threads / discuss / 42417

git log: invert --author and --committer

Subject: git log: invert --author and --committer

## tl;dr

6 messages between May 23, 2016 and May 23, 2016.

replies: 5people: 2as markdown or json

Per Cederqvist· May 23, 2016, 09:54 UTC · lore

We have a repository that mostly contains configuration data. This is updated by our continuous integration build system, but every once in a while there are also more interesting commits made by humans.

For several years I have suffered in silence, wishing for a way to do something like

    git log --author-not cibot

Today a friend told me that you can actually list all commits except those made by cibot with this commandline:

    git log --invert-grep --author cibot

The documentation for --invert-grep should mention that it also inverts the meaning of --author and --committer. Perphaps something like this would make sense?

    /ceder
diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
index 4f009d4..ae12687 100644
--- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
@@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]

 --invert-grep::
  Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
- match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
+ match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.  Also
+ affects `--author=<pattern>` and `--committer=<pattern>`.

 -i::
 --regexp-ignore-case::
Junio C Hamano· May 23, 2016, 17:11 UTC · re: Per Cederqvist · lore

Re: git log: invert --author and --committer

Per Cederqvist <cederp@opera.com> writes:
Show 20 quoted lines
> We have a repository that mostly contains configuration data.
> This is updated by our continuous integration build system, but
> every once in a while there are also more interesting commits
> made by humans.
>
> For several years I have suffered in silence, wishing for a way
> to do something like
>
>     git log --author-not cibot
>
> Today a friend told me that you can actually list all commits
> except those made by cibot with this commandline:
>
>     git log --invert-grep --author cibot
>
> The documentation for --invert-grep should mention that it
> also inverts the meaning of --author and --committer.  Perphaps
> something like this would make sense?
>
>     /ceder

Yeah, the author/committer search piggy-backs the more generic "grep in the log" machinery, but it is quite hidden and the document failed to tell the end users that is what is going on. Mentioning that invert (or any tweak that works on the grep machinery) affects author/committer search is a good idea.

Does "-i/--regexp-ignore-case" also need the same treatment?
Show 15 quoted lines
> diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> index 4f009d4..ae12687 100644
> --- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> @@ -70,7 +70,8 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]
>
>  --invert-grep::
>   Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
> - match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
> + match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.  Also
> + affects `--author=<pattern>` and `--committer=<pattern>`.
>
>  -i::
>  --regexp-ignore-case::
Junio C Hamano· May 23, 2016, 19:26 UTC · re: Junio C Hamano · lore

Re: git log: invert --author and --committer

Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
Show 11 quoted lines
> Per Cederqvist <cederp@opera.com> writes:
>
>>     git log --invert-grep --author cibot
>...
> Yeah, the author/committer search piggy-backs the more generic "grep
> in the log" machinery, but it is quite hidden and the document
> failed to tell the end users that is what is going on.  Mentioning
> that invert (or any tweak that works on the grep machinery) affects
> author/committer search is a good idea.
>
> Does "-i/--regexp-ignore-case" also need the same treatment?
It seems it does.

How about making this clarification not about --invert-grep but about --committer/--author option, perhaps like this?

 Documentation/rev-list-options.txt | 4 ++++
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
index 4f009d4..3fca366 100644
--- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]
 	expression).  With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
 	commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
 	chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
++
+Options that affect how a regular expression match is performed
+(such as `-i`, `-E`, `--invert-grep`) can also be used affect these
+options.
 
 --grep-reflog=<pattern>::
 	Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
Per Cederqvist· May 23, 2016, 21:21 UTC · re: Junio C Hamano · lore

