Outputting Git Branches to a CSV

This solution isn't perfect, especially if you have commas in your commit messages, but it gets the job done. Initially, I planned to write a quick bash script, but in true developer style, it turned into a 50-line beast. The concept seemed straightforward, like git branch -av >> ~/Downloads/branches.txt, but I wanted something I could easily import into Excel.

That approach didn't work as well as I hoped, so I thought I'd tweak that one-liner... it's now a lot bigger.

1. Run $ touch export_branches.sh
2. Run $ chmod +x export_branches.sh
3. $ nano export_branches.sh and add the following:

#!/bin/bash

# Initialise repo_path and output_csv as empty strings.
repo_path=""
output_csv=""

# Use the getopts command to parse command-line arguments:
# -p for the Git repository path.
# -o for the output CSV file path.
while getopts "p:o:" opt; do
  case ${opt} in
    p )
      repo_path=$OPTARG
      ;;
    o )
      output_csv=$OPTARG
      ;;
    \? )
      echo "Usage: cmd [-p]  [-o] "
      exit 1
      ;;
  esac
done

# The script checks if both repo_path and output_csv are provided. If not, it displays an error message and usage information, then exits.
if [[ -z "$repo_path" ]] || [[ -z "$output_csv" ]]; then
  echo "Error: Both repository path and output CSV file must be specified."
  echo "Usage: $0 -p  -o "
  exit 1
fi

# The script checks if the specified path is a valid directory and contains a .git folder to confirm it's a Git repository.
if [ -d "$repo_path" ] && [ -d "$repo_path/.git" ]; then
  # Navigate to the directory
  cd "$repo_path" || exit

  # Captures the output of git branch -av, processes it, and writes the results to the specified CSV file.
  git branch -av > branches.txt

  # Process the output and write to the specified CSV file.
  echo "Branch,Commit,Message" > "$output_csv"
  while IFS= read -r line; do
    branch=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $1}')
    commit=$(echo "$line" | awk '{print $2}')
    message=$(echo "$line" | cut -d' ' -f 3-)
    echo "$branch,$commit,$message" >> "$output_csv"
  done < branches.txt

  # The script removes the temporary branches.txt file.
  rm branches.txt

  # Success output
  echo "Branches have been exported to $output_csv"
else
  # Something went wrong output
  echo "The specified directory does not exist or is not a Git repository."
  exit 1
fi
  

To run, simply call:

./export_branches.sh -p /path/to/git/repository -o /path/to/output/branches.csv