git-commit-vandalism/Documentation/git-difftool.txt
Jeff King 49bd56a5f7 docs: clarify git diff modes of operation
It is an oversimplification to say that we can take
"[<commit> [<commit>]]", as it really depends on what
options have been given. Instead, let's list the major modes
of operation separately, as we do in other manpages.

This patch also adjusts the text immediately after the
synopsis to match the lines given in the synopsis.

For git-difftool, which has the same issue, let's refer the
user to the git-diff manpage rather than spelling it all out
again.

Signed-off-by: Jeff King <peff@peff.net>
Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
2010-11-05 10:05:46 -07:00

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git-difftool(1)
===============
NAME
----
git-difftool - Show changes using common diff tools
SYNOPSIS
--------
'git difftool' [<options>] [<commit> [<commit>]] [--] [<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. See
linkgit:git-diff[1].
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. `$BASE` is provided for compatibility
with custom merge tool commands and has the same value as `$LOCAL`.
-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.
-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