Can't use difftool to selectively revert changes

Robert Dailey· Feb 25, 2014, 15:22 UTC · lore

I have a branch called topic1 that is based on 'master'. For a particular file in my topic branch, I want to revert some changes by using my diff tool. I do this by comparing the original revision of the file with HEAD like so:

$ git difftool $(git merge-base topic1 master) HEAD -- Path/SourceFile.cpp

When I make changes to the right side (HEAD) through my diff tool, and exit, the changes aren't picked up and applied to my working copy. Since I'm modifying HEAD, I think it should carry over the changes I make. Is this by design or a defect? I don't know how else to selectively revert changes to a file through my diff viewer.

Robert Dailey· Feb 25, 2014, 15:28 UTC · re: Robert Dailey · lore

Re: Can't use difftool to selectively revert changes

Sorry I'm going to go ahead and answer my own question:

$ git difftool $(git merge-base topic1 master) -- Path/SourceFile.cpp

I removed 'HEAD' from the command and now it picks up my changes and compares to my working copy version (which is actually what I wanted). I thought HEAD would point to my working copy version but that's wrong.

Sorry for the superfluous post!

On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:22 AM, Robert Dailey <rcdailey.lists@gmail.com> wrote:

Show 12 quoted lines

> I have a branch called topic1 that is based on 'master'. For a
> particular file in my topic branch, I want to revert some changes by
> using my diff tool. I do this by comparing the original revision of
> the file with HEAD like so:
>
> $ git difftool $(git merge-base topic1 master) HEAD -- Path/SourceFile.cpp
>
> When I make changes to the right side (HEAD) through my diff tool, and
> exit, the changes aren't picked up and applied to my working copy.
> Since I'm modifying HEAD, I think it should carry over the changes I
> make. Is this by design or a defect? I don't know how else to
> selectively revert changes to a file through my diff viewer.