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| author | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2010-01-30 16:03:10 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> | 2010-01-30 16:03:10 -0800 |
| commit | 00d3278c8534a8244ae3447189401111e017fd5d (patch) | |
| tree | f1c19903bc10ffe4816642040080fb6cfd5da376 /Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt | |
| parent | b9b727ddb3c9e005bc4e9af0b990b6ef06d7f621 (diff) | |
| parent | b319ef70a94731a5c6f18d07a49d5dda3f06f5d3 (diff) | |
| download | git-00d3278c8534a8244ae3447189401111e017fd5d.tar.xz | |
Merge commit 'b319ef7' into jc/maint-fix-test-perm
* commit 'b319ef7': (8132 commits)
Add a small patch-mode testing library
git-apply--interactive: Refactor patch mode code
t8005: Nobody writes Russian in shift_jis
Fix severe breakage in "git-apply --whitespace=fix"
Update release notes for 1.6.4
After renaming a section, print any trailing variable definitions
Make section_name_match start on '[', and return the length on success
send-email: detect cycles in alias expansion
Show the presence of untracked files in the bash prompt.
SunOS grep does not understand -C<n> nor -e
Fix export_marks() error handling.
git repack: keep commits hidden by a graft
Add a test showing that 'git repack' throws away grafted-away parents
git branch: clean up detached branch handling
git branch: avoid unnecessary object lookups
git branch: fix performance problem
git svn: fix shallow clone when upstream revision is too new
do_one_ref(): null_sha1 check is not about broken ref
configure.ac: properly unset NEEDS_SSL_WITH_CRYPTO when sha1 func is missing
janitor: useless checks before free
...
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt | 166 |
1 files changed, 166 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt b/Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..20b0241d30 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/technical/api-diff.txt @@ -0,0 +1,166 @@ +diff API +======== + +The diff API is for programs that compare two sets of files (e.g. two +trees, one tree and the index) and present the found difference in +various ways. The calling program is responsible for feeding the API +pairs of files, one from the "old" set and the corresponding one from +"new" set, that are different. The library called through this API is +called diffcore, and is responsible for two things. + +* finding total rewrites (`-B`), renames (`-M`) and copies (`-C`), and + changes that touch a string (`-S`), as specified by the caller. + +* outputting the differences in various formats, as specified by the + caller. + +Calling sequence +---------------- + +* Prepare `struct diff_options` to record the set of diff options, and + then call `diff_setup()` to initialize this structure. This sets up + the vanilla default. + +* Fill in the options structure to specify desired output format, rename + detection, etc. `diff_opt_parse()` can be used to parse options given + from the command line in a way consistent with existing git-diff + family of programs. + +* Call `diff_setup_done()`; this inspects the options set up so far for + internal consistency and make necessary tweaking to it (e.g. if + textual patch output was asked, recursive behaviour is turned on). + +* As you find different pairs of files, call `diff_change()` to feed + modified files, `diff_addremove()` to feed created or deleted files, + or `diff_unmerged()` to feed a file whose state is 'unmerged' to the + API. These are thin wrappers to a lower-level `diff_queue()` function + that is flexible enough to record any of these kinds of changes. + +* Once you finish feeding the pairs of files, call `diffcore_std()`. + This will tell the diffcore library to go ahead and do its work. + +* Calling `diff_flush()` will produce the output. + + +Data structures +--------------- + +* `struct diff_filespec` + +This is the internal representation for a single file (blob). It +records the blob object name (if known -- for a work tree file it +typically is a NUL SHA-1), filemode and pathname. This is what the +`diff_addremove()`, `diff_change()` and `diff_unmerged()` synthesize and +feed `diff_queue()` function with. + +* `struct diff_filepair` + +This records a pair of `struct diff_filespec`; the filespec for a file +in the "old" set (i.e. preimage) is called `one`, and the filespec for a +file in the "new" set (i.e. postimage) is called `two`. A change that +represents file creation has NULL in `one`, and file deletion has NULL +in `two`. + +A `filepair` starts pointing at `one` and `two` that are from the same +filename, but `diffcore_std()` can break pairs and match component +filespecs with other filespecs from a different filepair to form new +filepair. This is called 'rename detection'. + +* `struct diff_queue` + +This is a collection of filepairs. Notable members are: + +`queue`:: + + An array of pointers to `struct diff_filepair`. This + dynamically grows as you add filepairs; + +`alloc`:: + + The allocated size of the `queue` array; + +`nr`:: + + The number of elements in the `queue` array. + + +* `struct diff_options` + +This describes the set of options the calling program wants to affect +the operation of diffcore library with. + +Notable members are: + +`output_format`:: + The output format used when `diff_flush()` is run. + +`context`:: + Number of context lines to generate in patch output. + +`break_opt`, `detect_rename`, `rename-score`, `rename_limit`:: + Affects the way detection logic for complete rewrites, renames + and copies. + +`abbrev`:: + Number of hexdigits to abbreviate raw format output to. + +`pickaxe`:: + A constant string (can and typically does contain newlines to + look for a block of text, not just a single line) to filter out + the filepairs that do not change the number of strings contained + in its preimage and postimage of the diff_queue. + +`flags`:: + This is mostly a collection of boolean options that affects the + operation, but some do not have anything to do with the diffcore + library. + +BINARY, TEXT;; + Affects the way how a file that is seemingly binary is treated. + +FULL_INDEX;; + Tells the patch output format not to use abbreviated object + names on the "index" lines. + +FIND_COPIES_HARDER;; + Tells the diffcore library that the caller is feeding unchanged + filepairs to allow copies from unmodified files be detected. + +COLOR_DIFF;; + Output should be colored. + +COLOR_DIFF_WORDS;; + Output is a colored word-diff. + +NO_INDEX;; + Tells diff-files that the input is not tracked files but files + in random locations on the filesystem. + +ALLOW_EXTERNAL;; + Tells output routine that it is Ok to call user specified patch + output routine. Plumbing disables this to ensure stable output. + +QUIET;; + Do not show any output. + +REVERSE_DIFF;; + Tells the library that the calling program is feeding the + filepairs reversed; `one` is two, and `two` is one. + +EXIT_WITH_STATUS;; + For communication between the calling program and the options + parser; tell the calling program to signal the presence of + difference using program exit code. + +HAS_CHANGES;; + Internal; used for optimization to see if there is any change. + +SILENT_ON_REMOVE;; + Affects if diff-files shows removed files. + +RECURSIVE, TREE_IN_RECURSIVE;; + Tells if tree traversal done by tree-diff should recursively + descend into a tree object pair that are different in preimage + and postimage set. + +(JC) |
