summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Documentation/git-diff.txt
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/git-diff.txt')
-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-diff.txt136
1 files changed, 92 insertions, 44 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
index 044cee9b42..bbab35fcaf 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-diff.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
@@ -8,33 +8,47 @@ git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
SYNOPSIS
--------
-'git-diff' [<common diff options>] <commit>{0,2} [--] [<path>...]
+[verse]
+'git diff' [options] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
+'git diff' [options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
+'git diff' [options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]
+'git diff' [options] <blob> <blob>
+'git diff' [options] [--no-index] [--] <path> <path>
DESCRIPTION
-----------
-Show changes between two trees, a tree and the working tree, a
-tree and the index file, or the index file and the working tree.
+Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes
+between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, changes between
+two blob objects, or changes between two files on disk.
-'git-diff' [--options] [--] [<path>...]::
+'git diff' [--options] [--] [<path>...]::
This form is to view the changes you made relative to
the index (staging area for the next commit). In other
- words, the differences are what you _could_ tell git to
+ words, the differences are what you _could_ tell Git to
further add to the index but you still haven't. You can
- stage these changes by using gitlink:git-add[1].
+ stage these changes by using linkgit:git-add[1].
- If exactly two paths are given, and at least one is untracked,
- compare the two files / directories. This behavior can be
- forced by --no-index.
+'git diff' --no-index [--options] [--] [<path>...]::
-'git-diff' [--options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
+ This form is to compare the given two paths on the
+ filesystem. You can omit the `--no-index` option when
+ running the command in a working tree controlled by Git and
+ at least one of the paths points outside the working tree,
+ or when running the command outside a working tree
+ controlled by Git.
+
+'git diff' [--options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
This form is to view the changes you staged for the next
commit relative to the named <commit>. Typically you
would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD.
+ If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and
+ <commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes.
+ --staged is a synonym of --cached.
-'git-diff' [--options] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+'git diff' [--options] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
This form is to view the changes you have in your
working tree relative to the named <commit>. You can
@@ -42,21 +56,45 @@ tree and the index file, or the index file and the working tree.
branch name to compare with the tip of a different
branch.
-'git-diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+'git diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+ This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
+ <commit>.
+
+'git diff' [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+ This is synonymous to the previous form. If <commit> on
+ one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
+ using HEAD instead.
- This form is to view the changes between two <commit>,
- for example, tips of two branches.
+'git diff' [--options] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+ This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
+ and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
+ of both <commit>. "git diff A\...B" is equivalent to
+ "git diff $(git-merge-base A B) B". You can omit any one
+ of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
Just in case if you are doing something exotic, it should be
-noted that all of the <commit> in the above description can be
-any <tree-ish>.
+noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except
+in the last two forms that use ".." notations, can be any
+<tree>.
For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
-"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
+"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
+However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
+and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and
+"<commit>\...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the
+"SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
+
+'git diff' [options] <blob> <blob>::
+ This form is to view the differences between the raw
+ contents of two blob objects.
OPTIONS
-------
+:git-diff: 1
include::diff-options.txt[]
<path>...::
@@ -65,6 +103,8 @@ include::diff-options.txt[]
names and get diff for all files under them).
+include::diff-format.txt[]
+
EXAMPLES
--------
@@ -76,10 +116,10 @@ $ git diff --cached <2>
$ git diff HEAD <3>
------------
+
-<1> changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
-<2> changes between the index and your last commit; what you
+<1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
+<2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you
would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option.
-<3> changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
+<3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
would be committing if you run "git commit -a"
Comparing with arbitrary commits::
@@ -90,30 +130,39 @@ $ git diff HEAD -- ./test <2>
$ git diff HEAD^ HEAD <3>
------------
+
-<1> instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
+<1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
tip of "test" branch.
-<2> instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
+<2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
file "test".
-<3> compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
+<3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
+Comparing branches::
++
+------------
+$ git diff topic master <1>
+$ git diff topic..master <2>
+$ git diff topic...master <3>
+------------
++
+<1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
+<2> Same as above.
+<3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic
+branch was started off it.
Limiting the diff output::
+
------------
$ git diff --diff-filter=MRC <1>
-$ git diff --name-status -r <2>
+$ git diff --name-status <2>
$ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386 <3>
------------
+
-<1> show only modification, rename and copy, but not addition
-nor deletion.
-<2> show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
-diff output. --name-status disables usual patch generation
-which in turn also disables recursive behavior, so without -r
-you would only see the directory name if there is a change in a
-file in a subdirectory.
-<3> limit diff output to named subtrees.
+<1> Show only modification, rename, and copy, but not addition
+or deletion.
+<2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
+diff output.
+<3> Limit diff output to named subtrees.
Munging the diff output::
+
@@ -122,20 +171,19 @@ $ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C <1>
$ git diff -R <2>
------------
+
-<1> spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
+<1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
rewrites (very expensive).
-<2> output diff in reverse.
-
+<2> Output diff in reverse.
-Author
-------
-Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
-
-Documentation
---------------
-Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
+SEE ALSO
+--------
+diff(1),
+linkgit:git-difftool[1],
+linkgit:git-log[1],
+linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
+linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
+linkgit:git-apply[1]
GIT
---
-Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite
-
+Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite