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-rw-r--r--Documentation/diff-options.txt412
1 files changed, 344 insertions, 68 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/diff-options.txt b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
index 9276faeb11..6cb083aae5 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-options.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
@@ -14,71 +14,173 @@ endif::git-format-patch[]
ifdef::git-format-patch[]
-p::
- Generate patches without diffstat.
+--no-stat::
+ Generate plain patches without any diffstats.
endif::git-format-patch[]
ifndef::git-format-patch[]
-p::
-u::
+--patch::
Generate patch (see section on generating patches).
{git-diff? This is the default.}
endif::git-format-patch[]
+-s::
+--no-patch::
+ Suppress diff output. Useful for commands like `git show` that
+ show the patch by default, or to cancel the effect of `--patch`.
+
-U<n>::
--unified=<n>::
Generate diffs with <n> lines of context instead of
- the usual three. Implies "-p".
+ the usual three.
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
+ Implies `-p`.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
--raw::
Generate the raw format.
{git-diff-core? This is the default.}
+endif::git-format-patch[]
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
--patch-with-raw::
- Synonym for "-p --raw".
+ Synonym for `-p --raw`.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
+
+--minimal::
+ Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible
+ diff is produced.
--patience::
Generate a diff using the "patience diff" algorithm.
---stat[=width[,name-width]]::
- Generate a diffstat. You can override the default
- output width for 80-column terminal by "--stat=width".
- The width of the filename part can be controlled by
- giving another width to it separated by a comma.
+--histogram::
+ Generate a diff using the "histogram diff" algorithm.
+
+--diff-algorithm={patience|minimal|histogram|myers}::
+ Choose a diff algorithm. The variants are as follows:
++
+--
+`default`, `myers`;;
+ The basic greedy diff algorithm. Currently, this is the default.
+`minimal`;;
+ Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible diff is
+ produced.
+`patience`;;
+ Use "patience diff" algorithm when generating patches.
+`histogram`;;
+ This algorithm extends the patience algorithm to "support
+ low-occurrence common elements".
+--
++
+For instance, if you configured diff.algorithm variable to a
+non-default value and want to use the default one, then you
+have to use `--diff-algorithm=default` option.
+
+--stat[=<width>[,<name-width>[,<count>]]]::
+ Generate a diffstat. By default, as much space as necessary
+ will be used for the filename part, and the rest for the graph
+ part. Maximum width defaults to terminal width, or 80 columns
+ if not connected to a terminal, and can be overridden by
+ `<width>`. The width of the filename part can be limited by
+ giving another width `<name-width>` after a comma. The width
+ of the graph part can be limited by using
+ `--stat-graph-width=<width>` (affects all commands generating
+ a stat graph) or by setting `diff.statGraphWidth=<width>`
+ (does not affect `git format-patch`).
+ By giving a third parameter `<count>`, you can limit the
+ output to the first `<count>` lines, followed by `...` if
+ there are more.
++
+These parameters can also be set individually with `--stat-width=<width>`,
+`--stat-name-width=<name-width>` and `--stat-count=<count>`.
--numstat::
- Similar to \--stat, but shows number of added and
+ Similar to `--stat`, but shows number of added and
deleted lines in decimal notation and pathname without
abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly. For
binary files, outputs two `-` instead of saying
`0 0`.
--shortstat::
- Output only the last line of the --stat format containing total
+ Output only the last line of the `--stat` format containing total
number of modified files, as well as number of added and deleted
lines.
---dirstat[=limit]::
- Output the distribution of relative amount of changes (number of lines added or
- removed) for each sub-directory. Directories with changes below
- a cut-off percent (3% by default) are not shown. The cut-off percent
- can be set with "--dirstat=limit". Changes in a child directory is not
- counted for the parent directory, unless "--cumulative" is used.
-
---dirstat-by-file[=limit]::
- Same as --dirstat, but counts changed files instead of lines.
+--dirstat[=<param1,param2,...>]::
+ Output the distribution of relative amount of changes for each
+ sub-directory. The behavior of `--dirstat` can be customized by
+ passing it a comma separated list of parameters.
+ The defaults are controlled by the `diff.dirstat` configuration
+ variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
+ The following parameters are available:
++
+--
+`changes`;;
+ Compute the dirstat numbers by counting the lines that have been
+ removed from the source, or added to the destination. This ignores
+ the amount of pure code movements within a file. In other words,
+ rearranging lines in a file is not counted as much as other changes.
+ This is the default behavior when no parameter is given.
+`lines`;;
+ Compute the dirstat numbers by doing the regular line-based diff
+ analysis, and summing the removed/added line counts. (For binary
+ files, count 64-byte chunks instead, since binary files have no
+ natural concept of lines). This is a more expensive `--dirstat`
+ behavior than the `changes` behavior, but it does count rearranged
+ lines within a file as much as other changes. The resulting output
+ is consistent with what you get from the other `--*stat` options.
+`files`;;
+ Compute the dirstat numbers by counting the number of files changed.
+ Each changed file counts equally in the dirstat analysis. This is
+ the computationally cheapest `--dirstat` behavior, since it does
+ not have to look at the file contents at all.
+`cumulative`;;
+ Count changes in a child directory for the parent directory as well.
+ Note that when using `cumulative`, the sum of the percentages
+ reported may exceed 100%. The default (non-cumulative) behavior can
+ be specified with the `noncumulative` parameter.
+<limit>;;
+ An integer parameter specifies a cut-off percent (3% by default).
+ Directories contributing less than this percentage of the changes
+ are not shown in the output.
+--
++
+Example: The following will count changed files, while ignoring
+directories with less than 10% of the total amount of changed files,
+and accumulating child directory counts in the parent directories:
+`--dirstat=files,10,cumulative`.
--summary::
Output a condensed summary of extended header information
such as creations, renames and mode changes.
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
--patch-with-stat::
- Synonym for "-p --stat".
- {git-format-patch? This is the default.}
+ Synonym for `-p --stat`.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
+
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
-z::
- NUL-line termination on output. This affects the --raw
- output field terminator. Also output from commands such
- as "git-log" will be delimited with NUL between commits.
+ifdef::git-log[]
+ Separate the commits with NULs instead of with new newlines.
++
+Also, when `--raw` or `--numstat` has been given, do not munge
+pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
+endif::git-log[]
+ifndef::git-log[]
+ When `--raw`, `--numstat`, `--name-only` or `--name-status` has been
+ given, do not munge pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
+endif::git-log[]
++
+Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
+and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
+respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
+any of those replacements occurred.
--name-only::
Show only names of changed files.
@@ -87,18 +189,64 @@ endif::git-format-patch[]
Show only names and status of changed files. See the description
of the `--diff-filter` option on what the status letters mean.
---color::
+--submodule[=<format>]::
+ Specify how differences in submodules are shown. When `--submodule`
+ or `--submodule=log` is given, the 'log' format is used. This format lists
+ the commits in the range like linkgit:git-submodule[1] `summary` does.
+ Omitting the `--submodule` option or specifying `--submodule=short`,
+ uses the 'short' format. This format just shows the names of the commits
+ at the beginning and end of the range. Can be tweaked via the
+ `diff.submodule` configuration variable.
+
+--color[=<when>]::
Show colored diff.
+ `--color` (i.e. without '=<when>') is the same as `--color=always`.
+ '<when>' can be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto`.
+ifdef::git-diff[]
+ It can be changed by the `color.ui` and `color.diff`
+ configuration settings.
+endif::git-diff[]
--no-color::
- Turn off colored diff, even when the configuration file
- gives the default to color output.
+ Turn off colored diff.
+ifdef::git-diff[]
+ This can be used to override configuration settings.
+endif::git-diff[]
+ It is the same as `--color=never`.
---color-words[=<regex>]::
- Show colored word diff, i.e., color words which have changed.
- By default, words are separated by whitespace.
+--word-diff[=<mode>]::
+ Show a word diff, using the <mode> to delimit changed words.
