]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/git.git/blame - Documentation/diff-options.txt
Documentation/git-update-index: add missing opts to synopsys
[thirdparty/git.git] / Documentation / diff-options.txt
CommitLineData
c1a95fa6
SO
1// Please don't remove this comment as asciidoc behaves badly when
2// the first non-empty line is ifdef/ifndef. The symptom is that
3// without this comment the <git-diff-core> attribute conditionally
4// defined below ends up being defined unconditionally.
5// Last checked with asciidoc 7.0.2.
6
7ifndef::git-format-patch[]
8ifndef::git-diff[]
272bd3cf 9ifndef::git-log[]
c1a95fa6 10:git-diff-core: 1
272bd3cf 11endif::git-log[]
c1a95fa6
SO
12endif::git-diff[]
13endif::git-format-patch[]
14
15ifdef::git-format-patch[]
16-p::
2cfa8330 17--no-stat::
02bc5b03 18 Generate plain patches without any diffstats.
c1a95fa6
SO
19endif::git-format-patch[]
20
21ifndef::git-format-patch[]
dda2d79a 22-p::
a9e67c8c 23-u::
1c9eecff 24--patch::
c1a95fa6 25 Generate patch (see section on generating patches).
d0258b93
JK
26ifdef::git-diff[]
27 This is the default.
28endif::git-diff[]
c1a95fa6 29endif::git-format-patch[]
dda2d79a 30
7b02c834
MM
31-s::
32--no-patch::
33 Suppress diff output. Useful for commands like `git show` that
34 show the patch by default, or to cancel the effect of `--patch`.
35
4eb99473 36-U<n>::
4eb99473
RR
37--unified=<n>::
38 Generate diffs with <n> lines of context instead of
02bc5b03
BG
39 the usual three.
40ifndef::git-format-patch[]
dce5ef14 41 Implies `-p`.
02bc5b03 42endif::git-format-patch[]
4eb99473 43
d4cb003f 44ifndef::git-format-patch[]
b5376648 45--raw::
d89df367
MM
46ifndef::git-log[]
47 Generate the diff in raw format.
d0258b93
JK
48ifdef::git-diff-core[]
49 This is the default.
50endif::git-diff-core[]
d89df367
MM
51endif::git-log[]
52ifdef::git-log[]
53 For each commit, show a summary of changes using the raw diff
54 format. See the "RAW OUTPUT FORMAT" section of
55 linkgit:git-diff[1]. This is different from showing the log
56 itself in raw format, which you can achieve with
57 `--format=raw`.
58endif::git-log[]
d4cb003f 59endif::git-format-patch[]
b5376648 60
02bc5b03 61ifndef::git-format-patch[]
5c91da25 62--patch-with-raw::
dce5ef14 63 Synonym for `-p --raw`.
02bc5b03 64endif::git-format-patch[]
5c91da25 65
81b568c8
JH
66--minimal::
67 Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible
68 diff is produced.
69
ec74042d 70--patience::
34292bdd
JS
71 Generate a diff using the "patience diff" algorithm.
72
d909e076
TR
73--histogram::
74 Generate a diff using the "histogram diff" algorithm.
75
07924d4d
MP
76--diff-algorithm={patience|minimal|histogram|myers}::
77 Choose a diff algorithm. The variants are as follows:
78+
79--
80`default`, `myers`;;
81 The basic greedy diff algorithm. Currently, this is the default.
82`minimal`;;
83 Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible diff is
84 produced.
85`patience`;;
86 Use "patience diff" algorithm when generating patches.
87`histogram`;;
88 This algorithm extends the patience algorithm to "support
89 low-occurrence common elements".
90--
91+
92For instance, if you configured diff.algorithm variable to a
93non-default value and want to use the default one, then you
94have to use `--diff-algorithm=default` option.
95
808e1db2 96--stat[=<width>[,<name-width>[,<count>]]]::
1b058bc3 97 Generate a diffstat. By default, as much space as necessary
df44483a
ZJS
98 will be used for the filename part, and the rest for the graph
99 part. Maximum width defaults to terminal width, or 80 columns
8d8136c3 100 if not connected to a terminal, and can be overridden by
df44483a
ZJS
101 `<width>`. The width of the filename part can be limited by
102 giving another width `<name-width>` after a comma. The width
103 of the graph part can be limited by using
104 `--stat-graph-width=<width>` (affects all commands generating
105 a stat graph) or by setting `diff.statGraphWidth=<width>`
106 (does not affect `git format-patch`).
