[PATCH] rev-list docs: clarify --topo-order description

From

Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

Date

Aug 13, 2012, 22:21 UTC

Message-ID

<7vsjbqbfhm.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
---

 * Let's do this before I forget...; came up in discussion $gmane/203370

 Documentation/rev-list-options.txt | 29 +++++++++++++++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 23 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
index 6a4b635..dc501ee 100644
--- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
@@ -579,15 +579,32 @@ Commit Ordering
 By default, the commits are shown in reverse chronological order.
 
 --topo-order::
-
-	This option makes them appear in topological order (i.e.
-	descendant commits are shown before their parents).
+	This option makes them appear in topological order.  Even
+	without this option, descendant commits are shown before
+	their parents, but this tries to avoid showing commits on
+	multiple lines of history intermixed.
 
 --date-order::
 
-	This option is similar to '--topo-order' in the sense that no
-	parent comes before all of its children, but otherwise things
-	are still ordered in the commit timestamp order.
+	Show no parents before all of its children, but otherwise
+	show commits in the commit timestamp order.
++
+For example, in a commit history like this:
++
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    ---1----2----4----7
+	\	       \
+	 3----5----6----8---
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
++
+where the numbers denote the order of commit timestamps, `git
+rev-list` and friends with `--date-order` show the commits in the
+timestamp order: 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
++
+With `--topo-order`, they would show 8 6 5 3 7 4 2 1 (or 8 7 4 2 6 5
+3 1), to avoid commits from two branches mixed together.
 
 --reverse::
 

-- 
1.7.12.rc2.85.g1de7134