command line interface - What does git log --exit-code mean? -

the git-log man page describes --check option incompatible --exit-code option. i'd know --exit-code means can't find anywhere. i've tried man git log, man git, google , direct search here on so... no avail!

what --exit-code mean git log?

tl; dr

i'd know --exit-code means [...]

--exit-code diff-*¹ option makes git command exit 1 if there changes, , 0 otherwise.

[...] can't find anywhere.

you can read in git-diff man page, not in git-log man page, because makes no sense in context of git-log.

more details

both --check , --exit-code described in git-diff man page (more specifically, in documentation/diff-options.txt):

   --check  warn if changes introduce whitespace errors. considered  whitespace errors controlled core.whitespace configuration.  default, trailing whitespaces (including lines solely  consist of whitespaces) , space character  followed tab character inside initial indent of line  considered whitespace errors. exits non-zero status if  problems found. not compatible --exit-code. 

and

   --exit-code  make program exit codes similar diff(1). is,  exits 1 if there differences , 0 means no differences. 

some, though not all, diff-* options compatible git-log. --check option is, whereas --exit-code option not, hinted @ following commit message git-project repository:

docs: don't mention --quiet or --exit-code in git-log(1)

these diff-options, don't make sense in context of log.

(1) _{diff-* stands plumbing commands porcelain git-diff based on.}