Documentation/diff-options.txt

   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
   7 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
   8 ifndef::git-diff[]
   9 ifndef::git-log[]
  10 :git-diff-core: 1
  11 endif::git-log[]
  12 endif::git-diff[]
  13 endif::git-format-patch[]
  14
  15 ifdef::git-format-patch[]
  16 -p::
  17 --no-stat::
  18         Generate plain patches without any diffstats.
  19 endif::git-format-patch[]
  20
  21 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  22 -p::
  23 -u::
  24 --patch::
  25         Generate patch (see section on generating patches).
  26         {git-diff? This is the default.}
  27 endif::git-format-patch[]
  28
  29 -U<n>::
  30 --unified=<n>::
  31         Generate diffs with <n> lines of context instead of
  32         the usual three.
  33 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  34         Implies `-p`.
  35 endif::git-format-patch[]
  36
  37 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  38 --raw::
  39         Generate the raw format.
  40         {git-diff-core? This is the default.}
  41 endif::git-format-patch[]
  42
  43 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  44 --patch-with-raw::
  45         Synonym for `-p --raw`.
  46 endif::git-format-patch[]
  47
  48 --patience::
  49         Generate a diff using the "patience diff" algorithm.
  50
  51 --stat[=<width>[,<name-width>]]::
  52         Generate a diffstat.  You can override the default
  53         output width for 80-column terminal by `--stat=<width>`.
  54         The width of the filename part can be controlled by
  55         giving another width to it separated by a comma.
  56
  57 --numstat::
  58         Similar to `\--stat`, but shows number of added and
  59         deleted lines in decimal notation and pathname without
  60         abbreviation, to make it more machine friendly.  For
  61         binary files, outputs two `-` instead of saying
  62         `0 0`.
  63
  64 --shortstat::
  65         Output only the last line of the `--stat` format containing total
  66         number of modified files, as well as number of added and deleted
  67         lines.
  68
  69 --dirstat[=<limit>]::
  70         Output the distribution of relative amount of changes (number of lines added or
  71         removed) for each sub-directory. Directories with changes below
  72         a cut-off percent (3% by default) are not shown. The cut-off percent
  73         can be set with `--dirstat=<limit>`. Changes in a child directory are not
  74         counted for the parent directory, unless `--cumulative` is used.
  75
  76 --dirstat-by-file[=<limit>]::
  77         Same as `--dirstat`, but counts changed files instead of lines.
  78
  79 --summary::
  80         Output a condensed summary of extended header information
  81         such as creations, renames and mode changes.
  82
  83 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  84 --patch-with-stat::
  85         Synonym for `-p --stat`.
  86 endif::git-format-patch[]
  87
  88 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
  89
  90 -z::
  91 ifdef::git-log[]
  92         Separate the commits with NULs instead of with new newlines.
  93 +
  94 Also, when `--raw` or `--numstat` has been given, do not munge
  95 pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
  96 endif::git-log[]
  97 ifndef::git-log[]
  98         When `--raw`, `--numstat`, `--name-only` or `--name-status` has been
  99         given, do not munge pathnames and use NULs as output field terminators.
 100 endif::git-log[]
 101 +
 102 Without this option, each pathname output will have TAB, LF, double quotes,
 103 and backslash characters replaced with `\t`, `\n`, `\"`, and `\\`,
 104 respectively, and the pathname will be enclosed in double quotes if
 105 any of those replacements occurred.
 106
 107 --name-only::
 108         Show only names of changed files.
 109
 110 --name-status::
 111         Show only names and status of changed files. See the description
 112         of the `--diff-filter` option on what the status letters mean.
 113
 114 --submodule[=<format>]::
 115         Chose the output format for submodule differences. <format> can be one of
 116         'short' and 'log'. 'short' just shows pairs of commit names, this format
 117         is used when this option is not given. 'log' is the default value for this
 118         option and lists the commits in that commit range like the 'summary'
 119         option of linkgit:git-submodule[1] does.
 120
 121 --color[=<when>]::
 122         Show colored diff.
 123         The value must be always (the default), never, or auto.
 124
 125 --no-color::
 126         Turn off colored diff, even when the configuration file
 127         gives the default to color output.
 128         Same as `--color=never`.
 129
 130 --word-diff[=<mode>]::
 131         Show a word diff, using the <mode> to delimit changed words.
 132         By default, words are delimited by whitespace; see
 133         `--word-diff-regex` below.  The <mode> defaults to 'plain', and
 134         must be one of:
 135 +
 136 --
 137 color::
 138         Highlight changed words using only colors.  Implies `--color`.
 139 plain::
 140         Show words as `[-removed-]` and `{+added+}`.  Makes no
 141         attempts to escape the delimiters if they appear in the input,
 142         so the output may be ambiguous.
 143 porcelain::
 144         Use a special line-based format intended for script
 145         consumption.  Added/removed/unchanged runs are printed in the
 146         usual unified diff format, starting with a `+`/`-`/` `
 147         character at the beginning of the line and extending to the
 148         end of the line.  Newlines in the input are represented by a
 149         tilde `~` on a line of its own.
 150 none::
 151         Disable word diff again.
 152 --
 153 +
 154 Note that despite the name of the first mode, color is used to
 155 highlight the changed parts in all modes if enabled.
 156
 157 --word-diff-regex=<regex>::
 158         Use <regex> to decide what a word is, instead of considering
 159         runs of non-whitespace to be a word.  Also implies
 160         `--word-diff` unless it was already enabled.
 161 +
 162 Every non-overlapping match of the
 163 <regex> is considered a word.  Anything between these matches is
 164 considered whitespace and ignored(!) for the purposes of finding
 165 differences.  You may want to append `|[^[:space:]]` to your regular
 166 expression to make sure that it matches all non-whitespace characters.
 167 A match that contains a newline is silently truncated(!) at the
 168 newline.
 169 +
 170 The regex can also be set via a diff driver or configuration option, see
 171 linkgit:gitattributes[1] or linkgit:git-config[1].  Giving it explicitly
 172 overrides any diff driver or configuration setting.  Diff drivers
 173 override configuration settings.
 174
 175 --color-words[=<regex>]::
 176         Equivalent to `--word-diff=color` plus (if a regex was
 177         specified) `--word-diff-regex=<regex>`.
 178 endif::git-format-patch[]
 179
 180 --no-renames::
 181         Turn off rename detection, even when the configuration
 182         file gives the default to do so.
 183
 184 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
 185 --check::
 186         Warn if changes introduce trailing whitespace
 187         or an indent that uses a space before a tab. Exits with
 188         non-zero status if problems are found. Not compatible with
 189         --exit-code.
 190 endif::git-format-patch[]
 191
 192 --full-index::
 193         Instead of the first handful of characters, show the full
 194         pre- and post-image blob object names on the "index"
 195         line when generating patch format output.
 196
 197 --binary::
 198         In addition to `--full-index`, output a binary diff that
 199         can be applied with `git-apply`.
 200
 201 --abbrev[=<n>]::
 202         Instead of showing the full 40-byte hexadecimal object
 203         name in diff-raw format output and diff-tree header
 204         lines, show only a partial prefix.  This is
 205         independent of the `--full-index` option above, which controls
 206         the diff-patch output format.  Non default number of
 207         digits can be specified with `--abbrev=<n>`.
 208
 209 -B[<n>][/<m>]::
 210         Break complete rewrite changes into pairs of delete and
 211         create. This serves two purposes:
 212 +
 213 It affects the way a change that amounts to a total rewrite of a file
 214 not as a series of deletion and insertion mixed together with a very
 215 few lines that happen to match textually as the context, but as a
 216 single deletion of everything old followed by a single insertion of
 217 everything new, and the number `m` controls this aspect of the -B
 218 option (defaults to 60%). `-B/70%` specifies that less than 30% of the
 219 original should remain in the result for git to consider it a total
 220 rewrite (i.e. otherwise the resulting patch will be a series of
 221 deletion and insertion mixed together with context lines).
 222 +
 223 When used with -M, a totally-rewritten file is also considered as the
 224 source of a rename (usually -M only considers a file that disappeared
 225 as the source of a rename), and the number `n` controls this aspect of
 226 the -B option (defaults to 50%). `-B20%` specifies that a change with
 227 addition and deletion compared to 20% or more of the file's size are
 228 eligible for being picked up as a possible source of a rename to
 229 another file.
 230
 231 -M[<n>]::
 232 ifndef::git-log[]
 233         Detect renames.
 234 endif::git-log[]
 235 ifdef::git-log[]
 236         If generating diffs, detect and report renames for each commit.
 237         For following files across renames while traversing history, see
 238         `--follow`.
 239 endif::git-log[]
 240         If `n` is specified, it is a is a threshold on the similarity
 241         index (i.e. amount of addition/deletions compared to the
 242         file's size). For example, `-M90%` means git should consider a
 243         delete/add pair to be a rename if more than 90% of the file
 244         hasn't changed.
 245
 246 -C[<n>]::
 247         Detect copies as well as renames.  See also `--find-copies-harder`.
 248         If `n` is specified, it has the same meaning as for `-M<n>`.
 249
 250 --find-copies-harder::
 251         For performance reasons, by default, `-C` option finds copies only
 252         if the original file of the copy was modified in the same
 253         changeset.  This flag makes the command
 254         inspect unmodified files as candidates for the source of
 255         copy.  This is a very expensive operation for large
 256         projects, so use it with caution.  Giving more than one
 257         `-C` option has the same effect.
