3 == What's an Object Walk?
5 The object walk is a key concept in Git - this is the process that underpins
6 operations like object transfer and fsck. Beginning from a given commit, the
7 list of objects is found by walking parent relationships between commits (commit
8 X based on commit W) and containment relationships between objects (tree Y is
9 contained within commit X, and blob Z is located within tree Y, giving our
10 working tree for commit X something like `y/z.txt`).
12 A related concept is the revision walk, which is focused on commit objects and
13 their parent relationships and does not delve into other object types. The
14 revision walk is used for operations like `git log`.
18 - `Documentation/user-manual.txt` under "Hacking Git" contains some coverage of
19 the revision walker in its various incarnations.
21 - https://eagain.net/articles/git-for-computer-scientists/[Git for Computer Scientists]
22 gives a good overview of the types of objects in Git and what your object
23 walk is really describing.
27 Create a new branch from `master`.
30 git checkout -b revwalk origin/master
33 We'll put our fiddling into a new command. For fun, let's name it `git walken`.
34 Open up a new file `builtin/walken.c` and set up the command handler:
40 * Part of the "My First Object Walk" tutorial.
45 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
47 trace_printf(_("cmd_walken incoming...\n"));
52 NOTE: `trace_printf()` differs from `printf()` in that it can be turned on or
53 off at runtime. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will write `walken` as
54 though it is intended for use as a "plumbing" command: that is, a command which
55 is used primarily in scripts, rather than interactively by humans (a "porcelain"
56 command). So we will send our debug output to `trace_printf()` instead. When
57 running, enable trace output by setting the environment variable `GIT_TRACE`.
59 Add usage text and `-h` handling, like all subcommands should consistently do
60 (our test suite will notice and complain if you fail to do so).
63 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
65 const char * const walken_usage[] = {
69 struct option options[] = {
73 argc = parse_options(argc, argv, prefix, options, walken_usage, 0);
79 Also add the relevant line in `builtin.h` near `cmd_whatchanged()`:
82 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix);
85 Include the command in `git.c` in `commands[]` near the entry for `whatchanged`,
86 maintaining alphabetical ordering:
89 { "walken", cmd_walken, RUN_SETUP },
92 Add it to the `Makefile` near the line for `builtin/worktree.o`:
95 BUILTIN_OBJS += builtin/walken.o
98 Build and test out your command, without forgetting to ensure the `DEVELOPER`
99 flag is set, and with `GIT_TRACE` enabled so the debug output can be seen:
102 $ echo DEVELOPER=1 >>config.mak
104 $ GIT_TRACE=1 ./bin-wrappers/git walken
107 NOTE: For a more exhaustive overview of the new command process, take a look at
108 `Documentation/MyFirstContribution.txt`.
110 NOTE: A reference implementation can be found at
111 https://github.com/nasamuffin/git/tree/revwalk.
113 === `struct rev_cmdline_info`
115 The definition of `struct rev_cmdline_info` can be found in `revision.h`.
117 This struct is contained within the `rev_info` struct and is used to reflect
118 parameters provided by the user over the CLI.
120 `nr` represents the number of `rev_cmdline_entry` present in the array.
122 `alloc` is used by the `ALLOC_GROW` macro. Check `cache.h` - this variable is
123 used to track the allocated size of the list.
127 `item` is the object provided upon which to base the object walk. Items in Git
128 can be blobs, trees, commits, or tags. (See `Documentation/gittutorial-2.txt`.)
130 `name` is the object ID (OID) of the object - a hex string you may be familiar
131 with from using Git to organize your source in the past. Check the tutorial
132 mentioned above towards the top for a discussion of where the OID can come
135 `whence` indicates some information about what to do with the parents of the
136 specified object. We'll explore this flag more later on; take a look at
137 `Documentation/revisions.txt` to get an idea of what could set the `whence`
140 `flags` are used to hint the beginning of the revision walk and are the first
141 block under the `#include`s in `revision.h`. The most likely ones to be set in
142 the `rev_cmdline_info` are `UNINTERESTING` and `BOTTOM`, but these same flags
143 can be used during the walk, as well.
145 === `struct rev_info`
147 This one is quite a bit longer, and many fields are only used during the walk
148 by `revision.c` - not configuration options. Most of the configurable flags in
149 `struct rev_info` have a mirror in `Documentation/rev-list-options.txt`. It's a
150 good idea to take some time and read through that document.
