]> git.ipfire.org Git - thirdparty/git.git/commit
diff: document what --name-only shows
authorJunio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Fri, 17 May 2024 17:14:46 +0000 (10:14 -0700)
committerJunio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Fri, 17 May 2024 18:03:08 +0000 (11:03 -0700)
commit4986662cbc2c366d1db9207ff53dfc0d01f8b4dd
treef9b9410b2c93a3f81a91a0267a83ba8871837d7c
parentb9b439e0e3a543ddb920e4cf8d3c9d53f730111f
diff: document what --name-only shows

The "--name-only" option is about showing the name of each file in
the post-image tree that got changed and nothing else (like "was it
created?").  Unlike the "--name-status" option that tells how the
change happened (e.g., renamed with similarity), it does not give
anything else, like the name of the corresponding file in the old
tree.

For example, if you start from a clean checkout that has a file
whose name is COPYING, here is what you would see:

    $ git mv COPYING RENAMING
    $ git diff -M --name-only HEAD
    RENAMING
    $ git diff -M --name-status HEAD
    R100 COPYING RENAMING

Lack of the description of this fact has confused readers in the
past.  Even back when dda2d79a ([PATCH] Clean up diff option
descriptions., 2005-07-13) documented "--name-only", "git diff"
already supported the renames, so in a sense, from day one, this
should have been documented more clearly but it wasn't.

Belatedly clarify it.

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Documentation/diff-options.txt