From: "Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget" <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
To: git@vger.kernel.org
Cc: Derrick Stolee <stolee@gmail.com>,
Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>,
Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] backfill: document acceptance of revision-range in more standard manner
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 2026 23:58:01 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <173831ec92ea712a72f790f3a8eea6643ef7488b.1776297482.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <pull.2088.git.1776297482.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
From: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
302aff09223f (backfill: accept revision arguments, 2026-03-26) added
support for passing revision arguments to 'git backfill' but documented
them only with a prose sentence:
You may also specify the commit limiting options from
git-rev-list(1).
No other command that accepts revision arguments documents them this
way. Commands like log, shortlog, and replay define a formal
<revision-range> entry and include rev-list-options.adoc. Commands like
bundle, fast-export, and filter-branch, which pass arguments through to
the revision machinery without including the full options file, still
define a formal <git-rev-list-args> entry explaining what is accepted.
Add a formal <revision-range> entry in the synopsis and OPTIONS section,
following the convention used by other commands, and mention that
commit-limiting options from git-rev-list(1) are also accepted.
Signed-off-by: Elijah Newren <newren@gmail.com>
---
Documentation/git-backfill.adoc | 15 ++++++++++++---
builtin/backfill.c | 2 +-
2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/git-backfill.adoc b/Documentation/git-backfill.adoc
index 246ab417c2..bf26d7694f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-backfill.adoc
+++ b/Documentation/git-backfill.adoc
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ git-backfill - Download missing objects in a partial clone
SYNOPSIS
--------
[synopsis]
-git backfill [--min-batch-size=<n>] [--[no-]sparse]
+git backfill [--min-batch-size=<n>] [--[no-]sparse] [<revision-range>]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ smaller network calls than downloading the entire repository at clone
time.
By default, `git backfill` downloads all blobs reachable from the `HEAD`
-commit. This set can be restricted or expanded using various options.
+commit. This set can be restricted or expanded using various options below.
THIS COMMAND IS EXPERIMENTAL. ITS BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE IN THE FUTURE.
@@ -63,7 +63,16 @@ OPTIONS
current sparse-checkout. If the sparse-checkout feature is enabled,
then `--sparse` is assumed and can be disabled with `--no-sparse`.
-You may also specify the commit limiting options from linkgit:git-rev-list[1].
+`<revision-range>`::
+ Backfill only blobs reachable from commits in the specified
+ revision range. When no _<revision-range>_ is specified, it
+ defaults to `HEAD` (i.e. the whole history leading to the
+ current commit). For a complete list of ways to spell
+ _<revision-range>_, see the "Specifying Ranges" section of
+ linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
++
+You may also use commit-limiting options understood by
+linkgit:git-rev-list[1] such as `--first-parent`, `--since`, or pathspecs.
SEE ALSO
--------
diff --git a/builtin/backfill.c b/builtin/backfill.c
index a9edddcb7e..e934d360fd 100644
--- a/builtin/backfill.c
+++ b/builtin/backfill.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
#include "path-walk.h"
static const char * const builtin_backfill_usage[] = {
- N_("git backfill [--min-batch-size=<n>] [--[no-]sparse]"),
+ N_("git backfill [--min-batch-size=<n>] [--[no-]sparse] [<revision-range>]"),
NULL
};
--
gitgitgadget
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2026-04-15 23:58 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 8+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-04-15 23:57 [PATCH 0/3] Backfill fixes and edges Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-15 23:58 ` [PATCH 1/3] backfill: reject rev-list arguments that do not make sense Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-16 14:11 ` Derrick Stolee
2026-04-15 23:58 ` Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget [this message]
2026-04-16 14:12 ` [PATCH 2/3] backfill: document acceptance of revision-range in more standard manner Derrick Stolee
2026-04-15 23:58 ` [PATCH 3/3] backfill: default to grabbing edge blobs too Elijah Newren via GitGitGadget
2026-04-16 14:15 ` Derrick Stolee
2026-04-16 14:18 ` [PATCH 0/3] Backfill fixes and edges Derrick Stolee
Reply instructions:
You may reply publicly to this message via plain-text email
using any one of the following methods:
* Save the following mbox file, import it into your mail client,
and reply-to-all from there: mbox
Avoid top-posting and favor interleaved quoting:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Interleaved_style
* Reply using the --to, --cc, and --in-reply-to
switches of git-send-email(1):
git send-email \
--in-reply-to=173831ec92ea712a72f790f3a8eea6643ef7488b.1776297482.git.gitgitgadget@gmail.com \
--to=gitgitgadget@gmail.com \
--cc=git@vger.kernel.org \
--cc=newren@gmail.com \
--cc=stolee@gmail.com \
/path/to/YOUR_REPLY
https://kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/docs/git-send-email.html
* If your mail client supports setting the In-Reply-To header
via mailto: links, try the mailto: link
Be sure your reply has a Subject: header at the top and a blank line
before the message body.
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox