Fix a few documentation errors around the raw diff output
cover Fix a few documentation errors around the raw diff output
Here are a few doc fixes for some things that I noticed out while reading the man pages for 'git diff-files' and 'git diff-index'. These are quite old!
Philippe Blain (3):
diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error diff-format.txt: correct misleading wording diff-index.txt: update raw output format in examples
Documentation/diff-format.txt | 6 +++--- Documentation/git-diff-index.txt | 6 +++--- 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)
base-commit: 5699ec1b0aec51b9e9ba5a2785f65970c5a95d84
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1259%2Fphil-blain%2Fdiff-files-doc-fixes-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1259/phil-blain/diff-files-doc-fixes-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1259
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PATCH 1/3 diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Fix what is probably a copy-paste error dating back all the way to b6d8f309d9 ([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23).
--- Documentation/diff-format.txt | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
Documentation/diff-format.txt +1 -1
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ That is, from the left to the right: . a space. . sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged. . a space. -. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if creation, unmerged or "look at work tree". +. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "look at work tree". . a space. . status, followed by optional "score" number. . a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.
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Re: [PATCH 1/3] diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error
Quoted 4 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Fix what is probably a copy-paste error dating back all the way to
b6d8f309d9([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23).
This indeed is an improvement.
"src" can legitimately be "0\{40\}" for a creation patch, e.g. when the stat information is stale, but we can argue that it falls into "look at work tree" case to justify removal of "creation", and use the space to add "deletion".
Quoted 18 lines
Signed-off-by Philippe Blain <[email protected]>--- Documentation/diff-format.txt | 2 +- 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)Documentation/diff-format.txt +1
-1@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ That is, from the left to the right: . a space. . sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged. . a space. -. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if creation, unmerged or "look at work tree". +. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "look at work tree". . a space. . status, followed by optional "score" number. . a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.
Re: [PATCH 1/3] diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error
In reply to Philippe Blain via GitGitGadgetQuoted 4 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Fix what is probably a copy-paste error dating back all the way to
b6d8f309d9([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23).
I'll retitle and rewrite the message like so:
diff-format.txt: dst can be 0* SHA-1 when path is deleted, too
"dst" can legitimately be "0\{40\}" for a creation patch, e.g. when the stat information is stale, but it falls into "look at work tree" case. The original description in b6d8f309 ([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23) forgot that deletion also makes the "dst" 0* SHA-1.
Thanks.
Re: [PATCH 1/3] diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error
Hi Junio,
Le 2022-06-13 à 14:26, Junio C Hamano a écrit :
Quoted 17 lines
Quoted 4 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Fix what is probably a copy-paste error dating back all the way to
b6d8f309d9([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23).I'll retitle and rewrite the message like so:
diff-format.txt: dst can be 0* SHA-1 when path is deleted, too
"dst" can legitimately be "0\{40\}" for a creation patch, e.g. when the stat information is stale, but it falls into "look at work tree" case. The original description in
b6d8f309([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23) forgot that deletion also makes the "dst" 0* SHA-1.
Quoted 5 lines
Signed-off-by Philippe Blain <[email protected]>Signed-off-by Junio C Hamano <[email protected]>Thanks.
OK, that makes sense. I hadn't thought of the case you are mentioning here (new file added to the index and then modified).
Thanks,
Philippe.
PATCH 2/3 diff-format.txt: correct misleading wording
In reply to Philippe Blain via GitGitGadgetFrom: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Near the end of the "Raw output format" section, an example shows the output of 'git diff-files' for a tracked file modified on disk but not yet added to the index. However the wording is:
<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the index.
which is confusing since it can be understood to mean that 'file' is a new, yet untracked file, in which case 'git diff-files' does not care about it at all.
When this example was introduced all the way back in c64b9b8860 (Reference documentation for the core git commands., 2005-05-05), 'old' and 'new' referred to the two entities being compared, depending on the command being used (diff-index, diff-tree or diff-files - which at the time were diff-cache, diff-tree and show-diff). The wording used at the time was:
<new-sha1> is shown as all 0's if new is a file on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the cache.
This section was reworked in 81e50eabf0 ([PATCH] The diff-raw format updates., 2005-05-21) and the mention of the meaning of 'new' and 'old' was removed. Then in f73ae1fc5d (Some typos and light editing of various manpages, 2005-10-05), the wording was changed to what it is now.
In addition, in b6d8f309d9 ([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23), the section was further reworked and did not use '<sha1>' anymore, making the example the sole user of this token.
Rework the introductory sentence of the example to instead refer to 'sha1 for "dst"', which is what the text description above it uses, and fix the wording so that we do not mention a "new file".
