annotate mercurial/help/revsets.txt @ 23742:3a4d8a6ce432

revset: introduce new operator "##" to concatenate strings/symbols at runtime

Before this patch, there is no way to concatenate strings at runtime.

For example, to search for the issue ID "1234" in descriptions against
all of "issue 1234", "issue:1234", issue1234" and "bug(1234)"
patterns, the revset below should be written fully from scratch for
each issue ID.

    grep(r"\bissue[ :]?1234\b|\bbug\(1234\)")

This patch introduces new infix operator "##" to concatenate
strings/symbols at runtime. Operator symbol "##" comes from the same
one of C pre-processor. This concatenation allows parametrizing a part
of strings in revset queries.

In the case of example above, the definition of the revset alias using
operator "##" below can search issue ID "1234" in complicated patterns
by "issue(1234)" simply:

    issue($1) = grep(r"\bissue[ :]?" ## $1 ## r"\b|\bbug\(" ## $1 ## r"\)")

"##" operator does:

  - concatenate not only strings but also symbols into the string

    Exact distinction between strings and symbols seems not to be
    convenience, because it is tiresome for users (and
    "revset.getstring" treats both similarly)

    For example of revset alias "issue()", "issue(1234)" is easier
    than "issue('1234')".

  - have higher priority than any other prefix, infix and postfix
    operators (like as "##" of C pre-processor)

    This patch (re-)assigns the priority 20 to "##", and 21 to "(",
    because priority 19 is already assigned to "-" as prefix "negate".

Mercurial supports a functional language for selecting a set of
revisions.

The language supports a number of predicates which are joined by infix
operators. Parenthesis can be used for grouping.

Identifiers such as branch names may need quoting with single or
double quotes if they contain characters like ``-`` or if they match
one of the predefined predicates.

Special characters can be used in quoted identifiers by escaping them,
e.g., ``\n`` is interpreted as a newline. To prevent them from being
interpreted, strings can be prefixed with ``r``, e.g. ``r'...'``.

There is a single prefix operator:

``not x``
  Changesets not in x. Short form is ``! x``.

These are the supported infix operators:

``x::y``
  A DAG range, meaning all changesets that are descendants of x and
  ancestors of y, including x and y themselves. If the first endpoint
  is left out, this is equivalent to ``ancestors(y)``, if the second
  is left out it is equivalent to ``descendants(x)``.

  An alternative syntax is ``x..y``.

``x:y``
  All changesets with revision numbers between x and y, both
  inclusive. Either endpoint can be left out, they default to 0 and
  tip.

``x and y``
  The intersection of changesets in x and y. Short form is ``x & y``.

``x or y``
  The union of changesets in x and y. There are two alternative short
  forms: ``x | y`` and ``x + y``.

``x - y``
  Changesets in x but not in y.

``x^n``
  The nth parent of x, n == 0, 1, or 2.
  For n == 0, x; for n == 1, the first parent of each changeset in x;
  for n == 2, the second parent of changeset in x.

``x~n``
  The nth first ancestor of x; ``x~0`` is x; ``x~3`` is ``x^^^``.

There is a single postfix operator:

``x^``
  Equivalent to ``x^1``, the first parent of each changeset in x.


The following predicates are supported:

.. predicatesmarker

New predicates (known as "aliases") can be defined, using any combination of
existing predicates or other aliases. An alias definition looks like::

  <alias> = <definition>

in the ``revsetalias`` section of a Mercurial configuration file. Arguments
of the form `$1`, `$2`, etc. are substituted from the alias into the
definition.

For example,

::

  [revsetalias]
  h = heads()
  d($1) = sort($1, date)
  rs($1, $2) = reverse(sort($1, $2))

defines three aliases, ``h``, ``d``, and ``rs``. ``rs(0:tip, author)`` is
exactly equivalent to ``reverse(sort(0:tip, author))``.

An infix operator ``##`` can concatenate strings and identifiers into
one string. For example::

  [revsetalias]
  issue($1) = grep(r'\bissue[ :]?' ## $1 ## r'\b|\bbug\(' ## $1 ## r'\)')

``issue(1234)`` is equivalent to ``grep(r'\bissue[ :]?1234\b|\bbug\(1234\)')``
in this case. This matches against all of "issue 1234", "issue:1234",
"issue1234" and "bug(1234)".

All other prefix, infix and postfix operators have lower priority than
``##``. For example, ``$1 ## $2~2`` is equivalent to ``($1 ## $2)~2``.

Command line equivalents for :hg:`log`::

  -f    ->  ::.
  -d x  ->  date(x)
  -k x  ->  keyword(x)
  -m    ->  merge()
  -u x  ->  user(x)
  -b x  ->  branch(x)
  -P x  ->  !::x
  -l x  ->  limit(expr, x)

Some sample queries:

- Changesets on the default branch::

    hg log -r "branch(default)"

- Changesets on the default branch since tag 1.5 (excluding merges)::

    hg log -r "branch(default) and 1.5:: and not merge()"

- Open branch heads::

    hg log -r "head() and not closed()"

- Changesets between tags 1.3 and 1.5 mentioning "bug" that affect
  ``hgext/*``::

    hg log -r "1.3::1.5 and keyword(bug) and file('hgext/*')"

- Changesets committed in May 2008, sorted by user::

    hg log -r "sort(date('May 2008'), user)"

- Changesets mentioning "bug" or "issue" that are not in a tagged
  release::

    hg log -r "(keyword(bug) or keyword(issue)) and not ancestors(tag())"