154 First, let's see if we can replicate the output of `git log --oneline`. We'll
155 refer back to the implementation frequently to discover norms when performing
156 an object walk of our own.
158 To do so, we'll first find all the commits, in order, which preceded the current
159 commit. We'll extract the name and subject of the commit from each.
161 Ideally, we will also be able to find out which ones are currently at the tip of
166 Preparing for your object walk has some distinct stages.
168 1. Perform default setup for this mode, and others which may be invoked.
169 2. Check configuration files for relevant settings.
170 3. Set up the `rev_info` struct.
171 4. Tweak the initialized `rev_info` to suit the current walk.
172 5. Prepare the `rev_info` for the walk.
173 6. Iterate over the objects, processing each one.
177 Before examining configuration files which may modify command behavior, set up
178 default state for switches or options your command may have. If your command
179 utilizes other Git components, ask them to set up their default states as well.
180 For instance, `git log` takes advantage of `grep` and `diff` functionality, so
181 its `init_log_defaults()` sets its own state (`decoration_style`) and asks
182 `grep` and `diff` to initialize themselves by calling each of their
183 initialization functions.
185 For our first example within `git walken`, we don't intend to use any other
186 components within Git, and we don't have any configuration to do. However, we
187 may want to add some later, so for now, we can add an empty placeholder. Create
188 a new function in `builtin/walken.c`:
191 static void init_walken_defaults(void)
194 * We don't actually need the same components `git log` does; leave this
200 Make sure to add a line invoking it inside of `cmd_walken()`.
203 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
205 init_walken_defaults();
209 ==== Configuring From `.gitconfig`
211 Next, we should have a look at any relevant configuration settings (i.e.,
212 settings readable and settable from `git config`). This is done by providing a
213 callback to `git_config()`; within that callback, you can also invoke methods
214 from other components you may need that need to intercept these options. Your
215 callback will be invoked once per each configuration value which Git knows about
216 (global, local, worktree, etc.).
218 Similarly to the default values, we don't have anything to do here yet
219 ourselves; however, we should call `git_default_config()` if we aren't calling
220 any other existing config callbacks.
222 Add a new function to `builtin/walken.c`:
225 static int git_walken_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
228 * For now, we don't have any custom configuration, so fall back to
229 * the default config.
231 return git_default_config(var, value, cb);
235 Make sure to invoke `git_config()` with it in your `cmd_walken()`:
238 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
242 git_config(git_walken_config, NULL);
248 ==== Setting Up `rev_info`
250 Now that we've gathered external configuration and options, it's time to
251 initialize the `rev_info` object which we will use to perform the walk. This is
252 typically done by calling `repo_init_revisions()` with the repository you intend
253 to target, as well as the `prefix` argument of `cmd_walken` and your `rev_info`
256 Add the `struct rev_info` and the `repo_init_revisions()` call:
258 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
260 /* This can go wherever you like in your declarations.*/
264 /* This should go after the git_config() call. */
265 repo_init_revisions(the_repository, &rev, prefix);
271 ==== Tweaking `rev_info` For the Walk
273 We're getting close, but we're still not quite ready to go. Now that `rev` is
274 initialized, we can modify it to fit our needs. This is usually done within a
275 helper for clarity, so let's add one:
278 static void final_rev_info_setup(struct rev_info *rev)
281 * We want to mimic the appearance of `git log --oneline`, so let's
282 * force oneline format.
284 get_commit_format("oneline", rev);
286 /* Start our object walk at HEAD. */
287 add_head_to_pending(rev);
293 Instead of using the shorthand `add_head_to_pending()`, you could do
296 struct setup_revision_opt opt;
298 memset(&opt, 0, sizeof(opt));
300 opt.revarg_opt = REVARG_COMMITTISH;
301 setup_revisions(argc, argv, rev, &opt);
303 Using a `setup_revision_opt` gives you finer control over your walk's starting
307 Then let's invoke `final_rev_info_setup()` after the call to
308 `repo_init_revisions()`:
311 int cmd_walken(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
315 final_rev_info_setup(&rev);
321 Later, we may wish to add more arguments to `final_rev_info_setup()`. But for
322 now, this is all we need.
324 ==== Preparing `rev_info` For the Walk
326 Now that `rev` is all initialized and configured, we've got one more setup step
327 before we get rolling. We can do this in a helper, which will both prepare the
328 `rev_info` for the walk, and perform the walk itself. Let's start the helper
329 with the call to `prepare_revision_walk()`, which can return an error without
333 static void walken_commit_walk(struct rev_info *rev)
335 if (prepare_revision_walk(rev))
336 die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
340 NOTE: `die()` prints to `stderr` and exits the program. Since it will print to
341 `stderr` it's likely to be seen by a human, so we will localize it.
