git-big-picture
===============

.. image:: https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/workflows/Tests/badge.svg
    :target: https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/actions

``git-big-picture`` is a visualization tool for Git repositories. You can think
of it as a filter that removes uninteresting commits from a DAG modelling a Git
repository and thereby exposes the big picture: for example the hierarchy of
tags and branches. ``git-big-picture`` supports convenience output options and
can filter different classes of commits. It uses the Graphviz utility to render
images that are pleasing to the eye.

A Small Example
---------------

Imagine the following Graph:

.. code::

             0.1.1   0.1.2
               |       |
    0.0    G---H---I---J---K---L---M maint
     |    /
     A---B---C---D---E---F master
         |    \         /
        0.1    N---O---P topic


Where the following commits have Branches and Tags:

.. code::

    A -> 0.0
    B -> 0.1
    F -> master
    H -> 0.1.1
    J -> 0.1.2
    M -> maint
    P -> topic

The *reduced* graph of *interesting* commits would be:

.. code::

          H---J---M
         /
    A---B---F
         \ /
          P

But since the commits would be labeled with their refs, it would look more like
(within the limits of ASCII art):

.. code::

          0.1.1---0.1.2---maint
         /
    0.0---0.1---master
            \     /
             topic

Demo Video
----------

Chuwei Lu has made a YouTube video showing how to use ``git-big-picture``:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7w7JWSy3oc

Screenshots
-----------

Courtesy of Graphviz, ``git-big-picture`` can output nice images.

Here is the original repository from the example above:

.. image:: https://raw.github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/master/screenshots/before.png
    :height: 280px
    :width:  456px

And here is the reduced version:

.. image:: https://raw.github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/master/screenshots/after.png
    :height: 280px
    :width:  456px

We also have a real world examples from:

* `cython <https://raw.github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/master/screenshots/cython-big-picture.png>`_
* `PyMVPA <https://raw.github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/master/screenshots/pymvpa-big-picture.png>`_
* `bloscpack <https://raw.github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/master/screenshots/bloscpack-big-picture.png>`_

Dependencies
------------

* Python >=3.7
* Git (1.7.1 works)
* Graphviz utility
* pytest and Cram (only for running tests)

Installation
------------

As of ``v0.10.1`` you may install it from PyPI:

https://pypi.org/project/git-big-picture/

.. code:: console

   $ pip install git-big-picture

Alternatively, just run it straight from a Git clone:

.. code:: console

    $ git clone git://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture.git
    $ cd git-big-picture
    $ python3 -m venv venv      # creates a virtualenv
    $ source venv/bin/activate  # activates the virtualenv
    $ pip install -e .          # installs to the virtualenv
    $ git-big-picture --help

Alternatively, use pip to install it system wide
or just for the user.

.. code:: console

    $ pip install .
    (may need root privileges)
    $ pip install --user .

Git Integration
---------------

After installation using pip,
you can easily integrate this script as a regular Git command, by making
sure that executable ``git-big-picture`` is found during ``${PATH}`` lookup.
E.g. you could append a line like ``export PATH="${HOME}/.local/bin:${PATH}"``
to your ``~/.bashrc`` if you are using Bash.

You may then use ``git big-picture`` (w/o the first dash) as you would any other Git command:

.. code:: console

    $ git big-picture -h

Or create an alias:

.. code:: console

    $ git config --global alias.bp big-picture
    $ git bp -h

Internals
---------

The graph operations are written in Python and output the graph-data in the
easy-to-write Graphviz syntax. This is converted into an image using the
Graphviz ``dot`` utility. Graphviz supports a multitude of image formats, e.g. SVG
and PDF. Check that Graphviz is installed by invoking: ``dot -V``.

Usage
-----

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture --help
    usage: git-big-picture OPTIONS [REPOSITORY]

    Visualize Git repositories

    positional arguments:
      REPOSITORY            path to the Git working directory
                            (default: current directory)

    optional arguments:
      -h, --help            show this help message and exit
      --version             show program's version number and exit
      --pstats FILE         run cProfile profiler writing pstats output to FILE
      -d, --debug           activate debug output

    output options:
      Options to control output and format

      -f FMT, --format FMT  set output format [svg, png, ps, pdf, ...]
      --history-direction {downwards,leftwards,rightwards,upwards}
                            enforce a specific direction of history on Graphviz
                            (default: rightwards)
      --simplify            remove edges implied by transitivity using Graphviz
                            filter "tred" (default: do not remove implied edges)
      -g, --graphviz        output lines suitable as input for dot/graphviz
      -G, --no-graphviz     disable dot/graphviz output
      -p, --processed       output the dot processed, binary data
      -P, --no-processed    disable binary output
      -v CMD, --viewer CMD  write image to tempfile and start specified viewer
      -V, --no-viewer       disable starting viewer
      -o FILE, --outfile FILE
                            write image to specified file
      -O, --no-outfile      disable writing image to file
      -w SECONDS, --wait SECONDS
                            wait for SECONDS seconds before deleting the temporary
                            file that is opened using the viewer command (default:
                            2.0 seconds); this helps e.g. with viewer commands that
                            tell other running processes to open that file on their
                            behalf, to then shut themselves down

