Should I select "Show merge commits in per-file log" in Xcode Source Control?

Question

Is it better to "Show merge commits in per-file log", or not. I'm trying to decide what to choose in Xcode Source Control. I'm not sure what that means. Xcode help doesn't give an answer, and instead gives me a link to search the web. I am the only one using this repository. It is unlikely that this repository will be used by more than one programmer. Is this selection able to be changed later down the road?

Answer 1

Show merge commits in per-file log shows ONLY the merge commits when displaying a list of commits to choose from in the Code Review feature.

I do my work in a child branch and only push the changes to the main branch when they are ready for deployment, so I’ve found it more useful to have Show merge commits in per-file log disabled so I can see the individual commits made locally and the individual commits that have been merged in from the main branch, instead of just merge commits (no local commits and no individual commits that were a part of those merge commits).

NOTE: This setting does not appear to affect the commit list displayed in Source Control Navigator which seems to always show local commits plus merge commits (but not individual commits that were part of those merge commits, if that makes sense).

Example to clarify my terminology:

Some other developer on the team adds a line of code and commits it in the main branch. And then modifies some other lines and makes a 2nd commit. I refer to these as individual commits.

Then I merge those changes into my development branch and for the commit message of the merge I type something like, “Merged recent changes from main into development branch.”. I refer to this as a merge commit.