343 ==== Performing the Walk!
345 Finally! We are ready to begin the walk itself. Now we can see that `rev_info`
346 can also be used as an iterator; we move to the next item in the walk by using
347 `get_revision()` repeatedly. Add the listed variable declarations at the top and
348 the walk loop below the `prepare_revision_walk()` call within your
349 `walken_commit_walk()`:
352 static void walken_commit_walk(struct rev_info *rev)
354 struct commit *commit;
355 struct strbuf prettybuf = STRBUF_INIT;
359 while ((commit = get_revision(rev))) {
363 strbuf_reset(&prettybuf);
364 pp_commit_easy(CMIT_FMT_ONELINE, commit, &prettybuf);
367 strbuf_release(&prettybuf);
371 NOTE: `puts()` prints a `char*` to `stdout`. Since this is the part of the
372 command we expect to be machine-parsed, we're sending it directly to stdout.
378 $ ./bin-wrappers/git walken
381 You should see all of the subject lines of all the commits in
382 your tree's history, in order, ending with the initial commit, "Initial revision
383 of "git", the information manager from hell". Congratulations! You've written
384 your first revision walk. You can play with printing some additional fields
385 from each commit if you're curious; have a look at the functions available in
390 Next, let's try to filter the commits we see based on their author. This is
391 equivalent to running `git log --author=<pattern>`. We can add a filter by
392 modifying `rev_info.grep_filter`, which is a `struct grep_opt`.
394 First some setup. Add `init_grep_defaults()` to `init_walken_defaults()` and add
395 `grep_config()` to `git_walken_config()`:
398 static void init_walken_defaults(void)
400 init_grep_defaults(the_repository);
405 static int git_walken_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
407 grep_config(var, value, cb);
408 return git_default_config(var, value, cb);
412 Next, we can modify the `grep_filter`. This is done with convenience functions
413 found in `grep.h`. For fun, we're filtering to only commits from folks using a
414 `gmail.com` email address - a not-very-precise guess at who may be working on
415 Git as a hobby. Since we're checking the author, which is a specific line in the
416 header, we'll use the `append_header_grep_pattern()` helper. We can use
417 the `enum grep_header_field` to indicate which part of the commit header we want
420 In `final_rev_info_setup()`, add your filter line:
423 static void final_rev_info_setup(int argc, const char **argv,
424 const char *prefix, struct rev_info *rev)
428 append_header_grep_pattern(&rev->grep_filter, GREP_HEADER_AUTHOR,
430 compile_grep_patterns(&rev->grep_filter);
436 `append_header_grep_pattern()` adds your new "gmail" pattern to `rev_info`, but
437 it won't work unless we compile it with `compile_grep_patterns()`.
439 NOTE: If you are using `setup_revisions()` (for example, if you are passing a
440 `setup_revision_opt` instead of using `add_head_to_pending()`), you don't need
441 to call `compile_grep_patterns()` because `setup_revisions()` calls it for you.
443 NOTE: We could add the same filter via the `append_grep_pattern()` helper if we
444 wanted to, but `append_header_grep_pattern()` adds the `enum grep_context` and
445 `enum grep_pat_token` for us.
447 === Changing the Order
449 There are a few ways that we can change the order of the commits during a
450 revision walk. Firstly, we can use the `enum rev_sort_order` to choose from some
453 `topo_order` is the same as `git log --topo-order`: we avoid showing a parent
454 before all of its children have been shown, and we avoid mixing commits which
455 are in different lines of history. (`git help log`'s section on `--topo-order`
456 has a very nice diagram to illustrate this.)
458 Let's see what happens when we run with `REV_SORT_BY_COMMIT_DATE` as opposed to
459 `REV_SORT_BY_AUTHOR_DATE`. Add the following:
462 static void final_rev_info_setup(int argc, const char **argv,
463 const char *prefix, struct rev_info *rev)
468 rev->sort_order = REV_SORT_BY_COMMIT_DATE;
474 Let's output this into a file so we can easily diff it with the walk sorted by
479 $ ./bin-wrappers/git walken > commit-date.txt
482 Then, let's sort by author date and run it again.
485 static void final_rev_info_setup(int argc, const char **argv,
486 const char *prefix, struct rev_info *rev)
491 rev->sort_order = REV_SORT_BY_AUTHOR_DATE;
499 $ ./bin-wrappers/git walken > author-date.txt
502 Finally, compare the two. This is a little less helpful without object names or
503 dates, but hopefully we get the idea.