While at it, also tweak the wording used in the description of the raw format to explicitely state that all 0's are used for the destination hash if the working tree is out of sync with the index, instead of the more vague "look at worktree".
--- Documentation/diff-format.txt | 6 +++--- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
Documentation/diff-format.txt +3 -3
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ That is, from the left to the right: . a space. . sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged. . a space. -. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "look at work tree". +. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "work tree out of sync with the index". . a space. . status, followed by optional "score" number. . a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ 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. -<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem -and it is out of sync with the index. +The sha1 for "dst" is shown as all 0's if a file on the filesystem +is out of sync with the index. Example:
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Re: [PATCH 2/3] diff-format.txt: correct misleading wording
Quoted 6 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Near the end of the "Raw output format" section, an example shows the output of 'git diff-files' for a tracked file modified on disk but not yet added to the index. However the wording is:
Quoted 6 lines
<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the index.
which is confusing since it can be understood to mean that 'file' is a new, yet untracked file, in which case 'git diff-files' does not care about it at all.
I do not think such an understanding is sensible, as "untracked file" cannot be "out of sync with the index", because even its stale version wouldn't be in the index if it is untracked.
But I agree that not all people are sensible, and it would be nicer if the documentation helped them, too ;-)
Quoted 9 lines
When this example was introduced all the way back in
c64b9b8860(Reference documentation for the core git commands., 2005-05-05), 'old' and 'new' referred to the two entities being compared, depending on the command being used (diff-index, diff-tree or diff-files - which at the time were diff-cache, diff-tree and show-diff). The wording used at the time was:<new-sha1> is shown as all 0's if new is a file on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the cache.
Yeah, I remember this version of wording.
Quoted 3 lines
Rework the introductory sentence of the example to instead refer to 'sha1 for "dst"', which is what the text description above it uses, and fix the wording so that we do not mention a "new file".
That's good. We may need to upgrade them to 'object name' to wean ourselves away from SHA-1 but that should be a separate topic.
Quoted 4 lines
While at it, also tweak the wording used in the description of the raw format to explicitely state that all 0's are used for the destination hash if the working tree is out of sync with the index, instead of the more vague "look at worktree".
I am not sure if that is a good idea. Those who understand what the "work tree out of sync with" phrase mean would understand "look at work tree" but the reverse would not be true.
The other hunk about "new" -> "dst" is a good change regardless, but even there, "out of sync with" may need to be rewritten to make it easier to understand. Is it different from "the index does not know the exact value (hence you need to look in the working tree if you really cared to find it out, perhaps with hash-object)"?
Thanks.
Quoted 28 lines
Signed-off-by Philippe Blain <[email protected]>--- Documentation/diff-format.txt | 6 +++--- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)Documentation/diff-format.txt +3
-3@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ That is, from the left to the right: . a space. . sha1 for "src"; 0\{40\} if creation or unmerged. . a space. -. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "look at work tree". +. sha1 for "dst"; 0\{40\} if deletion, unmerged or "work tree out of sync with the index". . a space. . status, followed by optional "score" number. . a tab or a NUL when `-z` option is used.@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ 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. -<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem -and it is out of sync with the index. +The sha1 for "dst" is shown as all 0's if a file on the filesystem +is out of sync with the index. Example:
Re: [PATCH 2/3] diff-format.txt: correct misleading wording
Le 2022-06-13 à 14:56, Junio C Hamano a écrit :
Quoted 15 lines
Quoted 6 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Near the end of the "Raw output format" section, an example shows the output of 'git diff-files' for a tracked file modified on disk but not yet added to the index. However the wording is:
Quoted 6 lines
<sha1> is shown as all 0's if a file is new on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the index.
which is confusing since it can be understood to mean that 'file' is a new, yet untracked file, in which case 'git diff-files' does not care about it at all.
Quoted 6 lines
I do not think such an understanding is sensible, as "untracked file" cannot be "out of sync with the index", because even its stale version wouldn't be in the index if it is untracked.
But I agree that not all people are sensible, and it would be nicer if the documentation helped them, too ;-)
Well, call me not sensible then ;) When I read that, I had trouble understanding what was meant precisely because I had what you wrote in mind.
Quoted 20 lines
Quoted 10 lines
When this example was introduced all the way back in
c64b9b8860(Reference documentation for the core git commands., 2005-05-05), 'old' and 'new' referred to the two entities being compared, depending on the command being used (diff-index, diff-tree or diff-files - which at the time were diff-cache, diff-tree and show-diff). The wording used at the time was:<new-sha1> is shown as all 0's if new is a file on the filesystem and it is out of sync with the cache.