    filter options:
      Options to control commit/ref selection

      -a, --all             include all commits
      -b, --branches        show commits pointed to by branches
      -B, --no-branches     do not show commits pointed to by branches
      -t, --tags            show commits pointed to by tags
      -T, --no-tags         do not show commits pointed to by tags
      -r, --roots           show root commits
      -R, --no-roots        do not show root commits
      -m, --merges          include merge commits
      -M, --no-merges       do not include merge commits
      -i, --bifurcations    include bifurcation commits; a bifurcation commit is a
                            commit that is a parent to more than one other commits,
                            i.e. it marks the point where one or more new branches
                            came to life; bifurcation commits can also be thought of
                            as the counterpart of merge commits
      -I, --no-bifurcations
                            do not include bifurcation commits
      -c, --commit-messages
                            include commit messages on labels
      -C, --no-commit-messages
                            do not include commit messages on labels

    git-big-picture is software libre, licensed under the GPL v3 or later license.
    Please report bugs at https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues.  Thank you!

Usage Examples
--------------

There are two related groups of options, the output and the filter options.
Output options govern the output and format produced by the tool. Filter
options govern which commits to include when calculating the reduced graph.

Using Output Options
....................

Generate PNG version of current Git repository and save to ``our-project.png``:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -o our-project.png

Generate SVG (default format) image of the repository in ``~/git-repo`` and view the
result in Firefox:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -v firefox ~/git-repo/

If you specify the format and a filename with extension, the filename extension will
be used:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -f svg -o our-project.png
    $ file our-project.png
    our-project.png: PNG image data, 216 x 325, 8-bit/color RGB, non-interlaced

If you don't have an extension, you could still specify a format:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -f pdf -o our-project
    warning: Filename had no suffix, using format: pdf

Otherwise the default format SVG is used:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -o our-project
    warning: Filename had no suffix, using default format: svg

If you would like to use an alternative viewer, specify viewer and its format:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -f pdf -v xpdf

You can also open the viewer automatically on the output file:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -v xpdf -o our-project.pdf

Output raw Graphviz syntax:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -g

Output raw Graphviz output (i.e. the image):

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -p

Note however, that the options in the two examples above are both mutually
exclusive and incompatible with other output options.

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -g -p
    fatal: Options '-g | --graphviz' and '-p | --processed' are mutually exclusive.
    $ git-big-picture -g -v firefox
    fatal: Options '-g | --graphviz' and '-p | --processed' are incompatible with other output options.

Manually pipe the Graphviz commands to the ``dot`` utility:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture --graphviz ~/git-repo | dot -Tpng -o graph.png

Using Filter Options
....................

The three options ``--branches`` ``--tags`` and ``--roots`` are active by
default. You can use the negation switches to turn them off. These use the
uppercase equivalent of the short option and the prefix ``no-`` for the long
option. For example: ``-B | --no-branches`` to deactivate showing branches.

Show all interesting commits, i.e. show also merges and bifurcations:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -i -m

Show only roots (deactivate branches and tags):

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -B -T

Show merges and branches only (deactivate tags):

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -m -T

Show all commits:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -a

Configuration
-------------

The standard ``git config`` infrastructure can be used to configure
``git-big-picture``. Most of the command line arguments can be configured in a
``big-picture`` section. For example, to configure ``firefox`` as a viewer

.. code:: console

    $ git config --global big-picture.viewer firefox

Will create the following section and entry in your ``~/.gitconfig``:

.. code:: ini

    [big-picture]
        viewer = firefox


The command line negation arguments can be used to disable a setting configured
via the command line. For example, if you have configured the ``viewer`` above
and try to use the ``-g | --graphviz`` switch, you will get the following
error:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -g
    fatal: Options '-g | --graphviz' and '-p | --processed' are incompatible with other output options.

... since you already have a viewer configured. In this case, use the negation
option ``-V | --no-viewer`` to disable the ``viewer`` setting from the config
file:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -g -V


Development
-----------

git-big-picture uses `pre-commit <https://pre-commit.com/>`_, both locally and in the CI.
To activate the same local pre-commit Git hooks for yourself, you could do:

.. code:: console

    $ pip install pre-commit
    $ pre-commit install --install-hooks

When you do a commit after that, pre-commit will run the checks
configured in file ``.pre-commit-config.yaml``.


