The git-log man page describes the --check option as incompatible with the --exit-code option. I'd like to know what this --exit-code means but I can't find it anywhere. I've tried man git log, man git, Google and direct search here on SO... to no avail!
What does --exit-code mean for git log?
I'd like to know what this
--exit-codemeans [...]
--exit-code is a diff-*1 option that makes the Git command exit with 1 if there are changes, and 0 otherwise.
[...] but I can't find it anywhere.
You can read about it in the git-diff man page (it's only mentioned in passing in the git-log man page).
Both --check and --exit-code are described in the git-diff man page (more specifically, in Documentation/diff-options.txt):
--check Warn if changes introduce whitespace errors. What are considered whitespace errors is controlled by core.whitespace configuration. By default, trailing whitespaces (including lines that solely consist of whitespaces) and a space character that is immediately followed by a tab character inside the initial indent of the line are considered whitespace errors. Exits with non-zero status if problems are found. Not compatible with --exit-code.
and
--exit-code Make the program exit with codes similar to diff(1). That is, it exits with 1 if there were differences and 0 means no differences.
Some, though not all, diff-* options are compatible with git-log. The --check option is, whereas the --exit-code option is not, as hinted at by the following commit message from the Git-project repository:
docs: don't mention
--quietor--exit-codein git-log(1)These are
diff-options, but they don't actually make sense in the context oflog.
(1) diff-* stands for the plumbing commands that porcelain git-diff is based on.
It's mentioned in the git-diff docs (and is apparently not intended to be used with git-log):
"Make the program exit with codes similar to diff(1). That is, it exits with 1 if there were differences and 0 means no differences."
