Re: [RFC/PATCH] revision.c: add --format option for 'git log'

Felipe Contreras [off-list ref] writes:

On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 6:49 PM, Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] wrote:

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Felipe Contreras [off-list ref] writes:

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--format=:foo is a shorthand for --pretty=tformat:foo, otherwise this
new option acts just like --pretty=foo, except it's more intuitive for
users of 'git log'.

It's been quite a long time since the earlier discussion, but I wonder why
you need the colon before "foo" for this new shorthand.  I *think* you are
also introducing "--format=short" as a synonym to "--pretty=short", but
I do not think it is necessary.

Well, my hope was to replace --pretty=short with --format=short, but
you said that would break other scripts.

It is not just scripts you break.  You also break people's trained
fingers.

You can specify the kind of canned pretty printing with --pretty=short,
and it is not any longer to type than --format.  For use in scripts that
you write once and forget, there is no need to even apply this patch.

The only reason why new --format=<fmt> could be an useful addition is
because --pretty=format:<fmt> may be too long to type interactively.

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As discussed in the mailing list, this is implemented as an undocumented
option.

Maybe somebody wants to document it.

Ah, I would gladly add the documentation, shall I write that it's an
'alternative' option similar to --pretty?

I do not think we want to introduce a new way to say the same thing for
the canned short options; "alternative" is not a good word for it.

Putting it in another way...

The output format is controlled by --pretty, which knows a set of canned
output formats.  You can specify --format=<fmt> if you want something
different from any of the canned format.  If your git does not support
this new notation, you can say --pretty=tformat:<fmt> to get the same
effect.  The old --pretty=tformat:<fmt> (and --pretty=format:<fmt>) is not
deprecated in any way.