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> We introduced a dry_run flag to diff_options in b55e6d36eb (diff: ensure
> consistent diff behavior with ignore options, 2025-08-08), with the idea
> that the lower-level diff code could skip output when it is set.
>
> As we saw with the bugs fixed by 3ed5d8bd73 (diff: stop output garbled
> message in dry run mode, 2025-10-20), it is easy to miss spots. In the
> end, we located all of them by checking where diff_options.file is used.
>
> That suggests another possible approach: we can replace the dry_run
> boolean with a NULL pointer for "file", as we know that using "file" in
> dry_run mode would always be an error. This turns any missed spots from
> producing extra output[1] into a segfault. Which is less forgiving, but
> that is the point: this is indicative of a programming error, and
> complaining loudly and immediately is good.
Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>