Autogenerated HTML docs for 36de72aa9dc3b7daf8cf2770c840f39bb0d2ae70

1 files changed, 148 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/diff-format.txt b/diff-format.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..97756ec03
--- /dev/null
+++ b/diff-format.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+The output format from "git-diff-index", "git-diff-tree" and
+"git-diff-files" are very similar.
+
+These commands all compare two sets of things; what is 
+compared differs:
+
+git-diff-index <tree-ish>::
+        compares the <tree-ish> and the files on the filesystem.
+
+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 index and the files on the filesystem.
+
+
+An output line is formatted this way:
+
+------------------------------------------------
+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
+------------------------------------------------
+
+That is, from the left to the right:
+
+. 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.
+
+<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem
+and it is out of sync with the index.
+
+Example:
+
+------------------------------------------------
+:100644 100644 5be4a4...... 000000...... M file.c
+------------------------------------------------
+
+When `-z` option is not used, TAB, LF, and backslash characters
+in pathnames are represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`,
+respectively.
+
+
+Generating patches with -p
+--------------------------
+
+When "git-diff-index", "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.
+
+The patch generation can be customized at two levels.
+
+1. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is not set,
+   these commands internally invoke "diff" like this:
+
+      diff -L a/<path> -L b/<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:
+
+      GIT_DIFF_OPTS=-c git-diff-index -p 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|new>,
+     <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
+index).  '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>.
+
+
+git specific extension to diff format
+-------------------------------------
+
+What -p option produces is slightly different from the
+traditional diff format.
+
+1.   It is preceeded with a "git diff" header, that looks like
+     this:
+
+     diff --git a/file1 b/file2
++
+The `a/` and `b/` filenames are the same unless rename/copy is
+involved.  Especially, even for a creation or a deletion,
+`/dev/null` is _not_ used in place of `a/` or `b/` filenames.
++
+When rename/copy is involved, `file1` and `file2` show the
+name of the source file of the rename/copy and the name of
+the file that rename/copy produces, respectively.
+
+2.   It is followed by one or more extended header lines:
+
+       old mode <mode>
+       new mode <mode>
+       deleted file mode <mode>
+       new file mode <mode>
+       copy from <path>
+       copy to <path>
+       rename from <path>
+       rename to <path>
+       similarity index <number>
+       dissimilarity index <number>
+       index <hash>..<hash> <mode>
+
+3.  TAB, LF, and backslash characters in pathnames are
+    represented as `\t`, `\n`, and `\\`, respectively.