X-Git-Url: https://git.octo.it/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=Documentation%2Fgit-rev-parse.txt;h=099db294f4316fc39b451e2f54f9736bce9baf3b;hb=bd321bcc51e95f644ac5335abe673afcbcaade62;hp=fa64c5a5617b97aae6ef4ab8f0513b8ed830a871;hpb=5077fa9c1e3af760dd3573ac94be6cb27ad74849;p=git.git

diff --git a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
index fa64c5a5..099db294 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-rev-parse.txt
@@ -54,13 +54,13 @@ OPTIONS
 	`git-diff-\*`).
 
 --not::
-	When showing object names, prefix them with '^' and
-	strip '^' prefix from the object names that already have
+	When showing object names, prefix them with '{caret}' and
+	strip '{caret}' prefix from the object names that already have
 	one.
 
 --symbolic::
 	Usually the object names are output in SHA1 form (with
-	possible '^' prefix); this option makes them output in a
+	possible '{caret}' prefix); this option makes them output in a
 	form as close to the original input as possible.
 
 
@@ -76,6 +76,55 @@ OPTIONS
 	Flags and parameters to be parsed.
 
 
+SPECIFYING REVISIONS
+--------------------
+
+A revision parameter typically, but not necessarily, names a
+commit object.  They use what is called an 'extended SHA1'
+syntax.
+
+* The full SHA1 object name (40-byte hexadecimal string), or
+  a substring of such that is unique within the repository.
+  E.g. dae86e1950b1277e545cee180551750029cfe735 and dae86e both
+  name the same commit object if there are no other object in
+  your repository whose object name starts with dae86e.
+
+* A symbolic ref name.  E.g. 'master' typically means the commit
+  object referenced by $GIT_DIR/refs/heads/master.  If you
+  happen to have both heads/master and tags/master, you can
+  explicitly say 'heads/master' to tell git which one you mean.
+
+* A suffix '{caret}' to a revision parameter means the first parent of
+  that commit object.  '{caret}<n>' means the <n>th parent (i.e.
+  'rev{caret}'
+  is equivalent to 'rev{caret}1').  As a special rule,
+  'rev{caret}0' means the commit itself and is used when 'rev' is the
+  object name of a tag object that refers to a commit object.
+
+* A suffix '~<n>' to a revision parameter means the commit
+  object that is the <n>th generation grand-parent of the named
+  commit object, following only the first parent.  I.e. rev~3 is
+  equivalent to rev{caret}{caret}{caret} which is equivalent to\
+  rev{caret}1{caret}1{caret}1.
+
+* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an object type name enclosed in
+  brace pair (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{commit\}`) means the object
+  could be a tag, and dereference the tag recursively until an
+  object of that type is found or the object cannot be
+  dereferenced anymore (in which case, barf).  `rev{caret}0`
+  introduced earlier is a short-hand for `rev{caret}\{commit\}`.
+
+* A suffix '{caret}' followed by an empty brace pair
+  (e.g. `v0.99.8{caret}\{\}`) means the object could be a tag,
+  and dereference the tag recursively until a non-tag object is
+  found.
+
+'git-rev-parse' also accepts a prefix '{caret}' to revision parameter,
+which is passed to 'git-rev-list'.  Two revision parameters
+concatenated with '..' is a short-hand for writing a range
+between them.  I.e. 'r1..r2' is equivalent to saying '{caret}r1 r2'
+
+
 Author
 ------
 Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> and
@@ -87,5 +136,5 @@ Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
 
 GIT
 ---
-Part of the link:git.html[git] suite
+Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite