git-diff-files [<pattern>...]::
compares the index and the files on the filesystem.
-The "git-diff-tree" command begins its ouput by printing the hash of
+The "git-diff-tree" command begins its output by printing the hash of
what is being compared. After that, all the commands print one output
line per changed file.
An output line is formatted this way:
------------------------------------------------
-in-place edit :100644 100644 bcd1234... 0123456... M file0
-copy-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... C68 file1 file2
-rename-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... R86 file1 file3
-create :000000 100644 0000000... 1234567... A file4
-delete :100644 000000 1234567... 0000000... D file5
-unmerged :000000 000000 0000000... 0000000... U file6
+in-place edit :100644 100644 bcd1234 0123456 M file0
+copy-edit :100644 100644 abcd123 1234567 C68 file1 file2
+rename-edit :100644 100644 abcd123 1234567 R86 file1 file3
+create :000000 100644 0000000 1234567 A file4
+delete :100644 000000 1234567 0000000 D file5
+unmerged :000000 000000 0000000 0000000 U file6
------------------------------------------------
That is, from the left to the right:
. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if creation, unmerged or "look at work tree".
. a space.
. status, followed by optional "score" number.
-. a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used.
+. a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.
. path for "src"
-. a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used; only exists for C or R.
+. a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used; only exists for C or R.
. path for "dst"; only exists for C or R.
-. an LF or a NUL when '-z' option is used, to terminate the record.
+. an LF or a NUL when `-z` option is used, to terminate the record.
Possible status letters are:
Status letters C and R are always followed by a score (denoting the
percentage of similarity between the source and target of the move or
-copy), and are the only ones to be so.
+copy). Status letter M may be followed by a score (denoting the
+percentage of dissimilarity) for file rewrites.
<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
+:100644 100644 5be4a4a 0000000 M file.c
------------------------------------------------
-When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
-in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
-respectively.
+Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
+quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
+(see linkgit:git-config[1]). Using `-z` the filename is output
+verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte.
diff format for merges
----------------------
"git-diff-tree", "git-diff-files" and "git-diff --raw"
-can take '-c' or '--cc' option
+can take `-c` or `--cc` option
to generate diff output also for merge commits. The output differs
from the format described above in the following way:
Example:
------------------------------------------------
-::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8... cc95eb0... 4866510... MM describe.c
+::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8 cc95eb0 4866510 MM describe.c
------------------------------------------------
Note that 'combined diff' lists only files which were modified from