Re: git log: invert --author and --committer

On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 9:26 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
Show 37 quoted lines
> Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> writes:
>
>> Per Cederqvist <cederp@opera.com> writes:
>>
>>>     git log --invert-grep --author cibot
>>...
>> Yeah, the author/committer search piggy-backs the more generic "grep
>> in the log" machinery, but it is quite hidden and the document
>> failed to tell the end users that is what is going on.  Mentioning
>> that invert (or any tweak that works on the grep machinery) affects
>> author/committer search is a good idea.
>>
>> Does "-i/--regexp-ignore-case" also need the same treatment?
>
> It seems it does.
>
> How about making this clarification not about --invert-grep but
> about --committer/--author option, perhaps like this?
>
>  Documentation/rev-list-options.txt | 4 ++++
>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> index 4f009d4..3fca366 100644
> --- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
> @@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]
>         expression).  With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
>         commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
>         chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
> ++
> +Options that affect how a regular expression match is performed
> +(such as `-i`, `-E`, `--invert-grep`) can also be used affect these
> +options.
>
>  --grep-reflog=<pattern>::
>         Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
"can also be used to affect", right? (I think the word "to" is missing.)

I think it does make sense to document this with the --author/--committer options.

That wording would however make me assume that --all-match could also be used, so that

    git log --all-match --author ceder --author cibot

would list nothing (since there are no authors that match both "ceder" and "cibot" in this codebase). That isn't the fact, though. It seems to list all commits that have either ceder or cibot as author, just as if I had not used --all-match.

As a reader of the man-page, I would prefer to have the exact list of options in the documentation. (I realize that it will make it harder to maintain.)

    /ceder
Junio C Hamano· May 23, 2016, 21:26 UTC · re: Per Cederqvist · lore

Re: git log: invert --author and --committer

Per Cederqvist <cederp@opera.com> writes:
> "can also be used to affect", right? (I think the word "to" is missing.)
Correct.
Show 7 quoted lines
> That wording would however make me assume that --all-match could also
> be used, so that
>
>     git log --all-match --author ceder --author cibot
>
> would list nothing (since there are no authors that match both
> "ceder" and "cibot" in this codebase).  That isn't the fact, though.

That is because "--all-match" does not affect "how a regular expression match is performed". The option affects the way how the results from these multiple regular expression matches are combined.

Show 6 quoted lines
> It seems to list all commits that have either ceder or cibot as author,
> just as if I had not used --all-match.
>
> As a reader of the man-page, I would prefer to have the exact list
> of options in the documentation.  (I realize that it will make it harder
> to maintain.)
Junio C Hamano· May 23, 2016, 21:47 UTC · re: Per Cederqvist · lore

Re: git log: invert --author and --committer

Per Cederqvist <cederp@opera.com> writes:
Show 18 quoted lines
> I think it does make sense to document this with the --author/--committer
> options.
>
> That wording would however make me assume that --all-match could also
> be used, so that
>
>     git log --all-match --author ceder --author cibot
>
> would list nothing (since there are no authors that match both
> "ceder" and "cibot" in this codebase).  That isn't the fact, though.
> It seems to list all commits that have either ceder or cibot as author,
> just as if I had not used --all-match.
>
> As a reader of the man-page, I would prefer to have the exact list
> of options in the documentation.  (I realize that it will make it harder
> to maintain.)
>
>     /ceder
Ok, take 2.

This makes `--all-match` the only one that explicitly mentions that the option applies to patterns given with the `--grep` option; from an end-user's point of view, --author/--committer is not given via the `--grep` option, so it may help to alleviate the above issue.

All others use "limiting patterns" consistently, so that eyeballing for the phrase would catch things like "--invert-grep", "-E", etc. and it would be easier to keep future additions to conform to the convention, hopefully.

 Documentation/rev-list-options.txt | 6 +++++-
 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
index 4f009d4..51ead72 100644
--- a/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/rev-list-options.txt
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]
 	expression).  With more than one `--author=<pattern>`,
 	commits whose author matches any of the given patterns are
 	chosen (similarly for multiple `--committer=<pattern>`).
++
+Options that affect how a limiting pattern matches (listed below,
+such as `-i`, `-E`, `--invert-grep`) can also be used to affect
+these options.
 
 --grep-reflog=<pattern>::
 	Limit the commits output to ones with reflog entries that
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ endif::git-rev-list[]
 
 --invert-grep::
 	Limit the commits output to ones with log message that do not
-	match the pattern specified with `--grep=<pattern>`.
+	match the regular expression limiting patterns.
 
 -i::
 --regexp-ignore-case::

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