506 $ diff -u commit-date.txt author-date.txt
509 This display indicates that commits can be reordered after they're written, for
510 example with `git rebase`.
512 Let's try one more reordering of commits. `rev_info` exposes a `reverse` flag.
513 Set that flag somewhere inside of `final_rev_info_setup()`:
516 static void final_rev_info_setup(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix,
517 struct rev_info *rev)
527 Run your walk again and note the difference in order. (If you remove the grep
528 pattern, you should see the last commit this call gives you as your current
533 So far we've been walking only commits. But Git has more types of objects than
534 that! Let's see if we can walk _all_ objects, and find out some information
537 We can base our work on an example. `git pack-objects` prepares all kinds of
538 objects for packing into a bitmap or packfile. The work we are interested in
539 resides in `builtins/pack-objects.c:get_object_list()`; examination of that
540 function shows that the all-object walk is being performed by
541 `traverse_commit_list()` or `traverse_commit_list_filtered()`. Those two
542 functions reside in `list-objects.c`; examining the source shows that, despite
543 the name, these functions traverse all kinds of objects. Let's have a look at
544 the arguments to `traverse_commit_list_filtered()`, which are a superset of the
545 arguments to the unfiltered version.
547 - `struct list_objects_filter_options *filter_options`: This is a struct which
548 stores a filter-spec as outlined in `Documentation/rev-list-options.txt`.
549 - `struct rev_info *revs`: This is the `rev_info` used for the walk.
550 - `show_commit_fn show_commit`: A callback which will be used to handle each
551 individual commit object.
552 - `show_object_fn show_object`: A callback which will be used to handle each
553 non-commit object (so each blob, tree, or tag).
554 - `void *show_data`: A context buffer which is passed in turn to `show_commit`
556 - `struct oidset *omitted`: A linked-list of object IDs which the provided
557 filter caused to be omitted.
559 It looks like this `traverse_commit_list_filtered()` uses callbacks we provide
560 instead of needing us to call it repeatedly ourselves. Cool! Let's add the
563 For the sake of this tutorial, we'll simply keep track of how many of each kind
564 of object we find. At file scope in `builtin/walken.c` add the following
568 static int commit_count;
569 static int tag_count;
570 static int blob_count;
571 static int tree_count;
574 Commits are handled by a different callback than other objects; let's do that
578 static void walken_show_commit(struct commit *cmt, void *buf)
584 The `cmt` argument is fairly self-explanatory. But it's worth mentioning that
585 the `buf` argument is actually the context buffer that we can provide to the
586 traversal calls - `show_data`, which we mentioned a moment ago.
588 Since we have the `struct commit` object, we can look at all the same parts that
589 we looked at in our earlier commit-only walk. For the sake of this tutorial,
590 though, we'll just increment the commit counter and move on.
592 The callback for non-commits is a little different, as we'll need to check
593 which kind of object we're dealing with:
596 static void walken_show_object(struct object *obj, const char *str, void *buf)
609 BUG("unexpected commit object in walken_show_object\n");
611 BUG("unexpected object type %s in walken_show_object\n",
612 type_name(obj->type));
617 Again, `obj` is fairly self-explanatory, and we can guess that `buf` is the same
618 context pointer that `walken_show_commit()` receives: the `show_data` argument
619 to `traverse_commit_list()` and `traverse_commit_list_filtered()`. Finally,
620 `str` contains the name of the object, which ends up being something like
621 `foo.txt` (blob), `bar/baz` (tree), or `v1.2.3` (tag).
623 To help assure us that we aren't double-counting commits, we'll include some
624 complaining if a commit object is routed through our non-commit callback; we'll
625 also complain if we see an invalid object type. Since those two cases should be
626 unreachable, and would only change in the event of a semantic change to the Git
627 codebase, we complain by using `BUG()` - which is a signal to a developer that
628 the change they made caused unintended consequences, and the rest of the
629 codebase needs to be updated to understand that change. `BUG()` is not intended
630 to be seen by the public, so it is not localized.
632 Our main object walk implementation is substantially different from our commit
633 walk implementation, so let's make a new function to perform the object walk. We
634 can perform setup which is applicable to all objects here, too, to keep separate
635 from setup which is applicable to commit-only walks.