808e1db2 107 By giving a third parameter `<count>`, you can limit the
1b058bc3
ZJS
108 output to the first `<count>` lines, followed by `...` if
109 there are more.
86e1ce96
MG
110+
111These parameters can also be set individually with `--stat-width=<width>`,
112`--stat-name-width=<name-width>` and `--stat-count=<count>`.
d75f7952 113
74e2abe5 114--numstat::
6cf378f0 115 Similar to `--stat`, but shows number of added and
74e2abe5 116 deleted lines in decimal notation and pathname without
2f89543e
JH
117 abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly. For
118 binary files, outputs two `-` instead of saying
119 `0 0`.
74e2abe5 120
ebd124c6 121--shortstat::
dce5ef14 122 Output only the last line of the `--stat` format containing total
ebd124c6
NP
123 number of modified files, as well as number of added and deleted
124 lines.
125
333f3fb0
JH
126--dirstat[=<param1,param2,...>]::
127 Output the distribution of relative amount of changes for each
128 sub-directory. The behavior of `--dirstat` can be customized by
129 passing it a comma separated list of parameters.
2d174951
JH
130 The defaults are controlled by the `diff.dirstat` configuration
131 variable (see linkgit:git-config[1]).
333f3fb0 132 The following parameters are available:
204f01a2 133+
333f3fb0
JH
134--
135`changes`;;
136 Compute the dirstat numbers by counting the lines that have been
137 removed from the source, or added to the destination. This ignores
138 the amount of pure code movements within a file. In other words,
139 rearranging lines in a file is not counted as much as other changes.
140 This is the default behavior when no parameter is given.
1c57a627
JH
141`lines`;;
142 Compute the dirstat numbers by doing the regular line-based diff
143 analysis, and summing the removed/added line counts. (For binary
144 files, count 64-byte chunks instead, since binary files have no
145 natural concept of lines). This is a more expensive `--dirstat`
146 behavior than the `changes` behavior, but it does count rearranged
147 lines within a file as much as other changes. The resulting output
148 is consistent with what you get from the other `--*stat` options.
333f3fb0
JH
149`files`;;
150 Compute the dirstat numbers by counting the number of files changed.
151 Each changed file counts equally in the dirstat analysis. This is
152 the computationally cheapest `--dirstat` behavior, since it does
153 not have to look at the file contents at all.
154`cumulative`;;
155 Count changes in a child directory for the parent directory as well.
156 Note that when using `cumulative`, the sum of the percentages
157 reported may exceed 100%. The default (non-cumulative) behavior can
158 be specified with the `noncumulative` parameter.
159<limit>;;
160 An integer parameter specifies a cut-off percent (3% by default).
161 Directories contributing less than this percentage of the changes
162 are not shown in the output.
163--
164+
165Example: The following will count changed files, while ignoring
166directories with less than 10% of the total amount of changed files,
167and accumulating child directory counts in the parent directories:
168`--dirstat=files,10,cumulative`.
fd33777b 169
4bbd261b
SE
170--summary::
171 Output a condensed summary of extended header information
172 such as creations, renames and mode changes.
173
02bc5b03 174ifndef::git-format-patch[]
29353273 175--patch-with-stat::
dce5ef14 176 Synonym for `-p --stat`.
02bc5b03 177endif::git-format-patch[]
29353273 178
d4cb003f 179ifndef::git-format-patch[]
64485b4a 180
dda2d79a 181-z::
5c931c8d
BG
182ifdef::git-log[]
183 Separate the commits with NULs instead of with new newlines.
184+
185Also, when `--raw` or `--numstat` has been given, do not munge
186pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
187endif::git-log[]
64485b4a 188ifndef::git-log[]
03aa87ed
CB
189 When `--raw`, `--numstat`, `--name-only` or `--name-status` has been
190 given, do not munge pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
5c931c8d 191endif::git-log[]
64485b4a
BG
192+
193Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
194and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
195respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
196any of those replacements occurred.
dda2d79a
JH
197
198--name-only::
199 Show only names of changed files.
200
946f5f7c 201--name-status::
a6f47b2b
MV
202 Show only names and status of changed files. See the description
203 of the `--diff-filter` option on what the status letters mean.
dda2d79a 204
752c0c24 205--submodule[=<format>]::
3fe271e9
TH
206 Specify how differences in submodules are shown. When `--submodule`
207 or `--submodule=log` is given, the 'log' format is used. This format lists
208 the commits in the range like linkgit:git-submodule[1] `summary` does.
