SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git
-diff-index' [-m] [--cached] [<common diff options>] <tree-ish> [<path>...]
+'git
diff-index' [-m] [--cached] [<common diff options>] <tree-ish> [<path>...]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-m::
By default, files recorded in the index but not checked
out are reported as deleted. This flag makes
- "git-diff-index" say that all non-checked-out files are up
+ 'git diff-index' say that all non-checked-out files are up
to date.
-Output format
--------------
include::diff-format.txt[]
Operating Modes
If '--cached' is specified, it allows you to ask:
show me the differences between HEAD and the current index
- contents (the ones I'd write with a "git-write-tree")
+ contents (the ones I'd write using 'git write-tree')
For example, let's say that you have worked on your working directory, updated
some files in the index and are ready to commit. You want to see exactly
*what* you are going to commit, without having to write a new tree
object and compare it that way, and to do that, you just do
- git-diff-index --cached HEAD
+ git diff-index --cached HEAD
Example: let's say I had renamed `commit.c` to `git-commit.c`, and I had
-done an "git-update-index" to make that effective in the index file.
-"git-diff-files" wouldn't show anything at all, since the index file
-matches my working directory. But doing a "git-diff-index" does:
+done an `update-index` to make that effective in the index file.
+`git diff-files` wouldn't show anything at all, since the index file
+matches my working directory. But doing a 'git diff-index' does:
- torvalds@ppc970:~/git> git-diff-index --cached HEAD
+ torvalds@ppc970:~/git> git diff-index --cached HEAD
-100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 commit.c
+100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 git-commit.c
You can see easily that the above is a rename.
-In fact, "git-diff-index --cached" *should* always be entirely equivalent to
-actually doing a "git-write-tree" and comparing that. Except this one is much
+In fact, `git diff-index --cached` *should* always be entirely equivalent to
+actually doing a 'git write-tree' and comparing that. Except this one is much
nicer for the case where you just want to check where you are.
-So doing a "git-diff-index --cached" is basically very useful when you are
+So doing a `git diff-index --cached` is basically very useful when you are
asking yourself "what have I already marked for being committed, and
what's the difference to a previous tree".
---------------
The "non-cached" mode takes a different approach, and is potentially
the more useful of the two in that what it does can't be emulated with
-a "git-write-tree" + "git-diff-tree". Thus that's the default mode.
+a 'git write-tree' + 'git diff-tree'. Thus that's the default mode.
The non-cached version asks the question:
show me the differences between HEAD and the currently checked out
tree - index contents _and_ files that aren't up-to-date
which is obviously a very useful question too, since that tells you what
-you *could* commit. Again, the output matches the "git-diff-tree -r"
+you *could* commit. Again, the output matches the 'git diff-tree -r'
output to a tee, but with a twist.
The twist is that if some file doesn't match the index, we don't have
a backing store thing for it, and we use the magic "all-zero" sha1 to
show that. So let's say that you have edited `kernel/sched.c`, but
-have not actually done a "git-update-index" on it yet - there is no
+have not actually done a 'git update-index' on it yet - there is no
"object" associated with the new state, and you get:
- torvalds@ppc970:~/v2.6/linux> git-diff-index HEAD
+ torvalds@ppc970:~/v2.6/linux> git diff-index HEAD
*100644->100664 blob 7476bb......->000000...... kernel/sched.c
i.e., it shows that the tree has changed, and that `kernel/sched.c` has is
get the real diff, you need to look at the object in the working directory
directly rather than do an object-to-object diff.
-NOTE: As with other commands of this type, "git-diff-index" does not
+NOTE: As with other commands of this type, 'git diff-index' does not
actually look at the contents of the file at all. So maybe
`kernel/sched.c` hasn't actually changed, and it's just that you
touched it. In either case, it's a note that you need to
-"git-update-index" it to make the index be in sync.
+'git update-index' it to make the index be in sync.
NOTE: You can have a mixture of files show up as "has been updated"
and "is still dirty in the working directory" together. You can always