish>...]
12
+git describe [--all] [--tags] [--contains] [--abbrev=<n>] --dirty[=<mark>]
13
+git describe <blob>
14
15
DESCRIPTION
16
-----------
@@ -22,70 +22,70 @@ abbreviated object name of the most recent commit. The result
22
is a "human-readable" object name which can also be used to
23
identify the commit to other git commands.
24
25
-By default (without --all or --tags) `git describe` only shows
25
+By default (without `--all` or `--tags`) `git describe` only shows
26
annotated tags. For more information about creating annotated tags
27
-see the -a and -s options to linkgit:git-tag[1].
27
+see the `-a` and `-s` options to linkgit:git-tag[1].
28
29
If the given object refers to a blob, it will be described
30
as `<commit-ish>:<path>`, such that the blob can be found
31
-at `<path>` in the `<commit-ish>`, which itself describes the
31
+at _<path>_ in the _<commit-ish>_, which itself describes the
32
first commit in which this blob occurs in a reverse revision walk
33
-from HEAD.
33
+from `HEAD`.
34
35
OPTIONS
36
-------
37
-<commit-ish>...::
38
- Commit-ish object names to describe. Defaults to HEAD if omitted.
37
+`<commit-ish>...`::
38
+ Commit-ish object names to describe. Defaults to `HEAD` if omitted.
39
40
---dirty[=<mark>]::
41
---broken[=<mark>]::
40
+`--dirty[=<mark>]`::
41
+`--broken[=<mark>]`::
42
Describe the state of the working tree. When the working
43
- tree matches HEAD, the output is the same as "git describe
44
- HEAD". If the working tree has local modification "-dirty"
43
+ tree matches `HEAD`, the output is the same as `git describe HEAD`.
44
+ If the working tree has local modification, `-dirty`
45
is appended to it. If a repository is corrupt and Git
46
cannot determine if there is local modification, Git will
47
- error out, unless `--broken' is given, which appends
48
- the suffix "-broken" instead.
47
+ error out, unless `--broken` is given, which appends
48
+ the suffix `-broken` instead.
49
50
---all::
50
+`--all`::
51
Instead of using only the annotated tags, use any ref
52
found in `refs/` namespace. This option enables matching
53
any known branch, remote-tracking branch, or lightweight tag.
54
55
---tags::
55
+`--tags`::
56
Instead of using only the annotated tags, use any tag
57
found in `refs/tags` namespace. This option enables matching
58
a lightweight (non-annotated) tag.
59
60
---contains::
60
+`--contains`::
61
Instead of finding the tag that predates the commit, find
62
the tag that comes after the commit, and thus contains it.
63
- Automatically implies --tags.
63
+ Automatically implies `--tags`.
64
65
---abbrev=<n>::
65
+`--abbrev=<n>`::
66
Instead of using the default number of hexadecimal digits (which
67
will vary according to the number of objects in the repository with
68
- a default of 7) of the abbreviated object name, use <n> digits, or
69
- as many digits as needed to form a unique object name. An <n> of 0
68
+ a default of 7) of the abbreviated object name, use _<n>_ digits, or
69
+ as many digits as needed to form a unique object name. An _<n>_ of 0
70
will suppress long format, only showing the closest tag.
71
72
---candidates=<n>::
72
+`--candidates=<n>`::
73
Instead of considering only the 10 most recent tags as
74
candidates to describe the input commit-ish consider
75
- up to <n> candidates. Increasing <n> above 10 will take
75
+ up to _<n>_ candidates. Increasing _<n>_ above 10 will take
76
slightly longer but may produce a more accurate result.
77
- An <n> of 0 will cause only exact matches to be output.
77
+ An _<n>_ of 0 will cause only exact matches to be output.
78
79
---exact-match::
79
+`--exact-match`::
80
Only output exact matches (a tag directly references the
81
- supplied commit). This is a synonym for --candidates=0.
81
+ supplied commit). This is a synonym for `--candidates=0`.
82
83
---debug::
83
+`--debug`::
84
Verbosely display information about the searching strategy
85
being employed to standard error. The tag name will still
86
be printed to standard out.
87
88
---long::
88
+`--long`::
89
Always output the long format (the tag, the number of commits
90
and the abbreviated commit name) even when it matches a tag.
91
This is useful when you want to see parts of the commit object name
@@ -94,8 +94,8 @@ OPTIONS
94
describe such a commit as v1.2-0-gdeadbee (0th commit since tag v1.2
95
that points at object deadbee....).