637 We'll start by enabling all types of objects in the `struct rev_info`. We'll
638 also turn on `tree_blobs_in_commit_order`, which means that we will walk a
639 commit's tree and everything it points to immediately after we find each commit,
640 as opposed to waiting for the end and walking through all trees after the commit
641 history has been discovered. With the appropriate settings configured, we are
642 ready to call `prepare_revision_walk()`.
645 static void walken_object_walk(struct rev_info *rev)
647 rev->tree_objects = 1;
648 rev->blob_objects = 1;
649 rev->tag_objects = 1;
650 rev->tree_blobs_in_commit_order = 1;
652 if (prepare_revision_walk(rev))
653 die(_("revision walk setup failed"));
661 Let's start by calling just the unfiltered walk and reporting our counts.
662 Complete your implementation of `walken_object_walk()`:
665 traverse_commit_list(rev, walken_show_commit, walken_show_object, NULL);
667 printf("commits %d\nblobs %d\ntags %d\ntrees %d\n", commit_count,
668 blob_count, tag_count, tree_count);
672 NOTE: This output is intended to be machine-parsed. Therefore, we are not
673 sending it to `trace_printf()`, and we are not localizing it - we need scripts
674 to be able to count on the formatting to be exactly the way it is shown here.
675 If we were intending this output to be read by humans, we would need to localize
678 Finally, we'll ask `cmd_walken()` to use the object walk instead. Discussing
679 command line options is out of scope for this tutorial, so we'll just hardcode
680 a branch we can change at compile time. Where you call `final_rev_info_setup()`
681 and `walken_commit_walk()`, instead branch like so:
685 add_head_to_pending(&rev);
686 walken_object_walk(&rev);
688 final_rev_info_setup(argc, argv, prefix, &rev);
689 walken_commit_walk(&rev);
693 NOTE: For simplicity, we've avoided all the filters and sorts we applied in
694 `final_rev_info_setup()` and simply added `HEAD` to our pending queue. If you
695 want, you can certainly use the filters we added before by moving
696 `final_rev_info_setup()` out of the conditional and removing the call to
697 `add_head_to_pending()`.
699 Now we can try to run our command! It should take noticeably longer than the
700 commit walk, but an examination of the output will give you an idea why. Your
701 output should look similar to this example, but with different counts:
704 Object walk completed. Found 55733 commits, 100274 blobs, 0 tags, and 104210 trees.
707 This makes sense. We have more trees than commits because the Git project has
708 lots of subdirectories which can change, plus at least one tree per commit. We
709 have no tags because we started on a commit (`HEAD`) and while tags can point to
710 commits, commits can't point to tags.
712 NOTE: You will have different counts when you run this yourself! The number of
713 objects grows along with the Git project.
717 There are a handful of filters that we can apply to the object walk laid out in
718 `Documentation/rev-list-options.txt`. These filters are typically useful for
719 operations such as creating packfiles or performing a partial clone. They are
720 defined in `list-objects-filter-options.h`. For the purposes of this tutorial we
721 will use the "tree:1" filter, which causes the walk to omit all trees and blobs
722 which are not directly referenced by commits reachable from the commit in
723 `pending` when the walk begins. (`pending` is the list of objects which need to
724 be traversed during a walk; you can imagine a breadth-first tree traversal to
725 help understand. In our case, that means we omit trees and blobs not directly
726 referenced by `HEAD` or `HEAD`'s history, because we begin the walk with only
727 `HEAD` in the `pending` list.)
729 First, we'll need to `#include "list-objects-filter-options.h`" and set up the
730 `struct list_objects_filter_options` at the top of the function.
733 static void walken_object_walk(struct rev_info *rev)
735 struct list_objects_filter_options filter_options = {};
740 For now, we are not going to track the omitted objects, so we'll replace those
741 parameters with `NULL`. For the sake of simplicity, we'll add a simple
742 build-time branch to use our filter or not. Replace the line calling
743 `traverse_commit_list()` with the following, which will remind us which kind of
744 walk we've just performed:
749 trace_printf(_("Unfiltered object walk.\n"));
750 traverse_commit_list(rev, walken_show_commit,
751 walken_show_object, NULL);
754 _("Filtered object walk with filterspec 'tree:1'.\n"));
755 parse_list_objects_filter(&filter_options, "tree:1");
757 traverse_commit_list_filtered(&filter_options, rev,
758 walken_show_commit, walken_show_object, NULL, NULL);
762 `struct list_objects_filter_options` is usually built directly from a command
763 line argument, so the module provides an easy way to build one from a string.