209 Omitting the `--submodule` option or specifying `--submodule=short`,
210 uses the 'short' format. This format just shows the names of the commits
c47ef57c
RR
211 at the beginning and end of the range. Can be tweaked via the
212 `diff.submodule` configuration variable.
752c0c24 213
73e9da01 214--color[=<when>]::
b5376648 215 Show colored diff.
3d0e75f2
JH
216 `--color` (i.e. without '=<when>') is the same as `--color=always`.
217 '<when>' can be one of `always`, `never`, or `auto`.
6999c540
MG
218ifdef::git-diff[]
219 It can be changed by the `color.ui` and `color.diff`
220 configuration settings.
221endif::git-diff[]
b5376648
JH
222
223--no-color::
6999c540
MG
224 Turn off colored diff.
225ifdef::git-diff[]
226 This can be used to override configuration settings.
227endif::git-diff[]
228 It is the same as `--color=never`.
b5376648 229
882749a0
TR
230--word-diff[=<mode>]::
231 Show a word diff, using the <mode> to delimit changed words.
232 By default, words are delimited by whitespace; see
233 `--word-diff-regex` below. The <mode> defaults to 'plain', and
234 must be one of:
235+
236--
237color::
238 Highlight changed words using only colors. Implies `--color`.
239plain::
240 Show words as `[-removed-]` and `{+added+}`. Makes no
241 attempts to escape the delimiters if they appear in the input,
242 so the output may be ambiguous.
243porcelain::
244 Use a special line-based format intended for script
245 consumption. Added/removed/unchanged runs are printed in the
246 usual unified diff format, starting with a `+`/`-`/` `
247 character at the beginning of the line and extending to the
248 end of the line. Newlines in the input are represented by a
249 tilde `~` on a line of its own.
250none::
251 Disable word diff again.
252--
253+
254Note that despite the name of the first mode, color is used to
255highlight the changed parts in all modes if enabled.
256
257--word-diff-regex=<regex>::
258 Use <regex> to decide what a word is, instead of considering
259 runs of non-whitespace to be a word. Also implies
260 `--word-diff` unless it was already enabled.
2b6a5417 261+
882749a0 262Every non-overlapping match of the
c4b252c3
TR
263<regex> is considered a word. Anything between these matches is
264considered whitespace and ignored(!) for the purposes of finding
265differences. You may want to append `|[^[:space:]]` to your regular
266expression to make sure that it matches all non-whitespace characters.
267A match that contains a newline is silently truncated(!) at the
268newline.
80c49c3d 269+
98a4d87b
BSSJ
270The regex can also be set via a diff driver or configuration option, see
271linkgit:gitattributes[1] or linkgit:git-config[1]. Giving it explicitly
272overrides any diff driver or configuration setting. Diff drivers
273override configuration settings.
882749a0
TR
274
275--color-words[=<regex>]::
276 Equivalent to `--word-diff=color` plus (if a regex was
277 specified) `--word-diff-regex=<regex>`.
d4cb003f 278endif::git-format-patch[]
f59a59e2 279
b5376648
JH
280--no-renames::
281 Turn off rename detection, even when the configuration
282 file gives the default to do so.
283
02bc5b03 284ifndef::git-format-patch[]
16507fcf 285--check::
4f830390
CK
286 Warn if changes introduce whitespace errors. What are
287 considered whitespace errors is controlled by `core.whitespace`
288 configuration. By default, trailing whitespaces (including
289 lines that solely consist of whitespaces) and a space character
290 that is immediately followed by a tab character inside the
291 initial indent of the line are considered whitespace errors.
