How do I view a single file's history in GitK?

Question

I have a git repository with a large number of files in it. At some point a bug was introduced into my program. I have a good idea which file is causing the issue, I just need to track down which commit introduced the error.

How can I view the revision history for single file using GitK?

Use `git blame` to find the commit that last changed a line. IIRC, `gitk` does support blame. — ikegami, Aug 28 '17 at 20:11

score 28 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 28 '17 at 22:05

28

To get the file history

gitk <filename>

To see the blame history in a gui, which may help you track the commit use

git gui blame <filename>

answered Aug 28 '17 at 22:05

ilias

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Is there a way to view history for a file that has been renamed? – Stevoisiak Aug 29 '17 at 14:02
after calling gitk my terminal no longer shows my username and i can type but cannot execute any commands. How do i exit from that mode?? – Xitcod13 Jan 21 '19 at 20:15
I was able to view history for a renamed file by using senooken's answer below – cdude Aug 26 '22 at 11:05

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '17 at 20:13

3

You can just give the path of the file located at the dir. For example src/foo.c, you want to see the history of the file who changed it. In that case, you just need to give as gitk src/foo.c &

this will open a prompt and you can go through the history of the file.

Another way of viewing the history of file is git blame or if you want see which commit introduced the regression you can use git bisect

answered Aug 28 '17 at 20:13

danglingpointer

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That then I mentioned in above statement it will run in background process, that's for the Linux environment. – danglingpointer Aug 29 '17 at 06:44

senooken · Answer 3 · 2021-06-28T02:42:49.603

2

You can filter on gitk by following steps.

Select [View]>[Edit view].
Fill file name to [Enter files and directories to include, one per line].
Select [OK] or [Apply].

edited Jun 28 '21 at 02:42

answered Jun 28 '21 at 01:18

senooken

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How do I view a single file's history in GitK?

3 Answers3