Re: [PATCH 2/2] show-branch: fix description of --date-order

From: Jonathan Nieder <jrnieder@gmail.com>
Date: Jul 16, 2013, 18:22 UTC
Message-ID: <20130716182254.GL14690@google.com>
In-Reply-To: <8768923c2d317d02beabbf1bff2f61927e126f81.1373966389.git.trast@inf.ethz.ch>

Thomas Rast wrote:

> The existing description reads as if it somehow applies a filter.
> Change it to explain that it is merely about the ordering.

[...]

Show 5 quoted lines

>  		OPT_SET_INT(0, "date-order", &sort_order,
> -			    N_("show commits where no parent comes before its "
> +			    N_("sort commits such that no parent comes before its "
>  			       "children"),
>  			    REV_SORT_BY_COMMIT_DATE),

I fear this wording tweak doesn't go far enough. The above description seems to describe --topo-order just as well as --date-order.

How about something like

		N_("topologically sort, maintaining date order where possible"),

?  I haven't checked the code to see if that's accurate, though.

Is the idea that:

 - by default, commits are listed in commit date order (newest first)

 - with --topo-order, they are topologically sorted in such a way as
   to ensure that in cases like

	---1---2---4---7
	    \           \
	     3---5---6---8

   (from git-log(1)), parallel tracks are not interleaved

 - with --date-order, they are topologically sorted but less
   aggressively, in particular matching commit date order in the
   usual case that that is already topologically sorted.

That would make --topo-order stronger than "show commits in topological order" --- it should say something like "sort trying to avoid breaking up lines of development".