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Re: [PATCH] doc: clarify how -S works

From
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date
Mar 3, 2009, 16:42 UTC
Message-ID
<7v1vted0d7.fsf@gitster.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To
<20090303154041.GA31265@coredump.intra.peff.net>
Jeff King <peff@peff.net> writes:
> I wonder if "gitdiffcore" is a little scary for new people who just want
> to use "-S", but hopefully point (1) above will get rid of most of the
> confusion, and those who follow the link want to learn all about diff.

As I mentioned in the other message, what --pickaxe achieves is very different from what people would naturally want from --search, an option that does not exist.

I do not mind a patch that adds a diffcore transformation that internally generates a diff and searches the string given by the user in it, and triggers that with --search option. The transformation should come just after (or before) the pickaxe in the call sequence inside diffcore_std(); name it diffcore_search() or something.

In retrospect, because --pickaxe was designed primarily for Porcelain use, it was a mistake for it to have taken a short-and-sweet -S synonym.

Show 13 quoted lines
> diff --git a/Documentation/diff-options.txt b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
> index 813a7b1..9276fae 100644
> --- a/Documentation/diff-options.txt
> +++ b/Documentation/diff-options.txt
> @@ -176,7 +176,10 @@ override configuration settings.
>  	number.
>  
>  -S<string>::
> -	Look for differences that contain the change in <string>.
> +	Look for differences that introduce or remove an instance of
> +	<string>. Note that this is different than the string simply
> +	appearing in diff output; see the 'pickaxe' entry in
> +	linkgit:gitdiffcore[7] for more details.
Look for differences that change the number of occurrences of <string>?
Previous: John TapsellNext: Jeff King
Message 7 of 17 in “git log -Sfoo ignores indentation (whitespace?) changes...”
  1. Peter Valdemar Mørch (Lists)Mar 3, 2009
  2. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  3. doc: clarify how -S worksJeff King, Mar 3, 2009
  4. John TapsellMar 3, 2009
  5. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  6. John TapsellMar 3, 2009
  7. Junio C HamanoMar 3, 2009
  8. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  9. John TapsellMar 3, 2009
  10. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  11. Junio C HamanoMar 3, 2009
  12. Peter Valdemar Mørch (Lists)Mar 3, 2009
  13. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  14. Junio C HamanoMar 3, 2009
  15. Michael J GruberMar 3, 2009
  16. Jeff KingMar 3, 2009
  17. Junio C HamanoMar 3, 2009

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