 258
 259 -l<num>::
 260         The `-M` and `-C` options require O(n^2) processing time where n
 261         is the number of potential rename/copy targets.  This
 262         option prevents rename/copy detection from running if
 263         the number of rename/copy targets exceeds the specified
 264         number.
 265
 266 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
 267 --diff-filter=[(A|C|D|M|R|T|U|X|B)...[*]]::
 268         Select only files that are Added (`A`), Copied (`C`),
 269         Deleted (`D`), Modified (`M`), Renamed (`R`), have their
 270         type (i.e. regular file, symlink, submodule, ...) changed (`T`),
 271         are Unmerged (`U`), are
 272         Unknown (`X`), or have had their pairing Broken (`B`).
 273         Any combination of the filter characters (including none) can be used.
 274         When `*` (All-or-none) is added to the combination, all
 275         paths are selected if there is any file that matches
 276         other criteria in the comparison; if there is no file
 277         that matches other criteria, nothing is selected.
 278
 279 -S<string>::
 280         Look for differences that introduce or remove an instance of
 281         <string>. Note that this is different than the string simply
 282         appearing in diff output; see the 'pickaxe' entry in
 283         linkgit:gitdiffcore[7] for more details.
 284
 285 --pickaxe-all::
 286         When `-S` finds a change, show all the changes in that
 287         changeset, not just the files that contain the change
 288         in <string>.
 289
 290 --pickaxe-regex::
 291         Make the <string> not a plain string but an extended POSIX
 292         regex to match.
 293 endif::git-format-patch[]
 294
 295 -O<orderfile>::
 296         Output the patch in the order specified in the
 297         <orderfile>, which has one shell glob pattern per line.
 298
 299 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
 300 -R::
 301         Swap two inputs; that is, show differences from index or
 302         on-disk file to tree contents.
 303
 304 --relative[=<path>]::
 305         When run from a subdirectory of the project, it can be
 306         told to exclude changes outside the directory and show
 307         pathnames relative to it with this option.  When you are
 308         not in a subdirectory (e.g. in a bare repository), you
 309         can name which subdirectory to make the output relative
 310         to by giving a <path> as an argument.
 311 endif::git-format-patch[]
 312
 313 -a::
 314 --text::
 315         Treat all files as text.
 316
 317 --ignore-space-at-eol::
 318         Ignore changes in whitespace at EOL.
 319
 320 -b::
 321 --ignore-space-change::
 322         Ignore changes in amount of whitespace.  This ignores whitespace
 323         at line end, and considers all other sequences of one or
 324         more whitespace characters to be equivalent.
 325
 326 -w::
 327 --ignore-all-space::
 328         Ignore whitespace when comparing lines.  This ignores
 329         differences even if one line has whitespace where the other
 330         line has none.
 331
 332 --inter-hunk-context=<lines>::
 333         Show the context between diff hunks, up to the specified number
 334         of lines, thereby fusing hunks that are close to each other.
 335
 336 ifndef::git-format-patch[]
 337 --exit-code::
 338         Make the program exit with codes similar to diff(1).
 339         That is, it exits with 1 if there were differences and
 340         0 means no differences.
 341
 342 --quiet::
 343         Disable all output of the program. Implies `--exit-code`.
 344 endif::git-format-patch[]
 345
 346 --ext-diff::
 347         Allow an external diff helper to be executed. If you set an
 348         external diff driver with linkgit:gitattributes[5], you need
 349         to use this option with linkgit:git-log[1] and friends.
 350
 351 --no-ext-diff::
 352         Disallow external diff drivers.
 353
 354 --ignore-submodules[=<when>]::
 355         Ignore changes to submodules in the diff generation. <when> can be
 356         either "none", "untracked", "dirty" or "all", which is the default
 357         Using "none" will consider the submodule modified when it either contains
 358         untracked or modified files or its HEAD differs from the commit recorded
 359         in the superproject and can be used to override any settings of the
 360         'ignore' option in linkgit:git-config[1] or linkgit:gitmodules[5]. When
 361         "untracked" is used submodules are not considered dirty when they only
 362         contain untracked content (but they are still scanned for modified
 363         content). Using "dirty" ignores all changes to the work tree of submodules,
 364         only changes to the commits stored in the superproject are shown (this was
 365         the behavior until 1.7.0). Using "all" hides all changes to submodules.
 366
 367 --src-prefix=<prefix>::
 368         Show the given source prefix instead of "a/".
 369
 370 --dst-prefix=<prefix>::
 371         Show the given destination prefix instead of "b/".
 372
 373 --no-prefix::
 374         Do not show any source or destination prefix.
 375
 376 For more detailed explanation on these common options, see also
 377 linkgit:gitdiffcore[7].