Testing
-------

The Python code is tested with test runner `pytest <https://pytest.org>`_:

.. code:: console

    $ ./test.py

The command line interface is tested with `Cram <https://bitheap.org/cram/>`_:

.. code:: console

    $ PATH="venv/bin:${PATH}" ./test.cram


Debugging
---------

You can use the ``[-d | --debug]`` switch to debug:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture -d -v firefox

Although debugging output is somewhat sparse...


Profiling
---------

There are two ways to profile git-big-picture, using the built-in ``--pstats``
option or using the Python module ``cProfile``:

Using ``--pstats``:

.. code:: console

    $ git-big-picture --pstats=profile-stats -o graph.svg

... will write the profiler output to ``profile-stats``.

Profile the script with ``cProfile``

.. code:: console

    $ python -m cProfile -o profile-stats git-big-picture -o graph.svg

In either case, you can then use the excellent visualisation tool `gprof2dot
<http://code.google.com/p/jrfonseca/wiki/Gprof2Dot>`_ which, incidentally,
uses Graphviz too:

.. code:: console

    $ gprof2dot -f pstats profile-stats | dot -Tsvg -o profile_stats.svg

Changelog
---------

* ``v1.2.2`` — 2022-09-27

  * **Under the Hood**

    * Fix cram tests for grep >=3.8 (`#233 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/233>`_)

* ``v1.2.1`` — 2022-03-26

  * **Bugs Fixed**

    * Fix output with argument ``--processed`` (`#197 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/197>`_, `#199 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/199>`_)

* ``v1.2.0`` — 2022-03-01

  * **New Features and Improvements**

    * Add argument ``--simplify`` to removed edges implied by transitivity based on Graphviz filter ``tred``
      (`#180 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/180>`_, `#182 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/182>`_)
    * Switch default history direction from upwards to rightwards
      (`#184 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/184>`_)
    * Add support for Python 3.10 (`#162 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/162>`_)
    * Use ``python3`` rather than ``python`` in Cram tests (`#89 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/89>`_)

  * **Dropped Features**

    * Drop support for end-of-life Python 3.6 (`#162 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/162>`_)

* ``v1.1.1`` — 2021-01-20

  * **Bugs Fixed**

    * Fix version number in man page (`#86 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/86>`_)

  * **Under the Hood**

    * Move Git user setup into Cram tests (to make them work better outside of CI) (`#85 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/85>`_)
    * Extend changelog + release 1.1.1 (`#87 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/87>`_)

* ``v1.1.0`` — 2021-01-20

  * **New Features and Improvements**

    * Add manpage from Debian package (`#79 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/79>`_)
    * Improve ``--help`` output (`#80 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/80>`_)
    * Document the meaning of term "bifurcation commit" (`#80 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/80>`_, `#84 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/84>`_)

  * **Under the Hood**

    * Remove TODOs from README (`#77 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/77>`_, `#78 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/78>`_)
    * Make CI prevent copies of ``--help`` output from going out-of-sync (`#80 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/80>`_)
    * Extend changelog + release 1.1.0 (`#81 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/81>`_)
    * Migrate back to Cram (`#82 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/82>`_)
    * Extend .gitignore (`#83 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/83>`_)

* ``v1.0.0`` — 2021-01-13

  * **Security Fixes**

    * `CVE-2021-3028 <https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2021-3028>`_
      — Fix local code execution through attacker controlled branch names (`#62 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/62>`_)

  * **New Features and Improvements**

    * Re-joined forces and moved https://github.com/esc/git-big-picture to new org home https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture
    * Support history directions other than upwards (`#35 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/35>`_, `#36 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/36>`_, `#59 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/59>`_)
    * Allow including commit messages in node labels (`#16 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/16>`_, `#31 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/31>`_, `#32 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/32>`_)
    * Support ``python -m git_big_picture`` (`#58 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/58>`_)
    * Improved ``--help`` output (`#54 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/54>`_)
    * Improve tempfile prefix (`#68 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/68>`_)
    * Add support for Python 3.8 and 3.9 (`#42 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/42>`_)

  * **Dropped Features**

    * Drop support for end-of-life versions of Python (2.7, 3.4, 3.5) (`#38 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/38>`_)

  * **Bugs Fixed**

    * Handle ``Ctrl+C`` gracefully (`#70 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/70>`_)
    * Stop leaving temp files behind (`#25 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/25>`_, `#49 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/49>`_)
    * Be robust with regard to branch names that contain quotation marks (`#27 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/27>`_, `#62 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/62>`_)
    * ``readme``: Fix a typo and word casing (`#43 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/43>`_)
    * Fix typo "piture" (`#51 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/51>`_)

