git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

Re: [PATCH] Show binary file size change in diff --stat

From
GBGeert Bosch <bosch@adacore.com>
Date
Apr 4, 2007, 14:40 UTC
Message-ID
<BAFDAA7B-60EC-44FD-8DAA-EB2F9C835F51@adacore.com>
In-Reply-To
<4613A974.60808@dawes.za.net>
On Apr 4, 2007, at 09:34, Rogan Dawes wrote:
> For binary files, it would be consistent to show the number of  
> bytes added/deleted. I have not investigated the output format for  
> the libxdiff binary patch format, but hopefully it would not be too  
> difficult to calculate the deletions and additions.

For binary files it is impractical to do insert/delete type of differences. For text files, treating lines as indivisible entities to insert/delete make some sense. For binary files, you'd have to use some arbitrary context-defined breakpoints and then go from there. The result would be some very complicated and unclear algorithm that would have no use in the real world.

Many binary files, such as an images, waveforms or virtually any compressed stream, can change in a way that changes all bytes in the file, while the changes in the displayed image or the uncompressed stream are imperceptible or absent. Guessing semantic differences between binary blobs is hopeless and subjective, while differences in size are fact.

   -Geert
Previous: Rogan DawesNext: Rogan Dawes
Message 3 of 12 in “Show binary file size change in diff --stat”
  1. Show binary file size change in diff --statAndy Parkins, Apr 4, 2007
  2. Rogan DawesApr 4, 2007
  3. Geert BoschApr 4, 2007
  4. Rogan DawesApr 4, 2007
  5. Andy ParkinsApr 4, 2007
  6. Rogan DawesApr 4, 2007
  7. Johannes SchindelinApr 4, 2007
  8. Rogan DawesApr 4, 2007
  9. Linus TorvaldsApr 4, 2007
  10. Johannes SchindelinApr 4, 2007
  11. Linus TorvaldsApr 4, 2007
  12. Junio C HamanoApr 4, 2007

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.