764 Even though we aren't taking user input right now, we can still build one with
765 a hardcoded string using `parse_list_objects_filter()`.
767 With the filter spec "tree:1", we are expecting to see _only_ the root tree for
768 each commit; therefore, the tree object count should be less than or equal to
769 the number of commits. (For an example of why that's true: `git commit --revert`
770 points to the same tree object as its grandparent.)
772 === Counting Omitted Objects
774 We also have the capability to enumerate all objects which were omitted by a
775 filter, like with `git log --filter=<spec> --filter-print-omitted`. Asking
776 `traverse_commit_list_filtered()` to populate the `omitted` list means that our
777 object walk does not perform any better than an unfiltered object walk; all
778 reachable objects are walked in order to populate the list.
780 First, add the `struct oidset` and related items we will use to iterate it:
783 static void walken_object_walk(
786 struct oidset omitted;
787 struct oidset_iter oit;
788 struct object_id *oid = NULL;
789 int omitted_count = 0;
790 oidset_init(&omitted, 0);
795 Modify the call to `traverse_commit_list_filtered()` to include your `omitted`
801 traverse_commit_list_filtered(&filter_options, rev,
802 walken_show_commit, walken_show_object, NULL, &omitted);
807 Then, after your traversal, the `oidset` traversal is pretty straightforward.
808 Count all the objects within and modify the print statement:
811 /* Count the omitted objects. */
812 oidset_iter_init(&omitted, &oit);
814 while ((oid = oidset_iter_next(&oit)))
817 printf("commits %d\nblobs %d\ntags %d\ntrees%d\nomitted %d\n",
818 commit_count, blob_count, tag_count, tree_count, omitted_count);
821 By running your walk with and without the filter, you should find that the total
822 object count in each case is identical. You can also time each invocation of
823 the `walken` subcommand, with and without `omitted` being passed in, to confirm
824 to yourself the runtime impact of tracking all omitted objects.
826 === Changing the Order
828 Finally, let's demonstrate that you can also reorder walks of all objects, not
829 just walks of commits. First, we'll make our handlers chattier - modify
830 `walken_show_commit()` and `walken_show_object()` to print the object as they
834 static void walken_show_commit(struct commit *cmt, void *buf)
836 trace_printf("commit: %s\n", oid_to_hex(&cmt->object.oid));
840 static void walken_show_object(struct object *obj, const char *str, void *buf)
842 trace_printf("%s: %s\n", type_name(obj->type), oid_to_hex(&obj->oid));
848 NOTE: Since we will be examining this output directly as humans, we'll use
849 `trace_printf()` here. Additionally, since this change introduces a significant
850 number of printed lines, using `trace_printf()` will allow us to easily silence
851 those lines without having to recompile.
853 (Leave the counter increment logic in place.)
855 With only that change, run again (but save yourself some scrollback):
858 $ GIT_TRACE=1 ./bin-wrappers/git walken | head -n 10
861 Take a look at the top commit with `git show` and the object ID you printed; it
862 should be the same as the output of `git show HEAD`.
864 Next, let's change a setting on our `struct rev_info` within
865 `walken_object_walk()`. Find where you're changing the other settings on `rev`,
866 such as `rev->tree_objects` and `rev->tree_blobs_in_commit_order`, and add the
867 `reverse` setting at the bottom:
872 rev->tree_objects = 1;
873 rev->blob_objects = 1;
874 rev->tag_objects = 1;
875 rev->tree_blobs_in_commit_order = 1;
881 Now, run again, but this time, let's grab the last handful of objects instead
882 of the first handful:
886 $ GIT_TRACE=1 ./bin-wrappers git walken | tail -n 10
889 The last commit object given should have the same OID as the one we saw at the
890 top before, and running `git show <oid>` with that OID should give you again
891 the same results as `git show HEAD`. Furthermore, if you run and examine the
892 first ten lines again (with `head` instead of `tail` like we did before applying
893 the `reverse` setting), you should see that now the first commit printed is the
894 initial commit, `e83c5163`.
898 Let's review. In this tutorial, we:
900 - Built a commit walk from the ground up
901 - Enabled a grep filter for that commit walk
902 - Changed the sort order of that filtered commit walk
903 - Built an object walk (tags, commits, trees, and blobs) from the ground up
904 - Learned how to add a filter-spec to an object walk
905 - Changed the display order of the filtered object walk