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Re: [PATCH 3/5] git-log.txt: fix description of <since>..<until>

From
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date
Apr 21, 2013, 06:40 UTC
Message-ID
<7vy5ccwflw.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To
<1366458313-7186-4-git-send-email-artagnon@gmail.com>
Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com> writes:
Show 29 quoted lines
> First, <since> and <until> are ways to specify "revisions", not
> "commits", as gitrevisions.txt would indicate.  Second,
> '<since>..<until>' is simply indicative of how users would normally
> want to specify the rev spec: it need not conform to this form, and
> can take any form that gitrevisions.txt lists.  A 'git log :/quuxery'
> is perfectly valid, for instance.  Make these two corrections to the
> description of '<since>..<until>' under OPTIONS.
>
> Signed-off-by: Ramkumar Ramachandra <artagnon@gmail.com>
> ---
>  Documentation/git-log.txt | 6 +++---
>  1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/git-log.txt b/Documentation/git-log.txt
> index 69db578..f03ae74 100644
> --- a/Documentation/git-log.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/git-log.txt
> @@ -25,11 +25,11 @@ OPTIONS
>  -------
>  
>  <since>..<until>::
> -	Show only commits between the named two commits.  When
> +	Show only commits between the named two revisions.  When
>  	either <since> or <until> is omitted, it defaults to
>  	`HEAD`, i.e. the tip of the current branch.
> -	For a more complete list of ways to spell <since>
> -	and <until>, see linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
> +	For a more complete list of ways to spell <since>..<until>,
> +	see linkgit:gitrevisions[7].

A bigger issue is if it is a good idea to single out A..B like this in the enumeration of options and parameters. We are listing this among the optoins and pathspec, so this is where we _ought_ to be saying that you can specify a revision range on the command line. We use A..B only because it is the most commonly used form, asking e.g. "show me the commit since v1.7.12 up to v1.8.0", but this existing headline makes it as if it is the _only_ form, which is somewhat misleading.

It might be better _not_ to say <since>..<until> here and on the synopsis part, replace it with <revision range>, and update the text to mention <since>..<until> as a more concrete "v1.0..v2.0" example. Perhaps like

    <revision range>::
	Show only commits in the specified revision range.  When no
	<revision range> is specified, defaults to "HEAD" (i.e. the
	whole history leading to the current commit).  v1.0..v2.0
	asks for commits since the commit tagged as version 1.0 up
	to the commit tagged as version 2.0.  For a more complete
	list of ways to spell this parameter, see "Specifying
	Ranges" section of linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
or something.

Documentation/gitrevisions.txt lists <rev1>..<rev2>, but does not mention that missing <rev1> (or <rev2>) defaults to HEAD, which is worth adding there with or without the above suggested update.

Previous: Junio C HamanoNext: Ramkumar Ramachandra
Message 9 of 35 in “Documentation/shortlog improvements”
  1. 0/5 Documentation/shortlog improvementsRamkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  2. 1/5 git-shortlog.txt: remove (-h|--help) from OPTIONSRamkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  3. 2/5 builtin/shortlog.c: make usage string consistent with logRamkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  4. 3/5 git-log.txt: fix description of <since>..<until>Ramkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  5. Jonathan NiederApr 20, 2013
  6. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  7. Jonathan NiederApr 21, 2013
  8. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  9. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  10. 4/5 git-log.txt: rewrite note on why "--" may be requiredRamkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  11. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  12. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  13. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  14. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  15. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  16. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  17. Jonathan NiederApr 21, 2013
  18. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  19. Jonathan NiederApr 21, 2013
  20. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  21. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  22. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  23. Jonathan NiederApr 21, 2013
  24. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  25. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  26. Junio C HamanoApr 22, 2013
  27. Thomas RastApr 22, 2013
  28. Thomas RastApr 22, 2013
  29. Junio C HamanoApr 22, 2013
  30. 5/5 git-shortlog.txt: make SYNOPSIS match log, update OPTIONSRamkumar Ramachandra, Apr 20, 2013
  31. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013
  32. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  33. Ramkumar RamachandraApr 21, 2013
  34. glossary: a revision is just a commitJonathan Nieder, Apr 21, 2013
  35. Junio C HamanoApr 21, 2013

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