Re: Usability improvement request: git show revision -- file

[Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>]

Piotr Krukowiecki venit, vidit, dixit 31.03.2011 08:45:
> Hi,
> 
> if there's existing way to do this please tell me.
> 
> There's this file "src/subdir/file". I'm in the "src" directory and want to
> see the "file" at specific revision.
> 
> Knowing about git show I'd expect something like this to work:
> 
>    $ git show master -- subdir/file
> 
> But it shows nothing (no output, no warning).

...because you are asking git to show the commit master, filtered by
subdir/file, and if that file is not changed there, the commit is not
selected. If it is changed there, it shows you only the diff affecting
that file. (We might want to change this to filter the diff only.)

> Following also does not
> work as expected:
> 
>    $ git show master:subdir/file
>    fatal: Path 'src/subdir/file' exists, but not 'subdir/file'.
>    Did you mean 'master:src/subdir/file'?

But git is really understanding about your situation, isn't it? ;)

> 
> Of course following works:
> 
>    $ git show master:src/subdir/file
> 
> but it's not very convenient to have to specify full path, and it's not what
> you would expect given that most other commands accept "-- relativepath"
> syntax.

It's not the command in this case, but the "commit:pathspec" syntax, and
for every command which understands it, it is relative to root (i.e.
expects a full path). But we do have a syntax for relative:

git show master:./subdir/file

Cheers,
Michael