Re: git diff: add option for omitting the contents of deletes

Junio C Hamano [off-list ref] writes:

Michael J Gruber [off-list ref] writes:

quoted

Wasn't the pager invented for sifting through output which has to be
several pages, but not not for that which could be more concise? ;)

In fact, -D would be quite analogous to -M and -C in that respect.

There is a big difference: -M and -C lets your recipient reproduce the
state using the change you are trying to convey with the diff output in
either direction (iow, "apply -R" works), but your "-D" would not have
that property.

Having said that we have always valued "reversibility" and a casual -D is
not in line with that principle, I don't have a strong objection if the
new mode of operation is marked clearly as "nonusable if you are trying to
produce appliable diff (iow, don't send such a patch to mailing list--it
is for viewing purposes only)", treating it just like the --color-words
and the --stat options (there isn't even need to mark these as unusable
for that purpose, as people with common sense would be able to guess).

If we were to do this, it probably is a good idea to apply that for a
typechange patch (the one that is produced when a symlink turns into a
regular file and vice versa) as well.  It also might make sense to apply
the similar principle to shorten the output with -B when a rewrite patch
is expressed as a single hunk patch that removes everything old and then
adds everthing new.