git-commit-vandalism/Documentation/git-difftool.txt
Michael J Gruber 4a689afb03 difftool: provide basename to external tools
Currently, only configured diff helpers get the basename of the file
being compared. Tools specified with "git difftool -x" only get the
names of temporary files for the different versions.

Export BASE so that an external tool can read the name from the
environment. Rather than using a third argument, this avoids breaking
existing scripts which may somewhat carelessly be using "$@" rather than
"$1" "$2".

Signed-off-by: Michael J Gruber <git@drmicha.warpmail.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2010-12-16 13:01:36 -08:00

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git-difftool(1)
===============
NAME
----
git-difftool - Show changes using common diff tools
SYNOPSIS
--------
'git difftool' [<options>] <commit>{0,2} [--] [<path>...]
DESCRIPTION
-----------
'git difftool' is a git command that allows you to compare and edit files
between revisions using common diff tools. 'git difftool' is a frontend
to 'git diff' and accepts the same options and arguments.
OPTIONS
-------
-y::
--no-prompt::
Do not prompt before launching a diff tool.
--prompt::
Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
This is the default behaviour; the option is provided to
override any configuration settings.
-t <tool>::
--tool=<tool>::
Use the diff tool specified by <tool>.
Valid merge tools are:
kdiff3, kompare, tkdiff, meld, xxdiff, emerge, vimdiff, gvimdiff,
ecmerge, diffuse, opendiff, p4merge and araxis.
+
If a diff tool is not specified, 'git difftool'
will use the configuration variable `diff.tool`. If the
configuration variable `diff.tool` is not set, 'git difftool'
will pick a suitable default.
+
You can explicitly provide a full path to the tool by setting the
configuration variable `difftool.<tool>.path`. For example, you
can configure the absolute path to kdiff3 by setting
`difftool.kdiff3.path`. Otherwise, 'git difftool' assumes the
tool is available in PATH.
+
Instead of running one of the known diff tools,
'git difftool' can be customized to run an alternative program
by specifying the command line to invoke in a configuration
variable `difftool.<tool>.cmd`.
+
When 'git difftool' is invoked with this tool (either through the
`-t` or `--tool` option or the `diff.tool` configuration variable)
the configured command line will be invoked with the following
variables available: `$LOCAL` is set to the name of the temporary
file containing the contents of the diff pre-image and `$REMOTE`
is set to the name of the temporary file containing the contents
of the diff post-image. `$MERGED` is the name of the file which is
being compared. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility
with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$MERGED`.
-x <command>::
--extcmd=<command>::
Specify a custom command for viewing diffs.
'git-difftool' ignores the configured defaults and runs
`$command $LOCAL $REMOTE` when this option is specified.
Additionally, `$BASE` is set in the environment.
-g::
--gui::
When 'git-difftool' is invoked with the `-g` or `--gui` option
the default diff tool will be read from the configured
`diff.guitool` variable instead of `diff.tool`.
See linkgit:git-diff[1] for the full list of supported options.
CONFIG VARIABLES
----------------
'git difftool' falls back to 'git mergetool' config variables when the
difftool equivalents have not been defined.
diff.tool::
The default diff tool to use.
diff.guitool::
The default diff tool to use when `--gui` is specified.
difftool.<tool>.path::
Override the path for the given tool. This is useful in case
your tool is not in the PATH.
difftool.<tool>.cmd::
Specify the command to invoke the specified diff tool.
+
See the `--tool=<tool>` option above for more details.
difftool.prompt::
Prompt before each invocation of the diff tool.
SEE ALSO
--------
linkgit:git-diff[1]::
Show changes between commits, commit and working tree, etc
linkgit:git-mergetool[1]::
Run merge conflict resolution tools to resolve merge conflicts
linkgit:git-config[1]::
Get and set repository or global options
AUTHOR
------
Written by David Aguilar <davvid@gmail.com>.
Documentation
--------------
Documentation by David Aguilar and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
GIT
---
Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite