Re: git log format documentation/manpage

On 10/24/25 10:06 AM, David Moberg wrote:

Hi I'm trying to replicate the "oneline" log format and add notes to 
it. What I can't figure out:

1. What is the format string that corresponds to pretty format 
"oneline"?

--oneline on terminal:        %C(auto)%h%(decorate) %s
--oneline otherwise:          %C(auto)%h %s
--format=oneline on terminal: %C(auto)%H%(decorate) %s
--format=oneline otherwise:   %C(auto)%H %s

The %(decorate) part also depends on the config setting log.decorate.

2. What is the placeholder for the title-line? By searching for 
"title-line" in `man git log` I couldn't find anything. Surely this 
is in here somewhere? Searching for `full-commit-message` also left 
me empty-handed.

%s for subject, %b for body, %B for the whole commit message (subject
and body).  Email terms because Git was developed for Linux and commits
were exchanged on a mailing list, like we do here for Git.

3. How can I display notes (%N from `git notes add`) as in-line 
information (stripping away newlines at the end)?

I don't think that's currently possible.  You might assume that %w
(wrap) with a huge width would do it, but it doesn't.

How do I figure out the placeholders?

Suggestion for manpage improvements:
1. the pretty formats (oneline, short, ...) should come with a
(t)format string that it corresponds to. They will act as great
examples.

Good idea.

I would also prefer the named formats actually being implemented as
these format strings instead of being hand-coded -- for clarity,
simplicity and for proving that the placeholders are powerful enough.

2. Make sure the descriptions of the pretty formats ("<title-line>",
"<full-commit-message>", ...) are searchable.

Expanding the current one-word descriptions, e.g., with synonyms,
seems like a good idea.  Care to send a doc patch?

René