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git/Documentation/git-diff.txt
Shawn O. Pearce 41a5564e05 Refer users to git-rev-parse for revision specification syntax.
The revision specification syntax (sometimes referred to as
SHA1-expressions) is accepted almost everywhere in Git by
almost every tool.  Unfortunately it is only documented in
git-rev-parse.txt, and most users don't know to look there.

Signed-off-by: Shawn O. Pearce <spearce@spearce.org>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net>
2007-01-17 20:45:41 -08:00

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git-diff(1)
===========
NAME
----
git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
SYNOPSIS
--------
'git-diff' [ --diff-options ] <commit>{0,2} [--] [<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.
'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
further add to the index but you still haven't. You can
stage these changes by using gitlink:git-add[1].
'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.
'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
use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a
branch name to compare with the tip of a different
branch.
'git-diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
This form is to view the changes between two <commit>,
for example, tips of two branches.
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>.
For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
OPTIONS
-------
include::diff-options.txt[]
<path>...::
The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit
the diff to the named paths (you can give directory
names and get diff for all files under them).
EXAMPLES
--------
Various ways to check your working tree::
+
------------
$ git diff <1>
$ 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
would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option.
<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::
+
------------
$ git diff test <1>
$ git diff HEAD -- ./test <2>
$ git diff HEAD^ HEAD <3>
------------
+
<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
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.
Limiting the diff output::
+
------------
$ git diff --diff-filter=MRC <1>
$ git diff --name-status -r <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.
Munging the diff output::
+
------------
$ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C <1>
$ git diff -R <2>
------------
+
<1> spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
rewrites (very expensive).
<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>.
GIT
---
Part of the gitlink:git[7] suite