exploring Git history

listing commits applied to a relevant file

Note

Use git log -- foobar.baz.

Note

This is an incomplete explanation.

The -- option causes only commits that are enough to explain how the files that match the path(s) following it came to be to be shown.

Note

Use git log --all --reverse --source -i -p -G "foobar".

Note

This is an incomplete explanation.

The -G option searches for patch text differences containing added or removed lines matching a string or a regular expression.
The -i option enables case insensitivity for the -G search.
The -p option generates a patch.
The --reverse option outputs commits in reverse order.

Note

foobar represents the relevant text. Regular expressions are supported.

Use git log -i --grep="foobar".

Note

This is an incomplete explanation.

The -i option enables case insensitivity for the --grep search.
The --grep option searches for log messages matching a string or a regular expression.

The functionality of the -G option was introduced to me by an answer on Stack Overflow by Jakub Narębski.
The functionality of the -p option was introduced to me by an answer on Stack Overflow by Nathan Kinsinger.
The method of listing commits applied to a relevant file was introduced to me by an answer on Stack Overflow by ralphtheninja.
The method of listing commits in which relevant text was added to a patch or removed from a patch was introduced to me by an answer on Stack Overflow by Mark Longair and an answer on Stack Overflow by Ciro Santilli.
The method of listing commits in which relevant text was present in a log message was introduced to me by an answer on Stack Overflow by hobbs.

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