On Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 10:06:21AM -0700, Junio C Hamano <gitster@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Mike Hommey <mh@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > > > On Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 03:21:32PM +0200, Francis Moreau <francis.moro@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: > >> > >> This "inconsistency" had already been raised before. Please refer to: > >> http://www.gelato.unsw.edu.au/archives/git/0612/35354.html > >> > >> I shared and still share your feeling about that but it seems that > >> Junio and Linus don't... > > > > Actually, they may have a good point, cf. the thread you point. > > But it is annoying that it is not documented. > > Would something like this reduce the annoyance factor? I was actually working on the attached diff, though I'm not really convinced by my wording. Mike
Documentation/git-diff.txt | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-- 1 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt index b36e705..082ac0b 100644 --- a/Documentation/git-diff.txt +++ b/Documentation/git-diff.txt @@ -43,9 +43,22 @@ tree and the index file, or the index file and the working tree. branch. 'git-diff' [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]:: +'git-diff' [--options] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]:: - This form is to view the changes between two <commit>, - for example, tips of two branches. + These forms are to view the changes between two <commit>, + for example, tips of two branches. In the second form, + omitting any one of both <commit> will have the same effect + as using HEAD. + +'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 both <commit>, which has the same + effect as using HEAD. Just in case if you are doing something exotic, it should be noted that all of the <commit> in the above description can be @@ -54,6 +67,9 @@ any <tree-ish>. For a more complete list of ways to spell <commit>, see "SPECIFYING REVISIONS" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]. +Be careful that despite looking like so, both "<commit>..<commit>" +and "<commit>...<commit>" forms are NOT ranges as described in +the "SPECIFYING RANGES" section in gitlink:git-rev-parse[1]. OPTIONS ------- @@ -97,6 +113,18 @@ 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 <2> +------------ ++ +<1> Changes between the tips of the topic and the master branches. +<2> Same as <1> +<3> Changes that occured on the master branch since when the topic +branch was started off it. Limiting the diff output:: +
