RE: [PATCH] revisions(7): clarify that most commands take a single revision range
From: Felipe Contreras <hidden>
Date: 2021-05-21 19:19:25
Junio C Hamano wrote:
+Commands that are specifically designed to take two distinct ranges +(e.g. "git range-diff R1 R2" to compare two ranges) do exist, but +they are exceptions. Unless otherwise noted, all "git" commands
Not sure why "git" is in quotes.
+that operate on a set of commits work on a single revision range. +In other words, writing two "two-dot range notation" next to each +other, e.g. + + $ git log A..B C..D + +does *not* specify two revision ranges for most commands. Instead +it will name a single connected set of commits, i.e. those that are +reachable from either B or D but are reachable from neither A or C. +In a linear history like this: + + ---A---B---o---o---C---D + +because A and B are reachable from C, the revision range specified +by these two dotted ranges is a single commit D.
For example, if you have a linear history like this:
---A---B---C---D---E---F
Doing A..F will retrieve 5 commits, and doing B..E will retrieve 3
commits, but doing A..F B..E will not retrieve 8 commits. Instead the
starting point A gets overriden by B, and the ending point of E by F,
effectively becoming B..F.
With more complex graphs the result is not so simple and might result
in two disconnected sets of commits, but that is considered a single
revision range.
--
Felipe Contreras