Does git log --branches work?

Question

I can\'t seem to get git log --branches to correctly filter its output. It seems as if Git ignores it.

For example, the head of git log --graph --

Answer 1

Because you specified --all, you override any branch specifications you made.

Answer 2

Firstly, (the other) Adam is right that it doesn't make sense to use --all for this: if you only want to see one branch like your question states, why ask for all branches?

Secondly, as already stated in comments to other answers, you don't need --branches; just do git log mybranch.

Thirdly, I can explain why git log --branches=mybranch doesn't work. The git-log(1) man page says:

--branches[=<pattern>]
    Pretend as if all the refs in refs/heads are listed on
    the command line as <commit>. If <pattern> is given, 
    limit branches to ones matching given shell glob. If 
    pattern lacks ?, *, or [, /* at the end is implied.

The last sentence is the crucial point here. If the <pattern> is just mybranch then there is no globbing character, so git-log interprets it as if you'd typed

git log --branches=mybranch/*

which only matches references under $repo/.git/refs/heads/mybranch/*, i.e. branches which begin with mybranch/.

There is a dirty hack to prevent the /* from being assumed:

git log --branches=[m]ybranch

but I can't think of any good reason why you would want to do this rather than just typing

git log mybranch

Answer 3

Explanation of --branches

git log <commit> lists all commits that are reachable from any <commit> that you list on the command line.

• --all does the same but pretends that you listed all the refs in refs/.

• --branches[=<pattern>] does the same but pretends that you listed all the refs in refs/heads. It also allows you to limit with a glob pattern. As a gotcha, if your glob pattern lacks ?, , or [, then an / at the end is implied.

Examples

git log topic1 topic2 topic3

means list all the commits reachable from topic1, topic2, or topic3.

git log -all

means list all the commits that are reachable from any of the refs that are output from git show-ref.

git log --branches="topic*"

means list all the commits that are reachable from from any branch that starts with the prefix topic.

Sources

https://schacon.github.io/git/git-log.html

https://schacon.github.io/git/git-rev-list.html

Answer 4

Does anyone know how to use this command successfully?

EDIT: All I want to be able to do is get the log of one branch or another, without having to do a checkout first.

In order to visualise the graph of commits on all branches and remotes do this:

$ git log --graph --branches=* --remotes=* --decorate

Use this with other git-log options to control verbosity, e.g. --oneline, --name-status, etc.

You may have to fetch remote changes first in order to see them. You can fetch all remote changes without applying them to your current branch(es) like this:

$ git fetch --all

Answer 5

Let's say your history looked like this

  d -- e [refs/tags/release1]
 /
a -- b -- c [refs/heads/master]
      \
       f -- g [refs/heads/dev1]
        \
         h [refs/heads/dev2]

If you do git log --branches it's the same git log master dev1 dev2, so you'll see commits a,b,c,f,g and h. If you did git log release1 --branches=dev* it's the same as git log release1 dev1 dev2. You'll see a,d,e,b,f,g, and h, but not c.