-The output format from "git-diff-cache", "git-diff-tree" and
-"git-diff-files" is very similar.
+The output format from "git-diff-index", "git-diff-tree",
+"git-diff-files" and "git diff --raw" are very similar.
-These commands all compare two sets of things; what are
-compared are different:
+These commands all compare two sets of things; what is
+compared differs:
-git-diff-cache <tree-ish>::
+git-diff-index <tree-ish>::
compares the <tree-ish> and the files on the filesystem.
-git-diff-cache --cached <tree-ish>::
- compares the <tree-ish> and the cache.
+git-diff-index --cached <tree-ish>::
+ compares the <tree-ish> and the index.
git-diff-tree [-r] <tree-ish-1> <tree-ish-2> [<pattern>...]::
compares the trees named by the two arguments.
git-diff-files [<pattern>...]::
- compares the cache and the files on the filesystem.
+ compares the index and the files on the filesystem.
-The following desription uses "old" and "new" to mean those
-compared entities.
-For files in old but not in new (i.e. removed):
+An output line is formatted this way:
- -<mode> \t <type> \t <object> \t <path>
+------------------------------------------------
+in-place edit :100644 100644 bcd1234... 0123456... M file0
+copy-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... C68 file1 file2
+rename-edit :100644 100644 abcd123... 1234567... R86 file1 file3
+create :000000 100644 0000000... 1234567... A file4
+delete :100644 000000 1234567... 0000000... D file5
+unmerged :000000 000000 0000000... 0000000... U file6
+------------------------------------------------
-For files not in old but in new (i.e. added):
+That is, from the left to the right:
- +<mode> \t <type> \t <object> \t <path>
+. a colon.
+. mode for "src"; 000000 if creation or unmerged.
+. a space.
+. mode for "dst"; 000000 if deletion or unmerged.
+. a space.
+. sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged.
+. a space.
+. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if creation, unmerged or "look at work tree".
+. a space.
+. status, followed by optional "score" number.
+. a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used.
+. path for "src"
+. a tab or a NUL when '-z' option is used; only exists for C or R.
+. path for "dst"; only exists for C or R.
+. an LF or a NUL when '-z' option is used, to terminate the record.
-For files that differ:
+<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem
+and it is out of sync with the index.
- *<old-mode>-><new-mode> \t <type> \t <old-sha1>-><new-sha1> \t <path>
+Example:
-<new-sha1> is shown as all 0's if new is a file on the
-filesystem and it is out of sync with the cache. Example:
+------------------------------------------------
+:100644 100644 5be4a4...... 000000...... M file.c
+------------------------------------------------
- *100644->100644 blob 5be4a4.......->000000....... file.c
+When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
+in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
+respectively.
+diff format for merges
+----------------------
-Generating patches with -p
---------------------------
+"git-diff-tree", "git-diff-files" and "git-diff --raw"
+can take '-c' or '--cc' option
+to generate diff output also for merge commits. The output differs
+from the format described above in the following way:
-When "git-diff-cache", "git-diff-tree", or "git-diff-files" are run
-with a '-p' option, they do not produce the output described above
-instead they produce a patch file.
+. there is a colon for each parent
+. there are more "src" modes and "src" sha1
+. status is concatenated status characters for each parent
+. no optional "score" number
+. single path, only for "dst"
-The patch generation can be customized at two levels. This
-customization also applies to "git-diff-tree-helper".
+Example:
-1. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is not set,
- these commands internally invoke "diff" like this:
+------------------------------------------------
+::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8... cc95eb0... 4866510... MM describe.c
+------------------------------------------------
- diff -L a/<path> -L a/<path> -pu <old> <new>
-+
-For added files, `/dev/null` is used for <old>. For removed
-files, `/dev/null` is used for <new>
-+
-The "diff" formatting options can be customized via the
-environment variable 'GIT_DIFF_OPTS'. For example, if you
-prefer context diff:
+Note that 'combined diff' lists only files which were modified from
+all parents.
- GIT_DIFF_OPTS=-c git-diff-cache -p $(cat .git/HEAD)
-
-2. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
- program named by it is called, instead of the diff invocation
- described above.
-+
-For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
-'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 7 parameters:
-
- path old-file old-hex old-mode new-file new-hex new-mode
-+
-where:
-
- <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
- contents of <old|ne>,
- <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes,
- <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
-
-+
-The file parameters can point at the user's working file
-(e.g. `new-file` in "git-diff-files"), `/dev/null` (e.g. `old-file`
-when a new file is added), or a temporary file (e.g. `old-file` in the
-cache). 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking the
-temporary file --- it is removed when 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' exits.
-
-For a path that is unmerged, 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is called with 1
-parameter, <path>.
+include::diff-generate-patch.txt[]