Raw output format
-----------------

The raw output format from `git-diff-index`, `git-diff-tree`,
`git-diff-files` and `git diff --raw` are very similar.

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 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 index and the files on the filesystem.

All the commands print one output line per changed file,
except `git diff-files` in the case of an unmerged file, which prints
both an "unmerged" and an "in-place edit" line.

An output line is formatted this way:

------------------------------------------------
in-place edit  :100644 100644 bcd1234 0123456 M file0
copy-edit      :100644 100644 abcd123 1234567 C68 file1 file2
rename-edit    :100644 100644 abcd123 1234567 R86 file1 file3
create         :000000 100644 0000000 1234567 A file4
delete         :100644 000000 1234567 0000000 D file5
unmerged       :000000 000000 0000000 0000000 U file6
------------------------------------------------

That is, from the left to the right:

. a colon.
. mode for "src"; 000000 if creation, or if "src" is from the index and is unmerged.
. a space.
. mode for "dst"; 000000 if deletion, or if "dst" is from the index and is unmerged.
. a space.
. sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation, or if "src" is from the index and is unmerged.
. a space.
. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, if "dst" is from the index and is unmerged, or if "dst" is from the work tree and is out of sync with the index.
. a space.
. status, followed by optional "score" number.
. a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.
. path for "src"
. a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used; only exists for C or R.
. path for "dst"; only exists for C or R.
. an LF or a NUL when `-z` option is used, to terminate the record.

Possible status letters are:

- `A`: addition of a file
- `C`: copy of a file into a new one
- `D`: deletion of a file
- `M`: modification of the contents or mode of a file
- `R`: renaming of a file
- `T`: change in the type of the file (regular file, symbolic link or submodule)
- `U`: file is unmerged (you must complete the merge before it can
  be committed)
- `X`: "unknown" change type (most probably a bug, please report it)

Status letters `C` and `R` are always followed by a score (denoting the
percentage of similarity between the source and target of the move or
copy).  Status letter `M` may be followed by a score (denoting the
percentage of dissimilarity) for file rewrites.

The sha1 for "dst" is shown as all 0's if a file on the filesystem
is out of sync with the index.

Example:

------------------------------------------------
:100644 100644 5be4a4a 0000000 M file.c
------------------------------------------------

Without the `-z` option, pathnames with "unusual" characters are
quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
(see linkgit:git-config[1]).  Using `-z` the filename is output
verbatim and the line is terminated by a NUL byte.

diff format for merges
----------------------

`git-diff-tree`, `git-diff-files` and `git-diff --raw`
can take `-c` or `--cc` option
to generate diff output also for merge commits.  The output differs
from the format described above in the following way:

. there is a colon for each parent
. there are more "src" modes and "src" sha1
. status is concatenated status characters for each parent
. no optional "score" number
. tab-separated pathname(s) of the file

For `-c` and `--cc`, only the destination or final path is shown even
if the file was renamed on any side of history.  With
`--combined-all-paths`, the name of the path in each parent is shown
followed by the name of the path in the merge commit.

Examples for `-c` and `--cc` without `--combined-all-paths`:

------------------------------------------------
::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8 cc95eb0 4866510 MM	desc.c
::100755 100755 100755 52b7a2d 6d1ac04 d2ac7d7 RM	bar.sh
::100644 100644 100644 e07d6c5 9042e82 ee91881 RR	phooey.c
------------------------------------------------

Examples when `--combined-all-paths` added to either `-c` or `--cc`:

------------------------------------------------
::100644 100644 100644 fabadb8 cc95eb0 4866510 MM	desc.c	desc.c	desc.c
::100755 100755 100755 52b7a2d 6d1ac04 d2ac7d7 RM	foo.sh	bar.sh	bar.sh
::100644 100644 100644 e07d6c5 9042e82 ee91881 RR	fooey.c	fuey.c	phooey.c
------------------------------------------------

Note that 'combined diff' lists only files which were modified from
all parents.


include::diff-generate-patch.adoc[]


other diff formats
------------------

The `--summary` option describes newly added, deleted, renamed and
copied files.  The `--stat` option adds `diffstat`(1) graph to the
output.  These options can be combined with other options, such as
`-p`, and are meant for human consumption.

When showing a change that involves a rename or a copy, `--stat` output
formats the pathnames compactly by combining common prefix and suffix of
the pathnames.  For example, a change that moves `arch/i386/Makefile` to
`arch/x86/Makefile` while modifying 4 lines will be shown like this:

------------------------------------
arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile    |   4 +--
------------------------------------

The `--numstat` option gives the diffstat(1) information but is designed
for easier machine consumption.  An entry in `--numstat` output looks
like this:

----------------------------------------
1	2	README
3	1	arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile
----------------------------------------

That is, from left to right:

. the number of added lines;
. a tab;
. the number of deleted lines;
. a tab;
. pathname (possibly with rename/copy information);
. a newline.

When `-z` output option is in effect, the output is formatted this way:

----------------------------------------
1	2	README NUL
3	1	NUL arch/i386/Makefile NUL arch/x86/Makefile NUL
----------------------------------------

That is:

. the number of added lines;
. a tab;
. the number of deleted lines;
. a tab;
. a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied);
. pathname in preimage;
. a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied);
. pathname in postimage (only exists if renamed/copied);
. a NUL.

The extra `NUL` before the preimage path in renamed case is to allow
scripts that read the output to tell if the current record being read is
a single-path record or a rename/copy record without reading ahead.
After reading added and deleted lines, reading up to `NUL` would yield
the pathname, but if that is `NUL`, the record will show two paths.