The output format from "git-diff-index", "git-diff-tree" and
"git-diff-files" are very similar.
-These commands all compare two sets of things; what are
-compared are different:
+These commands all compare two sets of things; what is
+compared differs:
git-diff-index <tree-ish>::
compares the <tree-ish> and the files on the filesystem.
git-diff-index --cached <tree-ish>::
- compares the <tree-ish> and the cache.
+ compares the <tree-ish> and the index.
git-diff-tree [-r] <tree-ish-1> <tree-ish-2> [<pattern>...]::
compares the trees named by the two arguments.
git-diff-files [<pattern>...]::
- compares the cache and the files on the filesystem.
+ compares the index and the files on the filesystem.
An output line is formatted this way:
. path for "dst"; only exists for C or R.
. an LF or a NUL when '-z' option is used, to terminate the record.
-<sha1> is shown as all 0's if new is a file on the filesystem
-and it is out of sync with the cache.
+<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem
+and it is out of sync with the index.
Example:
:100644 100644 5be4a4...... 000000...... M file.c
------------------------------------------------
+When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
+in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
+respectively.
+
+
Generating patches with -p
--------------------------
with a '-p' option, they do not produce the output described above;
instead they produce a patch file.
-The patch generation can be customized at two levels. This
-customization also applies to "git-diff-helper".
+The patch generation can be customized at two levels.
1. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is not set,
these commands internally invoke "diff" like this:
environment variable 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'. For example, if you
prefer context diff:
- GIT_DIFF_OPTS=-c git-diff-index -p $(cat .git/HEAD)
+ GIT_DIFF_OPTS=-c git-diff-index -p HEAD
2. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
where:
<old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
- contents of <old|ne>,
+ contents of <old|new>,
<old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes,
<old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
The file parameters can point at the user's working file
(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
-cache). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
+index). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
parameter, <path>.
-Git specific extension to diff format
+git specific extension to diff format
-------------------------------------
What -p option produces is slightly different from the
involved. Especially, even for a creation or a deletion,
`/dev/null` is _not_ used in place of `a/` or `b/` filenames.
+
-When rename/copy is involved, `file1` and `file2` shows the
+When rename/copy is involved, `file1` and `file2` show the
name of the source file of the rename/copy and the name of
the file that rename/copy produces, respectively.
-2. It is followed by extended header lines that are one or
- more of:
+2. It is followed by one or more extended header lines:
old mode <mode>
new mode <mode>
rename to <path>
similarity index <number>
dissimilarity index <number>
+ index <hash>..<hash> <mode>
+
+3. TAB, LF, and backslash characters in pathnames are
+ represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`, respectively.