Re: git log --name-only improvement: show old file name in rename

Thanks all for your replies to this.  I hoped that --name-only could show when a filename was removed, as well as when it was added.  If you delete a file in one commit then add it with a new name in the next, both filenames appear in the log.  If these happen in a single commit, only one does.  And in fact it's not predictable whether you will get one filename or two: it depends on rename detection.  Sometimes if a file is changed and moved to a new name, git log --name-only will show only the new name in the log, but at other times, if git doesn't detect it as a rename, both filenames appear.  This feels more like an implementation detail than a deliberate choice.

I accept that scripts may rely on the current behaviour, though I would be surprised to find a script that depended on *not* seeing the old filename printed.

Anyway, if it shouldn't change, or if it cannot change because of backwards compatibility, the manual page could be improved:

           --name-only
           Show only names of changed or added files.
           If a file is removed, its name is also printed, unless this is detected
           as a rename, in which case only the new name is printed.

That would be enough to direct users towards something more suitable like --compact-summary.