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diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff-index.txt b/Documentation/git-diff-index.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..12bfcb324 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/git-diff-index.txt @@ -0,0 +1,134 @@ +git-diff-index(1) +================= +v0.1, May 2005 + +NAME +---- +git-diff-index - Compares content and mode of blobs between the cache and repository + + +SYNOPSIS +-------- +'git-diff-index' [-m] [--cached] [<common diff options>] <tree-ish> [<path>...] + +DESCRIPTION +----------- +Compares the content and mode of the blobs found via a tree +object with the content of the current cache and, optionally +ignoring the stat state of the file on disk. When paths are +specified, compares only those named paths. Otherwise all +entries in the cache are compared. + +OPTIONS +------- +include::diff-options.txt[] + +<tree-ish>:: + The id of a tree object to diff against. + +--cached:: + do not consider the on-disk file at all + +-m:: + By default, files recorded in the index but not checked + out are reported as deleted. This flag makes + "git-diff-index" say that all non-checked-out files are up + to date. + +Output format +------------- +include::diff-format.txt[] + +Operating Modes +--------------- +You can choose whether you want to trust the index file entirely +(using the '--cached' flag) or ask the diff logic to show any files +that don't match the stat state as being "tentatively changed". Both +of these operations are very useful indeed. + +Cached Mode +----------- +If '--cached' is specified, it allows you to ask: + + show me the differences between HEAD and the current cache + contents (the ones I'd write with a "git-write-tree") + +For example, let's say that you have worked on your working directory, updated +some files in the cache and are ready to commit. You want to see eactly +*what* you are going to commit is without having to write a new tree +object and compare it that way, and to do that, you just do + + git-diff-index --cached $(cat .git/HEAD) + +Example: let's say I had renamed `commit.c` to `git-commit.c`, and I had +done an "git-update-index" to make that effective in the index file. +"git-diff-files" wouldn't show anything at all, since the index file +matches my working directory. But doing a "git-diff-index" does: + + torvalds@ppc970:~/git> git-diff-index --cached $(cat .git/HEAD) + -100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 commit.c + +100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 git-commit.c + +You can trivially see that the above is a rename. + +In fact, "git-diff-index --cached" *should* always be entirely equivalent to +actually doing a "git-write-tree" and comparing that. Except this one is much +nicer for the case where you just want to check where you are. + +So doing a "git-diff-index --cached" is basically very useful when you are +asking yourself "what have I already marked for being committed, and +what's the difference to a previous tree". + +Non-cached Mode +--------------- +The "non-cached" mode takes a different approach, and is potentially +the more useful of the two in that what it does can't be emulated with +a "git-write-tree" + "git-diff-tree". Thus that's the default mode. +The non-cached version asks the question: + + show me the differences between HEAD and the currently checked out + tree - index contents _and_ files that aren't up-to-date + +which is obviously a very useful question too, since that tells you what +you *could* commit. Again, the output matches the "git-diff-tree -r" +output to a tee, but with a twist. + +The twist is that if some file doesn't match the cache, we don't have +a backing store thing for it, and we use the magic "all-zero" sha1 to +show that. So let's say that you have edited `kernel/sched.c`, but +have not actually done a "git-update-index" on it yet - there is no +"object" associated with the new state, and you get: + + torvalds@ppc970:~/v2.6/linux> git-diff-index $(cat .git/HEAD ) + *100644->100664 blob 7476bb......->000000...... kernel/sched.c + +ie it shows that the tree has changed, and that `kernel/sched.c` has is +not up-to-date and may contain new stuff. The all-zero sha1 means that to +get the real diff, you need to look at the object in the working directory +directly rather than do an object-to-object diff. + +NOTE! As with other commands of this type, "git-diff-index" does not +actually look at the contents of the file at all. So maybe +`kernel/sched.c` hasn't actually changed, and it's just that you +touched it. In either case, it's a note that you need to +"git-upate-cache" it to make the cache be in sync. + +NOTE 2! You can have a mixture of files show up as "has been updated" +and "is still dirty in the working directory" together. You can always +tell which file is in which state, since the "has been updated" ones +show a valid sha1, and the "not in sync with the index" ones will +always have the special all-zero sha1. + + +Author +------ +Written by Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org> + +Documentation +-------------- +Documentation by David Greaves, Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>. + +GIT +--- +Part of the link:git.html[git] suite + |