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gitgit-diff

Combine changes across files

I come across this scenario often. I create new_file.py and move some or most of the code from old_file.py to it. After I stage both the files, I need to ensure that I haven't introduced any errors.

If I run git diff, I am shown the deleted lines in the old file (in red) and the added lines in new file (in green).

If these changes were in a single file, I could pass these options to git diff:

  • --word-diff to ensure only the specific variable has been changed
  • --ignore-space-change to ensure only indentation has changed

How can I pass something similar to --word-diff or --ignore-space-change to the git diff?

Solution

  • You can try and comparing directly the two files as they are on the filesystem, as opposed to comparing them against the git index:

    git diff --no-index --ignore-space-change --word-diff --  old_file.py new_file.py