`git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

`git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

[Gary Fixler]

I sometimes pull things in from unrelated repositories to rebase or
cherry-pick items from a different line of development. I've done this
to bring isolated features into a project in their own feature
branches with their full development histories, and also to extract
lines of development out to their own project, with their histories
intact. These are usually not connected commits, but things I have to
track down across time with `git log -S` and friends.

When I `git remote add otherrepo <url>`, then view things with my
aliased `git log --oneline --all --graph --decorate` alias, I'm
usually immediately straining to figure out what's what, as the two
trees stack onto each other with no separation. It would be nice if
root commits used something other than *, and/or if they could be
colored differently by default, or via some option to make them stand
out as parent-less commits.

Is this feasible, or already possible?

Re: `git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

[John Keeping]

On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 11:40:40PM -0700, Gary Fixler wrote:
> I sometimes pull things in from unrelated repositories to rebase or
> cherry-pick items from a different line of development. I've done this
> to bring isolated features into a project in their own feature
> branches with their full development histories, and also to extract
> lines of development out to their own project, with their histories
> intact. These are usually not connected commits, but things I have to
> track down across time with `git log -S` and friends.
> 
> When I `git remote add otherrepo <url>`, then view things with my
> aliased `git log --oneline --all --graph --decorate` alias, I'm
> usually immediately straining to figure out what's what, as the two
> trees stack onto each other with no separation. It would be nice if
> root commits used something other than *, and/or if they could be
> colored differently by default, or via some option to make them stand
> out as parent-less commits.
> 
> Is this feasible, or already possible?

Have you tried `git log --boundary`?

Re: `git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

[Gary Fixler]

I just made a new test repo, added and fetched two unrelated repos,
and then did the log view (all/graph/decorate/oneline), and tacked on
--boundary, but saw no change. The root commits looked the same.

-g


On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 1:08 AM, John Keeping <john@keeping.me.uk> wrote:
> On Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 11:40:40PM -0700, Gary Fixler wrote:
>> I sometimes pull things in from unrelated repositories to rebase or
>> cherry-pick items from a different line of development. I've done this
>> to bring isolated features into a project in their own feature
>> branches with their full development histories, and also to extract
>> lines of development out to their own project, with their histories
>> intact. These are usually not connected commits, but things I have to
>> track down across time with `git log -S` and friends.
>>
>> When I `git remote add otherrepo <url>`, then view things with my
>> aliased `git log --oneline --all --graph --decorate` alias, I'm
>> usually immediately straining to figure out what's what, as the two
>> trees stack onto each other with no separation. It would be nice if
>> root commits used something other than *, and/or if they could be
>> colored differently by default, or via some option to make them stand
>> out as parent-less commits.
>>
>> Is this feasible, or already possible?
>
> Have you tried `git log --boundary`?

Re: `git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

[Jeff King]

On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 03:04:19AM -0700, Gary Fixler wrote:

> I just made a new test repo, added and fetched two unrelated repos,
> and then did the log view (all/graph/decorate/oneline), and tacked on
> --boundary, but saw no change. The root commits looked the same.

There was some discussion a while back on making root commits more
apparent in the graph view:

  http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/239580

That topic has stalled, but perhaps you can help push it forward.

-Peff

Re: `git log --graph` with multiple roots is confusing

[Duy Nguyen]

On Wed, Jul 9, 2014 at 1:51 PM, Jeff King <peff@peff.net> wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 03:04:19AM -0700, Gary Fixler wrote:
>
>> I just made a new test repo, added and fetched two unrelated repos,
>> and then did the log view (all/graph/decorate/oneline), and tacked on
>> --boundary, but saw no change. The root commits looked the same.
>
> There was some discussion a while back on making root commits more
> apparent in the graph view:
>
>   http://article.gmane.org/gmane.comp.version-control.git/239580
>
> That topic has stalled, but perhaps you can help push it forward.

Grafted commits are marked --decorate, so perhaps another (simpler)
route to make root commits stand out is decorate them.
-- 
Duy