+ By default, words are delimited by whitespace; see
+ `--word-diff-regex` below. The <mode> defaults to 'plain', and
+ must be one of:
++
+--
+color::
+ Highlight changed words using only colors. Implies `--color`.
+plain::
+ Show words as `[-removed-]` and `{+added+}`. Makes no
+ attempts to escape the delimiters if they appear in the input,
+ so the output may be ambiguous.
+porcelain::
+ Use a special line-based format intended for script
+ consumption. Added/removed/unchanged runs are printed in the
+ usual unified diff format, starting with a `+`/`-`/` `
+ character at the beginning of the line and extending to the
+ end of the line. Newlines in the input are represented by a
+ tilde `~` on a line of its own.
+none::
+ Disable word diff again.
+--
++
+Note that despite the name of the first mode, color is used to
+highlight the changed parts in all modes if enabled.
+
+--word-diff-regex=<regex>::
+ Use <regex> to decide what a word is, instead of considering
+ runs of non-whitespace to be a word. Also implies
+ `--word-diff` unless it was already enabled.
+
-When a <regex> is specified, every non-overlapping match of the
+Every non-overlapping match of the
<regex> is considered a word. Anything between these matches is
considered whitespace and ignored(!) for the purposes of finding
differences. You may want to append `|[^[:space:]]` to your regular
@@ -111,15 +259,26 @@ linkgit:gitattributes[1] or linkgit:git-config[1]. Giving it explicitly
overrides any diff driver or configuration setting. Diff drivers
override configuration settings.
+--color-words[=<regex>]::
+ Equivalent to `--word-diff=color` plus (if a regex was
+ specified) `--word-diff-regex=<regex>`.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
+
--no-renames::
Turn off rename detection, even when the configuration
file gives the default to do so.
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
--check::
- Warn if changes introduce trailing whitespace
- or an indent that uses a space before a tab. Exits with
- non-zero status if problems are found. Not compatible with
- --exit-code.
+ Warn if changes introduce whitespace errors. What are
+ considered whitespace errors is controlled by `core.whitespace`
+ configuration. By default, trailing whitespaces (including
+ lines that solely consist of whitespaces) and a space character
+ that is immediately followed by a tab character inside the
+ initial indent of the line are considered whitespace errors.
+ Exits with non-zero status if problems are found. Not compatible
+ with --exit-code.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
--full-index::
Instead of the first handful of characters, show the full
@@ -127,37 +286,64 @@ override configuration settings.
line when generating patch format output.
--binary::
- In addition to --full-index, output "binary diff" that
- can be applied with "git apply".
+ In addition to `--full-index`, output a binary diff that
+ can be applied with `git-apply`.
--abbrev[=<n>]::
Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal object
name in diff-raw format output and diff-tree header
lines, show only a partial prefix. This is
- independent of --full-index option above, which controls
+ independent of the `--full-index` option above, which controls
the diff-patch output format. Non default number of
- digits can be specified with --abbrev=<n>.
-
--B::
- Break complete rewrite changes into pairs of delete and create.
+ digits can be specified with `--abbrev=<n>`.
--M::
+-B[<n>][/<m>]::
+--break-rewrites[=[<n>][/<m>]]::
+ Break complete rewrite changes into pairs of delete and
+ create. This serves two purposes:
++
+It affects the way a change that amounts to a total rewrite of a file
+not as a series of deletion and insertion mixed together with a very
+few lines that happen to match textually as the context, but as a
+single deletion of everything old followed by a single insertion of
+everything new, and the number `m` controls this aspect of the -B
+option (defaults to 60%). `-B/70%` specifies that less than 30% of the
+original should remain in the result for Git to consider it a total
+rewrite (i.e. otherwise the resulting patch will be a series of
+deletion and insertion mixed together with context lines).
++
+When used with -M, a totally-rewritten file is also considered as the
+source of a rename (usually -M only considers a file that disappeared
+as the source of a rename), and the number `n` controls this aspect of
+the -B option (defaults to 50%). `-B20%` specifies that a change with
+addition and deletion compared to 20% or more of the file's size are
+eligible for being picked up as a possible source of a rename to
+another file.
