[PATCH] diff --no-index: fix -R with file/directory conflicts

From: Haokai Ding via GitGitGadget <gitgitgadget@gmail.com>
Date: Sep 18, 2026, 07:19 UTC
Message-ID: <pull.2232.git.1789715946888.gitgitgadget@gmail.com>

From: Haokai Ding <hk_ding@outlook.com>

When a path is a file on one side and a directory on the other, queue_diff() queues the file separately before recursing into the directory. This early queue entry bypasses the reverse_diff handling used for ordinary files.

As a result, comparing directories d and e where d/sub is a file and e/sub/file is another file reports both paths as deleted with -R. Reversing the operands reports both paths as added instead.

Swap the filespecs of the early queue entry when reverse_diff is set, so that -R reverses the file change as well as the directory contents. Add regression tests for both directions.

Signed-off-by: Haokai Ding <hk_ding@outlook.com>
---
    diff --no-index: fix -R with file/directory conflicts

Published-As: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/releases/tag/pr-2232%2FHaokaiDing%2Ffix%2Fno-index-reverse-file-directory-mail-v1
Fetch-It-Via: git fetch https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git pr-2232/HaokaiDing/fix/no-index-reverse-file-directory-mail-v1
Pull-Request: https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/pull/2232

 diff-no-index.c          |  2 ++
 t/t4053-diff-no-index.sh | 18 ++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 20 insertions(+)

diff --git a/diff-no-index.c b/diff-no-index.c
index f320424f05..a9151cc27a 100644
--- a/diff-no-index.c
+++ b/diff-no-index.c
@@ -188,6 +188,8 @@ static int queue_diff(struct diff_options *o, const struct git_hash_algo *algop,
 			mode1 = 0;
 		}
 		/* emit that file */
+		if (o->flags.reverse_diff)
+			SWAP(d1, d2);
 		diff_queue(&diff_queued_diff, d1, d2);
 
 		/* and then let the entire directory be created or deleted */
diff --git a/t/t4053-diff-no-index.sh b/t/t4053-diff-no-index.sh
index 8e0394cf5a..c3c703f4f4 100755
--- a/t/t4053-diff-no-index.sh
+++ b/t/t4053-diff-no-index.sh
@@ -120,6 +120,24 @@ test_expect_success 'turning a file into a directory' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'reverse diff when turning a file into a directory' '
+	(
+		cd non/git &&
+		printf "A\td/sub\nD\te/sub/file\n" >expect &&
+		test_expect_code 1 git diff --no-index -R --name-status d e >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'reverse diff when turning a directory into a file' '
+	(
+		cd non/git &&
+		printf "D\td/sub\nA\te/sub/file\n" >expect &&
+		test_expect_code 1 git diff --no-index -R --name-status e d >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'diff from repo subdir shows real paths (explicit)' '
 	echo "diff --git a/../../non/git/a b/../../non/git/b" >expect &&
 	test_expect_code 1 \

base-commit: d38352cd43ab9745686d697872408bc3249a153f

-- 
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