Re: git log --follow doesn't follow a rename over a merge

From: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Date: Jun 16, 2011, 18:15 UTC
Message-ID: <20110616181509.GA12689@sigill.intra.peff.net>
In-Reply-To: <7vy611hd38.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 10:59:23AM -0700, Junio C Hamano wrote:

Show 16 quoted lines

> > Doesn't:
> >
> >   git log -- plugins/org.eclipse.dd.dsf.debug/src/org/eclipse/dd/dsf/debug/service/IBreakpoints.java
> >
> > do that?
> 
> If the file emerged in one branch (either the primary or a side branch) in
> the past as a failed experiment and then got removed before merging back,
> i.e.
> 
>    past ---o----o-----o-----o-----o-----o-----o-----o--- now
>             \                          /
>              o----*----o----o----*----o
>                   ^added         ^removed
> 
> then the merges are simplified away and you would not see it.

Ah, right. The default simplification so often does what I want that I forget there are cases it can miss.

> Perhaps simplify-merges option may help.

This test case shows full-history helping:

-- >8 --
commit() {
  echo $1 >$1 && git add $1 && git commit -m $1
}

git init repo && cd repo && commit one && commit two && commit three && git checkout -b side HEAD^ && commit four && commit five && git rm five && git commit -m "remove five" && commit six && git checkout master && git merge side && echo "==> default log (shows nothing)" && git --no-pager log -- five echo "==> full-history" && git --no-pager log --full-history -- five