Documentation: do not blindly run 'cat' .git/HEAD, or echo into it.

[git.git] / Documentation / diff-format.txt

diff --git a/Documentation/diff-format.txt b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
index 6e9fa8c..97756ec 100644 (file)
--- a/Documentation/diff-format.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
 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 are
-compared are different:
+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 cache.
+        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 cache and the files on the filesystem.
+        compares the index and the files on the filesystem.
 
 
 An output line is formatted this way:
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ That is, from the left to the right:
 . 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 new is a file on the filesystem
-and it is out of sync with the cache.
+<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:
 
@@ -55,6 +55,11 @@ 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
 --------------------------
 
@@ -76,7 +81,7 @@ 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 $(cat .git/HEAD)
+      GIT_DIFF_OPTS=-c git-diff-index -p HEAD
 
 
 2. When the environment variable 'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' is set, the
@@ -91,7 +96,7 @@ For a path that is added, removed, or modified,
 where:
 
      <old|new>-file:: are files GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF can use to read the
-                     contents of <old|ne>,
+                     contents of <old|new>,
      <old|new>-hex:: are the 40-hexdigit SHA1 hashes,
      <old|new>-mode:: are the octal representation of the file modes.
 
@@ -99,14 +104,14 @@ where:
 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
-cache).  'GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF' should not worry about unlinking 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
+git specific extension to diff format
 -------------------------------------
 
 What -p option produces is slightly different from the
@@ -121,12 +126,11 @@ 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` shows the
+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 extended header lines that are one or
-     more of:
+2.   It is followed by one or more extended header lines:
 
        old mode <mode>
        new mode <mode>
@@ -138,3 +142,7 @@ the file that rename/copy produces, respectively.
        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.