  * **Under the Hood**

    * screenshots: Reduce image size using lossless `zopflipng <https://github.com/google/zopfli/blob/master/README.zopflipng>`_ 1.0.3 (`#39 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/39>`_)
    * Apply move of Git repository to all URLs but Travis CI (`#40 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/40>`_)
    * Replace Travis CI by GitHub Actions (`#41 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/41>`_)
    * Make CI cover support for macOS (`#44 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/44>`_)
    * Make GitHub Dependabot keep our GitHub Actions up to date (`#45 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/45>`_, `#46 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/46>`_)
    * Integrate `pre-commit <https://pre-commit.com/>`_ for dev and CI (`#47 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/47>`_, `#53 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/53>`_, `#55 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/55>`_)
    * For safety, stop using ``shlex.split`` (outside of tests) (`#48 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/48>`_, `#65 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/65>`_)
    * Migrate from unmaintained Cram to maintained Scruf (`#50 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/50>`_, `#64 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/64>`_)
    * Delete empty ``requirements.txt`` (`#52 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/52>`_)
    * Migrate from optparse to argparse (`#54 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/54>`_)
    * Fix variable mix-up (`#57 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/57>`_)
    * Start using standard setuptools entry point (`#58 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/58>`_)
    * Address dead test code (`#60 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/60>`_)
    * Start measuring code coverage (`#61 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/61>`_)
    * Replace nose by pytest for a test runner (`#63 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/63>`_, `#67 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/67>`_)
    * Start auto-formatting using `yapf <https://github.com/google/yapf>`_ (`#66 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/66>`_)
    * ``setup.py``: Replace ASCII "--" with "—" (em dash) in description (`#69 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/69>`_)
    * ``Readme``: Improve section on people involved (`#71 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/71>`_)
    * tests: Cover option precedence on the command line (`#72 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/72>`_)
    * Pin and auto-update test requirements (`#73 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/73>`_, `#75 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/75>`_)
    * Document changes of release 1.0.0 (`#74 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/74>`_)
    * Release version 1.0.0 (`#76 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/issues/76>`_)

* ``v0.10.1`` — 2018-11-04

  * Fix PyPI release

* ``v0.10.0`` — 2018-11-04

  * First release after 6 years
  * Support for Python: 2.7, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7 (`#13 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/13>`_, `#14 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/14>`_, `#24 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/24>`_)
  * Add Python classifiers to setup.py
  * Tempfile suffix now matches format (`#28 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/28>`_)
  * Continuous integration via travis.ci (`#29 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/29>`_)
  * Fixed installation instructions (`#26 <https://github.com/git-big-picture/git-big-picture/pull/26>`_)

* ``v0.9.0`` — 2012-11-20

  * rst-ify readme
  * Fix long standing bug in graph search algorithm
  * Fix long standing conversion from tabbed to 4-spaces
  * Overhaul and refactor the test-suite
  * Remove old ``--some`` crufty code and option
  * Add ability to find root-, merge- and bifurcation-commits
  * Overhaul command line interface with new options
  * Add command line interface tests using Cram
  * Overhaul documentation to reflect changes

* ``v0.8.0`` — 2012-11-05

  * Snapshot of all developments Mar 2010 - Now
  * Extended command line options for viewing and formatting
  * Option to filter on all, some or decorated commits
  * Simple test suite for python module and command line

License
-------

Licensed under GPL v3 or later, see file COPYING for details.

Authors/Contributors
--------------------

* Sebastian Pipping (`@hartwork <https://github.com/hartwork>`_)
* Julius Plenz (`@Feh <https://github.com/Feh>`_)
* Valentin Haenel (`@esc <https://github.com/esc>`_)
* Yaroslav Halchenko (`@yarikoptic <https://github.com/yarikoptic>`_)
* Chris West (`@FauxFaux <https://github.com/FauxFaux>`_)
* Antonio Valentino (`@avalentino <https://github.com/avalentino>`_)
* Rafał Zawadzki (`@bluszcz <https://github.com/bluszcz>`_)
* Dan Wallis (`@fredden <https://github.com/fredden>`_)
* Sergey Azarkevich (`@azarkevich <https://github.com/azarkevich>`_)
* Johannes Koepcke (`@jkoepcke <https://github.com/jkoepcke>`_)
* Rolf Offermanns (`@zapp42 <https://github.com/zapp42>`_)
* François Maheux (`@franckspike <https://github.com/franckspike>`_)
* Doug Torrance (`@d-torrance <https://github.com/d-torrance>`_)