96
97
---match <pattern>::
98
- Only consider tags matching the given `glob(7)` pattern,
97
+`--match <pattern>`::
98
+ Only consider tags matching the given `glob`(7) pattern,
99
excluding the "refs/tags/" prefix. If used with `--all`, it also
100
considers local branches and remote-tracking references matching the
101
pattern, excluding respectively "refs/heads/" and "refs/remotes/"
@@ -104,22 +104,22 @@ OPTIONS
104
matching any of the patterns will be considered. Use `--no-match` to
105
clear and reset the list of patterns.
106
107
---exclude <pattern>::
108
- Do not consider tags matching the given `glob(7)` pattern, excluding
107
+`--exclude <pattern>`::
108
+ Do not consider tags matching the given `glob`(7) pattern, excluding
109
the "refs/tags/" prefix. If used with `--all`, it also does not consider
110
local branches and remote-tracking references matching the pattern,
111
- excluding respectively "refs/heads/" and "refs/remotes/" prefix;
111
+ excluding respectively "`refs/heads/`" and "`refs/remotes/`" prefix;
112
references of other types are never considered. If given multiple times,
113
a list of patterns will be accumulated and tags matching any of the
114
- patterns will be excluded. When combined with --match a tag will be
115
- considered when it matches at least one --match pattern and does not
116
- match any of the --exclude patterns. Use `--no-exclude` to clear and
114
+ patterns will be excluded. When combined with `--match` a tag will be
115
+ considered when it matches at least one `--match` pattern and does not
116
+ match any of the `--exclude` patterns. Use `--no-exclude` to clear and
117
reset the list of patterns.
118
119
---always::
119
+`--always`::
120
Show uniquely abbreviated commit object as fallback.
121
122
---first-parent::
122
+`--first-parent`::
123
Follow only the first parent commit upon seeing a merge commit.
124
This is useful when you wish to not match tags on branches merged
125
in the history of the target commit.
@@ -139,8 +139,8 @@ an abbreviated object name for the commit itself ("2414721")
139
at the end.
140
141
The number of additional commits is the number
142
-of commits which would be displayed by "git log v1.0.4..parent".
143
-The hash suffix is "-g" + an unambiguous abbreviation for the tip commit
142
+of commits which would be displayed by `git log v1.0.4..parent`.
143
+The hash suffix is "`-g`" + an unambiguous abbreviation for the tip commit
144
of parent (which was `2414721b194453f058079d897d13c4e377f92dc6`). The
145
length of the abbreviation scales as the repository grows, using the
146
approximate number of objects in the repository and a bit of math
@@ -149,12 +149,12 @@ The "g" prefix stands for "git" and is used to allow describing the version of
149
a software depending on the SCM the software is managed with. This is useful
150
in an environment where people may use different SCMs.
151
152
-Doing a 'git describe' on a tag-name will just show the tag name:
152
+Doing a `git describe` on a tag-name will just show the tag name:
153
154
[torvalds@g5 git]$ git describe v1.0.4
155
v1.0.4
156
157
-With --all, the command can use branch heads as references, so
157
+With `--all`, the command can use branch heads as references, so
158
the output shows the reference path as well:
159
160
[torvalds@g5 git]$ git describe --all --abbrev=4 v1.0.5^2
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ the output shows the reference path as well:
163
[torvalds@g5 git]$ git describe --all --abbrev=4 HEAD^
164
heads/lt/describe-7-g975b
165
166
-With --abbrev set to 0, the command can be used to find the
166
+With `--abbrev` set to 0, the command can be used to find the
167
closest tagname without any suffix:
168
169
[torvalds@g5 git]$ git describe --abbrev=0 v1.0.5^2
@@ -179,13 +179,13 @@ be sufficient to disambiguate these commits.
179
SEARCH STRATEGY
180
---------------
181
182
-For each commit-ish supplied, 'git describe' will first look for
182
+For each commit-ish supplied, `git describe` will first look for
183
a tag which tags exactly that commit. Annotated tags will always
184
be preferred over lightweight tags, and tags with newer dates will
185
always be preferred over tags with older dates. If an exact match
186
is found, its name will be output and searching will stop.
187
188
-If an exact match was not found, 'git describe' will walk back
188
+If an exact match was not found, `git describe` will walk back
189
through the commit history to locate an ancestor commit which
190
has been tagged. The ancestor's tag will be output along with an
191
abbreviation of the input commit-ish's SHA-1. If `--first-parent` was
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ BUGS
203
204
Tree objects as well as tag objects not pointing at commits, cannot be described.
205
When describing blobs, the lightweight tags pointing at blobs are ignored,
206
-but the blob is still described as <commit-ish>:<path> despite the lightweight
206
+but the blob is still described as `<commit-ish>:<path>` despite the lightweight
207
tag being favorable.
208
209
GIT