Yeah, I remember this version of wording.
Quoted 3 lines
Rework the introductory sentence of the example to instead refer to 'sha1 for "dst"', which is what the text description above it uses, and fix the wording so that we do not mention a "new file".
That's good. We may need to upgrade them to 'object name' to wean ourselves away from SHA-1 but that should be a separate topic.
Quoted 8 lines
Quoted 4 lines
While at it, also tweak the wording used in the description of the raw format to explicitely state that all 0's are used for the destination hash if the working tree is out of sync with the index, instead of the more vague "look at worktree".
I am not sure if that is a good idea. Those who understand what the "work tree out of sync with" phrase mean would understand "look at work tree" but the reverse would not be true.
I'm not sure I agree. Even looking at it from a grammatical perspective, "the hash is all zero if a path is unmerged, is a deletion or is out of sync with the index" makes more sense to me than "the hash is all zero if a path is unmerged, is a deletion or "look at worktree""...
Quoted 6 lines
The other hunk about "new" -> "dst" is a good change regardless, but even there, "out of sync with" may need to be rewritten to make it easier to understand. Is it different from "the index does not know the exact value (hence you need to look in the working tree if you really cared to find it out, perhaps with hash-object)"?
I think it's clear what is meant, I don't think we need to change it.
Thanks,
Philippe.
PATCH 3/3 diff-index.txt: update raw output format in examples
In reply to Philippe Blain via GitGitGadgetFrom: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
The two examples in the doc for 'git diff-index' were not updated when the raw output format was changed in 81e50eabf0 ([PATCH] The diff-raw format updates., 2005-05-21) (first example) and in b6d8f309d9 ([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23) and 7cb6ac1e4b (diff:diff_aligned_abbrev: remove ellipsis after abbreviated SHA-1 value, 2017-12-03) (second example).
Update the output, inventing some characters to complete the source hash in the second example. Also correct the destination mode in the second example, which was wrongly '100664' since the addition of the example in c64b9b8860 (Reference documentation for the core git commands., 2005-05-05).
--- Documentation/git-diff-index.txt | 6 +++--- 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
Documentation/git-diff-index.txt +3 -3
@@ -69,8 +69,8 @@ done an `update-index` to make that effective in the index file. matches my working directory. But doing a 'git diff-index' does: torvalds@ppc970:~/git> git diff-index --cached HEAD - -100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 commit.c - +100644 blob 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 git-commit.c + :100644 000000 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 D commit.c + :000000 100644 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 4161aecc6700a2eb579e842af0b7f22b98443f74 A git-commit.c You can see easily that the above is a rename.
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ 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 --abbrev HEAD - :100644 100664 7476bb... 000000... kernel/sched.c + :100644 100644 7476bb5ba 000000000 M kernel/sched.c i.e., it shows that the tree has changed, and that `kernel/sched.c` is not up to date and may contain new stuff. The all-zero sha1 means that to
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Re: [PATCH 3/3] diff-index.txt: update raw output format in examples
Quoted 9 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
From: Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
The two examples in the doc for 'git diff-index' were not updated when the raw output format was changed in
81e50eabf0([PATCH] The diff-raw format updates., 2005-05-21) (first example) and inb6d8f309d9([PATCH] diff-raw format update take #2., 2005-05-23) and7cb6ac1e4b(diff:diff_aligned_abbrev: remove ellipsis after abbreviated SHA-1 value, 2017-12-03) (second example).
Quoted 7 lines
Update the output, inventing some characters to complete the source hash in the second example. Also correct the destination mode in the second example, which was wrongly '100664' since the addition of the example in
c64b9b8860(Reference documentation for the core git commands., 2005-05-05).Signed-off-by Philippe Blain <[email protected]>
Thanks.
Quoted 3 lines · Philippe Blain via GitGitGadget
Here are a few doc fixes for some things that I noticed out while reading the man pages for 'git diff-files' and 'git diff-index'. These are quite old!
Indeed ;-)
Quoted 15 lines
Philippe Blain (3):
diff-format.txt: fix ancient copy-paste error diff-format.txt: correct misleading wording diff-index.txt: update raw output format in examplesDocumentation/diff-format.txt | 6 +++--- Documentation/git-diff-index.txt | 6 +++--- 2 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)base-commit:
5699ec1b0aec51b9e9ba5a2785f65970c5a95d84
Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-1259%2Fphil-blain%2Fdiff-files-doc-fixes-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-1259/phil-blain/diff-files-doc-fixes-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/1259