292 Exits with non-zero status if problems are found. Not compatible
293 with --exit-code.
b8767f79
JH
294
295--ws-error-highlight=<kind>::
296 Highlight whitespace errors on lines specified by <kind>
297 in the color specified by `color.diff.whitespace`. <kind>
298 is a comma separated list of `old`, `new`, `context`. When
299 this option is not given, only whitespace errors in `new`
300 lines are highlighted. E.g. `--ws-error-highlight=new,old`
301 highlights whitespace errors on both deleted and added lines.
302 `all` can be used as a short-hand for `old,new,context`.
303
02bc5b03 304endif::git-format-patch[]
16507fcf 305
80b1e511 306--full-index::
6457e58c
JM
307 Instead of the first handful of characters, show the full
308 pre- and post-image blob object names on the "index"
309 line when generating patch format output.
b5376648
JH
310
311--binary::
dce5ef14
BG
312 In addition to `--full-index`, output a binary diff that
313 can be applied with `git-apply`.
80b1e511 314
913419fc 315--abbrev[=<n>]::
47dd0d59
JH
316 Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal object
317 name in diff-raw format output and diff-tree header
323b9db8 318 lines, show only a partial prefix. This is
dce5ef14 319 independent of the `--full-index` option above, which controls
913419fc 320 the diff-patch output format. Non default number of
dce5ef14 321 digits can be specified with `--abbrev=<n>`.
47dd0d59 322
cf958afd 323-B[<n>][/<m>]::
37ab5156 324--break-rewrites[=[<n>][/<m>]]::
cf958afd
MM
325 Break complete rewrite changes into pairs of delete and
326 create. This serves two purposes:
327+
328It affects the way a change that amounts to a total rewrite of a file
329not as a series of deletion and insertion mixed together with a very
330few lines that happen to match textually as the context, but as a
331single deletion of everything old followed by a single insertion of
332everything new, and the number `m` controls this aspect of the -B
333option (defaults to 60%). `-B/70%` specifies that less than 30% of the
2de9b711 334original should remain in the result for Git to consider it a total
cf958afd
MM
335rewrite (i.e. otherwise the resulting patch will be a series of
336deletion and insertion mixed together with context lines).
337+
338When used with -M, a totally-rewritten file is also considered as the
339source of a rename (usually -M only considers a file that disappeared
340as the source of a rename), and the number `n` controls this aspect of
341the -B option (defaults to 50%). `-B20%` specifies that a change with
342addition and deletion compared to 20% or more of the file's size are
343eligible for being picked up as a possible source of a rename to
344another file.
345
346-M[<n>]::
f611ddc7 347--find-renames[=<n>]::
7ffad250 348ifndef::git-log[]
dda2d79a 349 Detect renames.
7ffad250
JK
350endif::git-log[]
351ifdef::git-log[]
352 If generating diffs, detect and report renames for each commit.
353 For following files across renames while traversing history, see
354 `--follow`.
355endif::git-log[]
4c007ae8 356 If `n` is specified, it is a threshold on the similarity
cf958afd 357 index (i.e. amount of addition/deletions compared to the
2de9b711 358 file's size). For example, `-M90%` means Git should consider a
cf958afd 359 delete/add pair to be a rename if more than 90% of the file
31d66aa4
SC
360 hasn't changed. Without a `%` sign, the number is to be read as
361 a fraction, with a decimal point before it. I.e., `-M5` becomes
362 0.5, and is thus the same as `-M50%`. Similarly, `-M05` is
363 the same as `-M5%`. To limit detection to exact renames, use
8240943b 364 `-M100%`. The default similarity index is 50%.
dda2d79a 365
cf958afd 366-C[<n>]::
f611ddc7 367--find-copies[=<n>]::
ca6c0970 368 Detect copies as well as renames. See also `--find-copies-harder`.
cf958afd 369 If `n` is specified, it has the same meaning as for `-M<n>`.
dda2d79a
JH
370
371--find-copies-harder::
ca6c0970 372 For performance reasons, by default, `-C` option finds copies only
a6080a0a 373 if the original file of the copy was modified in the same
f73ae1fc 374 changeset. This flag makes the command
dda2d79a
JH
375 inspect unmodified files as candidates for the source of
376 copy. This is a very expensive operation for large
ca6c0970
JS
377 projects, so use it with caution. Giving more than one
378 `-C` option has the same effect.