+
+-M[<n>]::
+--find-renames[=<n>]::
+ifndef::git-log[]
Detect renames.
-
--C::
+endif::git-log[]
+ifdef::git-log[]
+ If generating diffs, detect and report renames for each commit.
+ For following files across renames while traversing history, see
+ `--follow`.
+endif::git-log[]
+ If `n` is specified, it is a threshold on the similarity
+ index (i.e. amount of addition/deletions compared to the
+ file's size). For example, `-M90%` means Git should consider a
+ delete/add pair to be a rename if more than 90% of the file
+ hasn't changed. Without a `%` sign, the number is to be read as
+ a fraction, with a decimal point before it. I.e., `-M5` becomes
+ 0.5, and is thus the same as `-M50%`. Similarly, `-M05` is
+ the same as `-M5%`. To limit detection to exact renames, use
+ `-M100%`. The default similarity index is 50%.
+
+-C[<n>]::
+--find-copies[=<n>]::
Detect copies as well as renames. See also `--find-copies-harder`.
-
---diff-filter=[ACDMRTUXB*]::
- Select only files that are Added (`A`), Copied (`C`),
- Deleted (`D`), Modified (`M`), Renamed (`R`), have their
- type (i.e. regular file, symlink, submodule, ...) changed (`T`),
- are Unmerged (`U`), are
- Unknown (`X`), or have had their pairing Broken (`B`).
- Any combination of the filter characters may be used.
- When `*` (All-or-none) is added to the combination, all
- paths are selected if there is any file that matches
- other criteria in the comparison; if there is no file
- that matches other criteria, nothing is selected.
+ If `n` is specified, it has the same meaning as for `-M<n>`.
--find-copies-harder::
For performance reasons, by default, `-C` option finds copies only
@@ -168,32 +354,89 @@ override configuration settings.
projects, so use it with caution. Giving more than one
`-C` option has the same effect.
+-D::
+--irreversible-delete::
+ Omit the preimage for deletes, i.e. print only the header but not
+ the diff between the preimage and `/dev/null`. The resulting patch
+ is not meant to be applied with `patch` or `git apply`; this is
+ solely for people who want to just concentrate on reviewing the
+ text after the change. In addition, the output obviously lack
+ enough information to apply such a patch in reverse, even manually,
+ hence the name of the option.
++
+When used together with `-B`, omit also the preimage in the deletion part
+of a delete/create pair.
+
-l<num>::
- -M and -C options require O(n^2) processing time where n
+ The `-M` and `-C` options require O(n^2) processing time where n
is the number of potential rename/copy targets. This
option prevents rename/copy detection from running if
the number of rename/copy targets exceeds the specified
number.
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
+--diff-filter=[(A|C|D|M|R|T|U|X|B)...[*]]::
+ Select only files that are Added (`A`), Copied (`C`),
+ Deleted (`D`), Modified (`M`), Renamed (`R`), have their
+ type (i.e. regular file, symlink, submodule, ...) changed (`T`),
+ are Unmerged (`U`), are
+ Unknown (`X`), or have had their pairing Broken (`B`).
+ Any combination of the filter characters (including none) can be used.
+ When `*` (All-or-none) is added to the combination, all
+ paths are selected if there is any file that matches
+ other criteria in the comparison; if there is no file
+ that matches other criteria, nothing is selected.
+
-S<string>::
- Look for differences that introduce or remove an instance of
- <string>. Note that this is different than the string simply
- appearing in diff output; see the 'pickaxe' entry in
- linkgit:gitdiffcore[7] for more details.
+ Look for differences that change the number of occurrences of
+ the specified string (i.e. addition/deletion) in a file.
+ Intended for the scripter's use.
++
+It is useful when you're looking for an exact block of code (like a
+struct), and want to know the history of that block since it first
+came into being: use the feature iteratively to feed the interesting
+block in the preimage back into `-S`, and keep going until you get the
+very first version of the block.
+
+-G<regex>::
+ Look for differences whose patch text contains added/removed
+ lines that match <regex>.
++
+To illustrate the difference between `-S<regex> --pickaxe-regex` and
+`-G<regex>`, consider a commit with the following diff in the same
+file:
++
+----
++ return !regexec(regexp, two->ptr, 1, &regmatch, 0);
+...
+- hit = !regexec(regexp, mf2.ptr, 1, &regmatch, 0);
+----
++
+While `git log -G"regexec\(regexp"` will show this commit, `git log
+-S"regexec\(regexp" --pickaxe-regex` will not (because the number of
+occurrences of that string did not change).
++
+See the 'pickaxe' entry in linkgit:gitdiffcore[7] for more
+information.
--pickaxe-all::
- When -S finds a change, show all the changes in that
+ When `-S` or `-G` finds a change, show all the changes in that
changeset, not just the files that contain the change
in <string>.
--pickaxe-regex::
- Make the <string> not a plain string but an extended POSIX
- regex to match.
+ Treat the <string> given to `-S` as an extended POSIX regular
+ expression to match.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
-O<orderfile>::
Output the patch in the order specified in the
<orderfile>, which has one shell glob pattern per line.
+ This overrides the `diff.orderfile` configuration variable
+ (see linkgit:git-config[1]). To cancel `diff.orderfile`,
+ use `-O/dev/null`.
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
-R::
Swap two inputs; that is, show differences from index or
on-disk file to tree contents.
@@ -205,6 +448,7 @@ override configuration settings.
not in a subdirectory (e.g. in a bare repository), you
can name which subdirectory to make the output relative
to by giving a <path> as an argument.
+endif::git-format-patch[]
-a::
--text::
@@ -225,17 +469,28 @@ override configuration settings.
differences even if one line has whitespace where the other
line has none.
+--ignore-blank-lines::
+ Ignore changes whose lines are all blank.
+
--inter-hunk-context=<lines>::
Show the context between diff hunks, up to the specified number
of lines, thereby fusing hunks that are close to each other.
+-W::
+--function-context::
+ Show whole surrounding functions of changes.
+
+ifndef::git-format-patch[]
+ifndef::git-log[]
--exit-code::
Make the program exit with codes similar to diff(1).
That is, it exits with 1 if there were differences and
0 means no differences.
--quiet::
- Disable all output of the program. Implies --exit-code.
+ Disable all output of the program. Implies `--exit-code`.
+endif::git-log[]
+endif::git-format-patch[]
--ext-diff::
Allow an external diff helper to be executed. If you set an
@@ -245,8 +500,29 @@ override configuration settings.
--no-ext-diff::
Disallow external diff drivers.
---ignore-submodules::
- Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation.
+--textconv::
+--no-textconv::
+ Allow (or disallow) external text conversion filters to be run
+ when comparing binary files. See linkgit:gitattributes[5] for
+ details. Because textconv filters are typically a one-way
+ conversion, the resulting diff is suitable for human
+ consumption, but cannot be applied. For this reason, textconv
+ filters are enabled by default only for linkgit:git-diff[1] and
+ linkgit:git-log[1], but not for linkgit:git-format-patch[1] or
+ diff plumbing commands.
+
+--ignore-submodules[=<when>]::
+ Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation. <when> can be
+ either "none", "untracked", "dirty" or "all", which is the default.
+ Using "none" will consider the submodule modified when it either contains
+ untracked or modified files or its HEAD differs from the commit recorded
+ in the superproject and can be used to override any settings of the
+ 'ignore' option in linkgit:git-config[1] or linkgit:gitmodules[5]. When
+ "untracked" is used submodules are not considered dirty when they only
+ contain untracked content (but they are still scanned for modified
+ content). Using "dirty" ignores all changes to the work tree of submodules,
+ only changes to the commits stored in the superproject are shown (this was
+ the behavior until 1.7.0). Using "all" hides all changes to submodules.
--src-prefix=<prefix>::
Show the given source prefix instead of "a/".