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Pretty much the question is just the title. I'd like to know if one can get at commit messages (the edit summary text) for edits from the data explorer.

In the database schema, I see under "PostHistory", a Comment field. Would that be what I'm looking for? (I'm very much an amateur at this sort of thing...)

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1 Answer 1

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Yes, the Comment field provides post history messages. An example query you can utilize:

select 
  t.name,
  p.comment 
from 
  posthistory p,
  posthistorytypes t
where 
  p.posthistorytypeid = t.id
  and p.postid = {ID}
order by 
  p.creationdate asc

You can replace {ID} with the specific post you are curious about.

Here is a running example to one of the top questions on Stack Overflow this week. It shows the history of the post. Notice that not all Post History Types generate a Comment.

Results:

name                 comment                          
-------------------- ----------------------------     
Initial Title        null                            
Initial Body         null                             
Initial Tags         null                             
Post Closed          103                              
Post Reopened        null                             
Edit Body            added 6 characters in body       
Edit Body            Added more detail.               
Edit Body            deleted 6 characters in body     
Edit Title           edited title                     
Edit Body            added 1 character in body        
Post Closed          101                              
Post Reopened        null                             
Edit Tags            edited tags                      
Edit Body            C# is not really revelant        
Edit Title           C# is not really revelant        
Post Closed          105                              
Post Reopened        null                             
Question Protected   null                         
Question Unprotected null                         

(19 row(s) returned)
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  • 1
    Especially grateful for the worked example - gives me (and others) a valuable starting point! Thanks!
    – Dɑvïd
    Jun 23, 2015 at 11:52

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