dda2d79a 379
467ddc14
JH
380-D::
381--irreversible-delete::
382 Omit the preimage for deletes, i.e. print only the header but not
383 the diff between the preimage and `/dev/null`. The resulting patch
a58088ab 384 is not meant to be applied with `patch` or `git apply`; this is
467ddc14
JH
385 solely for people who want to just concentrate on reviewing the
386 text after the change. In addition, the output obviously lack
387 enough information to apply such a patch in reverse, even manually,
388 hence the name of the option.
389+
390When used together with `-B`, omit also the preimage in the deletion part
391of a delete/create pair.
392
8082d8d3 393-l<num>::
dce5ef14 394 The `-M` and `-C` options require O(n^2) processing time where n
f73ae1fc 395 is the number of potential rename/copy targets. This
8082d8d3 396 option prevents rename/copy detection from running if
f73ae1fc 397 the number of rename/copy targets exceeds the specified
8082d8d3
JH
398 number.
399
d4cb003f 400ifndef::git-format-patch[]
f1037448
YD
401--diff-filter=[(A|C|D|M|R|T|U|X|B)...[*]]::
402 Select only files that are Added (`A`), Copied (`C`),
403 Deleted (`D`), Modified (`M`), Renamed (`R`), have their
404 type (i.e. regular file, symlink, submodule, ...) changed (`T`),
405 are Unmerged (`U`), are
406 Unknown (`X`), or have had their pairing Broken (`B`).
407 Any combination of the filter characters (including none) can be used.
408 When `*` (All-or-none) is added to the combination, all
409 paths are selected if there is any file that matches
410 other criteria in the comparison; if there is no file
411 that matches other criteria, nothing is selected.
412
dda2d79a 413-S<string>::
5bc3f0b5
RR
414 Look for differences that change the number of occurrences of
415 the specified string (i.e. addition/deletion) in a file.
416 Intended for the scripter's use.
417+
418It is useful when you're looking for an exact block of code (like a
419struct), and want to know the history of that block since it first
420came into being: use the feature iteratively to feed the interesting
421block in the preimage back into `-S`, and keep going until you get the
422very first version of the block.
dda2d79a 423
f506b8e8 424-G<regex>::
5bc3f0b5
RR
425 Look for differences whose patch text contains added/removed
426 lines that match <regex>.
427+
428To illustrate the difference between `-S<regex> --pickaxe-regex` and
429`-G<regex>`, consider a commit with the following diff in the same
430file:
431+
432----
433+ return !regexec(regexp, two->ptr, 1, &regmatch, 0);
434...
435- hit = !regexec(regexp, mf2.ptr, 1, &regmatch, 0);
436----
437+
438While `git log -G"regexec\(regexp"` will show this commit, `git log
439-S"regexec\(regexp" --pickaxe-regex` will not (because the number of
440occurrences of that string did not change).
441+
442See the 'pickaxe' entry in linkgit:gitdiffcore[7] for more
443information.
f506b8e8 444
dda2d79a 445--pickaxe-all::
f506b8e8 446 When `-S` or `-G` finds a change, show all the changes in that
f73ae1fc 447 changeset, not just the files that contain the change
dda2d79a
JH
448 in <string>.
449
d01d8c67 450--pickaxe-regex::
5bc3f0b5
RR
451 Treat the <string> given to `-S` as an extended POSIX regular
452 expression to match.
d4cb003f 453endif::git-format-patch[]
d01d8c67 454
dda2d79a
JH
455-O<orderfile>::
456 Output the patch in the order specified in the
457 <orderfile>, which has one shell glob pattern per line.
da0005b8
NTND
458 This overrides the `diff.orderFile` configuration variable
459 (see linkgit:git-config[1]). To cancel `diff.orderFile`,
6d8940b5 460 use `-O/dev/null`.
dda2d79a 461
d4cb003f 462ifndef::git-format-patch[]
dda2d79a 463-R::
5f3aa197 464 Swap two inputs; that is, show differences from index or
dda2d79a
JH
465 on-disk file to tree contents.
