git cat-file使用树状符号

Question

When using the command git cat-file as following:

git cat-file -p master^^{tree}

It works well and shows the content of the tree object, 2 commits in the past.

However, when using the same command, changing the ^^ for ~2, it shows the following error:

git cat-file -p master~2{tree}

fatal: Not a valid object name master~2{tree}

Is this syntax allowed? Otherwise, how could I retrieve the tree object 100 commits in the past?

Answer 1

Your first command is actually only going 1 commit into the past, not 2. The first caret is selecting the parent of master , but the second one is part of the ^{type} syntax. To go to the parent's parent and convert to a tree, you need master^^^{tree} .

This also explains what's wrong with your second command: it needs to be master~2^{tree} .