]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/git.git/blame_incremental - Documentation/git-diff.txt
Merge branch 'am/visual-studio-config-fix'
[thirdparty/git.git] / Documentation / git-diff.txt
... / ...
CommitLineData
1git-diff(1)
2===========
3
4NAME
5----
6git-diff - Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
7
8
9SYNOPSIS
10--------
11[verse]
12'git diff' [<options>] [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
13'git diff' [<options>] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]
14'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]
15'git diff' [<options>] <blob> <blob>
16'git diff' [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path>
17
18DESCRIPTION
19-----------
20Show changes between the working tree and the index or a tree, changes
21between the index and a tree, changes between two trees, changes between
22two blob objects, or changes between two files on disk.
23
24'git diff' [<options>] [--] [<path>...]::
25
26 This form is to view the changes you made relative to
27 the index (staging area for the next commit). In other
28 words, the differences are what you _could_ tell Git to
29 further add to the index but you still haven't. You can
30 stage these changes by using linkgit:git-add[1].
31
32'git diff' [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path>::
33
34 This form is to compare the given two paths on the
35 filesystem. You can omit the `--no-index` option when
36 running the command in a working tree controlled by Git and
37 at least one of the paths points outside the working tree,
38 or when running the command outside a working tree
39 controlled by Git.
40
41'git diff' [<options>] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
42
43 This form is to view the changes you staged for the next
44 commit relative to the named <commit>. Typically you
45 would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you
46 do not give <commit>, it defaults to HEAD.
47 If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and
48 <commit> is not given, it shows all staged changes.
49 --staged is a synonym of --cached.
50
51'git diff' [<options>] <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
52
53 This form is to view the changes you have in your
54 working tree relative to the named <commit>. You can
55 use HEAD to compare it with the latest commit, or a
56 branch name to compare with the tip of a different
57 branch.
58
59'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
60
61 This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
62 <commit>.
63
64'git diff' [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
65
66 This is synonymous to the previous form. If <commit> on
67 one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
68 using HEAD instead.
69
70'git diff' [<options>] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
71
72 This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
73 and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
74 of both <commit>. "git diff A\...B" is equivalent to
75 "git diff $(git merge-base A B) B". You can omit any one
76 of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
77
78Just in case you are doing something exotic, it should be
79noted that all of the <commit> in the above description, except
80in the last two forms that use ".." notations, can be any
81<tree>.
82
83For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
84"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
85However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
86and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and
87"<commit>\...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the
88"SPECIFYING RANGES" section in linkgit:gitrevisions[7].
89
90'git diff' [<options>] <blob> <blob>::
91
92 This form is to view the differences between the raw
93 contents of two blob objects.
94
95OPTIONS
96-------
97:git-diff: 1
98include::diff-options.txt[]
99
100-1 --base::
101-2 --ours::
102-3 --theirs::
103 Compare the working tree with the "base" version (stage #1),
104 "our branch" (stage #2) or "their branch" (stage #3). The
105 index contains these stages only for unmerged entries i.e.
106 while resolving conflicts. See linkgit:git-read-tree[1]
107 section "3-Way Merge" for detailed information.
108
109-0::
110 Omit diff output for unmerged entries and just show
111 "Unmerged". Can be used only when comparing the working tree
112 with the index.
113
114<path>...::
115 The <paths> parameters, when given, are used to limit
116 the diff to the named paths (you can give directory
117 names and get diff for all files under them).
118
119
120include::diff-format.txt[]
121
122EXAMPLES
123--------
124
125Various ways to check your working tree::
126+
127------------
128$ git diff <1>
129$ git diff --cached <2>
130$ git diff HEAD <3>
131------------
132+
133<1> Changes in the working tree not yet staged for the next commit.
134<2> Changes between the index and your last commit; what you
135 would be committing if you run "git commit" without "-a" option.
136<3> Changes in the working tree since your last commit; what you
137 would be committing if you run "git commit -a"
138
139Comparing with arbitrary commits::
140+
141------------
142$ git diff test <1>
143$ git diff HEAD -- ./test <2>
144$ git diff HEAD^ HEAD <3>
145------------
146+
147<1> Instead of using the tip of the current branch, compare with the
148 tip of "test" branch.
149<2> Instead of comparing with the tip of "test" branch, compare with
150 the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
151 file "test".
152<3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
153
154Comparing branches::
155+
156------------
157$ git diff topic master <1>
158$ git diff topic..master <2>
159$ git diff topic...master <3>
160------------
161+
162<1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
163<2> Same as above.
164<3> Changes that occurred on the master branch since when the topic
165 branch was started off it.
166
167Limiting the diff output::
168+
169------------
170$ git diff --diff-filter=MRC <1>
171$ git diff --name-status <2>
172$ git diff arch/i386 include/asm-i386 <3>
173------------
174+
175<1> Show only modification, rename, and copy, but not addition
176 or deletion.
177<2> Show only names and the nature of change, but not actual
178 diff output.
179<3> Limit diff output to named subtrees.
180
181Munging the diff output::
182+
183------------
184$ git diff --find-copies-harder -B -C <1>
185$ git diff -R <2>
186------------
187+
188<1> Spend extra cycles to find renames, copies and complete
189 rewrites (very expensive).
190<2> Output diff in reverse.
191
192SEE ALSO
193--------
194diff(1),
195linkgit:git-difftool[1],
196linkgit:git-log[1],
197linkgit:gitdiffcore[7],
198linkgit:git-format-patch[1],
199linkgit:git-apply[1]
200
201GIT
202---
203Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite