How to get the changes on a branch in git

Question

What is the best way to get a log of commits on a branch since the time it was branched from the current branch? My solution so far is:

git log $(git merge-base HEAD branch)..branch

The documentation for git-diff indicates that "git diff A...B" is equivalent to "git diff $(git-merge-base A B) B". On the other hand, the documentation for git-rev-parse indicates that "r1...r2" is defined as "r1 r2 --not $(git merge-base --all r1 r2)". Why are these different? Note that "git diff HEAD...branch" gives me the diffs I want, but the corresponding git log command gives me more than what I want.

In pictures, suppose this:

         x---y---z---branch
        /
---a---b---c---d---e---HEAD

I would like to get a log containing commits x, y, z. "git diff HEAD...branch" gives these commits. However, "git log HEAD...branch" gives x, y, z, c, d, e.

Answer 1

In the context of a revision list, A...B is how git-rev-parse defines it. git-log takes a revision list. git-diff does not take a list of revisions - it takes one or two revisions, and has defined the A...B syntax to mean how it's defined in the git-diff manpage. If git-diff did not explicitly define A...B, then that syntax would be invalid. Note that the git-rev-parse manpage describes A...B in the "Specifying Ranges" section, and everything in that section is only valid in situations where a revision range is valid (i.e. when a revision list is desired).

To get a log containing just x, y, and z, try git log HEAD..branch (two dots, not three). This is identical to git log branch --not HEAD, and means all commits on branch that aren't on HEAD.

Answer 2

git cherry branch [newbranch]

does exactly what you are asking.

I am also very fond of:

git diff --name-status branch [newbranch]

Which isn't exactly what you're asking, but is still very useful in the same context.

Answer 3

This is similar to the answer I posted on: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2176278/preview-a-git-push/2831135#2831135

Drop these funcs into your bash profile:

• gbout - git branch outgoing
• gbin - git branch incoming

You can use this like:

• If on master: gbin branch1 <-- this will show you what's in branch1 and not in master
• If on master: gbout branch1 <-- this will show you what's in master that's not in branch 1

This will work with any branch.

function parse_git_branch {
  git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/\1/'
}

function gbin { 
    echo branch \($1\) has these commits and \($(parse_git_branch)\) does not 
    git log ..$1 --no-merges --format='%h | Author:%an | Date:%ad | %s' --date=local
}

function gbout { 
    echo branch \($(parse_git_branch)\) has these commits and \($1\) does not 
    git log $1.. --no-merges --format='%h | Author:%an | Date:%ad | %s' --date=local
}