466
c0cb4a06 467--relative[=<path>]::
cd676a51
JH
468 When run from a subdirectory of the project, it can be
469 told to exclude changes outside the directory and show
c0cb4a06
JH
470 pathnames relative to it with this option. When you are
471 not in a subdirectory (e.g. in a bare repository), you
472 can name which subdirectory to make the output relative
473 to by giving a <path> as an argument.
d4cb003f 474endif::git-format-patch[]
cd676a51 475
a9e67c8c 476-a::
d507bb15
SF
477--text::
478 Treat all files as text.
479
a44a0c99 480--ignore-space-at-eol::
0ac7903e 481 Ignore changes in whitespace at EOL.
a44a0c99 482
a9e67c8c 483-b::
8ebe185b 484--ignore-space-change::
0ac7903e
WC
485 Ignore changes in amount of whitespace. This ignores whitespace
486 at line end, and considers all other sequences of one or
487 more whitespace characters to be equivalent.
8ebe185b 488
a9e67c8c 489-w::
8ebe185b 490--ignore-all-space::
0ac7903e
WC
491 Ignore whitespace when comparing lines. This ignores
492 differences even if one line has whitespace where the other
8ebe185b
JN
493 line has none.
494
36617af7
AP
495--ignore-blank-lines::
496 Ignore changes whose lines are all blank.
497
6d0e674a
RS
498--inter-hunk-context=<lines>::
499 Show the context between diff hunks, up to the specified number
500 of lines, thereby fusing hunks that are close to each other.
501
14937c2c
RS
502-W::
503--function-context::
504 Show whole surrounding functions of changes.
505
d4cb003f 506ifndef::git-format-patch[]
939ca96b 507ifndef::git-log[]
41bbf9d5
AR
508--exit-code::
509 Make the program exit with codes similar to diff(1).
510 That is, it exits with 1 if there were differences and
511 0 means no differences.
512
2a18c266 513--quiet::
dce5ef14 514 Disable all output of the program. Implies `--exit-code`.
939ca96b 515endif::git-log[]
d4cb003f 516endif::git-format-patch[]
2a18c266 517
72909bef
JS
518--ext-diff::
519 Allow an external diff helper to be executed. If you set an
5162e697
DM
520 external diff driver with linkgit:gitattributes[5], you need
521 to use this option with linkgit:git-log[1] and friends.
72909bef
JS
522
523--no-ext-diff::
524 Disallow external diff drivers.
525
d28790dc
JK
526--textconv::
527--no-textconv::
528 Allow (or disallow) external text conversion filters to be run
529 when comparing binary files. See linkgit:gitattributes[5] for
530 details. Because textconv filters are typically a one-way
531 conversion, the resulting diff is suitable for human
532 consumption, but cannot be applied. For this reason, textconv
533 filters are enabled by default only for linkgit:git-diff[1] and
534 linkgit:git-log[1], but not for linkgit:git-format-patch[1] or
535 diff plumbing commands.
536
dd44d419
JL
537--ignore-submodules[=<when>]::
538 Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation. <when> can be
b1d04bfc 539 either "none", "untracked", "dirty" or "all", which is the default.
aee9c7d6
JL
540 Using "none" will consider the submodule modified when it either contains
541 untracked or modified files or its HEAD differs from the commit recorded
542 in the superproject and can be used to override any settings of the
302ad7a9 543 'ignore' option in linkgit:git-config[1] or linkgit:gitmodules[5]. When
dd44d419
JL
544 "untracked" is used submodules are not considered dirty when they only
545 contain untracked content (but they are still scanned for modified
546 content). Using "dirty" ignores all changes to the work tree of submodules,
547 only changes to the commits stored in the superproject are shown (this was
548 the behavior until 1.7.0). Using "all" hides all changes to submodules.
50fd9bd8 549
eab9a40b
JS
550--src-prefix=<prefix>::
551 Show the given source prefix instead of "a/".
552
553--dst-prefix=<prefix>::
554 Show the given destination prefix instead of "b/".
555
556--no-prefix::
557 Do not show any source or destination prefix.
558
8db9307c 559For more detailed explanation on these common options, see also
6998e4db 560linkgit:gitdiffcore[7].