diff: teach diff to read algorithm from diff driver

It can be useful to specify diff algorithms per file type. For example,
one may want to use the minimal diff algorithm for .json files, another
for .c files, etc.

The diff machinery already checks attributes for a diff driver. Teach
the diff driver parser a new type "algorithm" to look for in the
config, which will be used if a driver has been specified through the
attributes.

Enforce precedence of the diff algorithm by favoring the command line
option, then looking at the driver attributes & config combination, then
finally the diff.algorithm config.

To enforce precedence order, use a new `ignore_driver_algorithm` member
during options parsing to indicate the diff algorithm was set via command
line args.

Signed-off-by: John Cai <johncai86@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 31 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/gitattributes.txt b/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
index 4b36d51beb..966e969631 100644
--- a/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
+++ b/Documentation/gitattributes.txt
@@ -758,6 +758,37 @@ with the above configuration, i.e. `j-c-diff`, with 7
 parameters, just like `GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF` program is called.
 See linkgit:git[1] for details.
 
+Setting the internal diff algorithm
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+The diff algorithm can be set through the `diff.algorithm` config key, but
+sometimes it may be helpful to set the diff algorithm per path. For example,
+one may want to use the `minimal` diff algorithm for .json files, and the
+`histogram` for .c files, and so on without having to pass in the algorithm
+through the command line each time.
+
+First, in `.gitattributes`, assign the `diff` attribute for paths.
+
+------------------------
+*.json diff=<name>
+------------------------
+
+Then, define a "diff.<name>.algorithm" configuration to specify the diff
+algorithm, choosing from `myers`, `patience`, `minimal`, or `histogram`.
+
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+[diff "<name>"]
+  algorithm = histogram
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+This diff algorithm applies to user facing diff output like git-diff(1),
+git-show(1) and is used for the `--stat` output as well. The merge machinery
+will not use the diff algorithm set through this method.
+
+NOTE: If `diff.<name>.command` is defined for path with the
+`diff=<name>` attribute, it is executed as an external diff driver
+(see above), and adding `diff.<name>.algorithm` has no effect, as the
+algorithm is not passed to the external diff driver.
 
 Defining a custom hunk-header
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^