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-rw-r--r--Documentation/git-diff.txt43
1 files changed, 36 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
index b36e705dd..68e65324f 100644
--- a/Documentation/git-diff.txt
+++ b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
@@ -22,10 +22,10 @@ tree and the index file, or the index file and the working tree.
words, the differences are what you _could_ tell git to
further add to the index but you still haven't. You can
stage these changes by using gitlink:git-add[1].
-
- If exactly two paths are given, and at least one is untracked,
- compare the two files / directories. This behavior can be
- forced by --no-index.
++
+If exactly two paths are given, and at least one is untracked,
+compare the two files / directories. This behavior can be
+forced by --no-index.
'git-diff' [--options] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...]::
@@ -44,8 +44,22 @@ tree and the index file, or the index file and the working tree.
'git-diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
- This form is to view the changes between two <commit>,
- for example, tips of two branches.
+ This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
+ <commit>.
+
+'git-diff' [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+ This is synonymous to the previous form. If <commit> on
+ one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
+ using HEAD instead.
+
+'git-diff' [--options] <commit>...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+ This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
+ and up to the second <commit>, starting at a common ancestor
+ of both <commit>. "git-diff A...B" is equivalent to
+ "git-diff $(git-merge-base A B) B". You can omit any one
+ of <commit>, which has the same effect as using HEAD instead.
Just in case if you are doing something exotic, it should be
noted that all of the <commit> in the above description can be
@@ -53,7 +67,10 @@ any <tree-ish>.
For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see
"SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
-
+However, "diff" is about comparing two _endpoints_, not ranges,
+and the range notations ("<commit>..<commit>" and
+"<commit>...<commit>") do not mean a range as defined in the
+"SPECIFYING RANGES" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1].
OPTIONS
-------
@@ -97,6 +114,18 @@ the tip of the current branch, but limit the comparison to the
file "test".
<3> Compare the version before the last commit and the last commit.
+Comparing branches::
++
+------------
+$ git diff topic master <1>
+$ git diff topic..master <2>
+$ git diff topic...master <3>
+------------
++
+<1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches.
+<2> Same as above.
+<3> Changes that occured on the master branch since when the topic
+branch was started off it.
Limiting the diff output::
+