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

[Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>]

Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:

> On Sun, Feb 22, 2009 at 6:49 PM, Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> wrote:
>> Felipe Contreras <felipe.contreras@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> --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.

>>> 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.