new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

[Vanderhoof, Tzadik]

The output of git-diff includes lines beginning with "+" and "-" to indicate added and deleted lines.  A somewhat common task (at least for me) is to want to copy output from a "diff" (usually the deleted lines) and paste it back into my code.

This is quite inconvenient because of the leading "+" and "-" characters.  I know there are shell and IDE / editor workarounds but it would be nice if there was a switch to git-diff to make it leave out those characters, especially since "--color" kind of makes those leading characters obsolete.

Would it make sense to develop such a switch or has there been work on that already?
______________________________
Tzadik Vanderhoof | Optum360 
Sr Software Engineer, NLP Innovation
www.optum360.com

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Re: new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

[Duy Nguyen]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 6:01 AM, Vanderhoof, Tzadik
<tzadik.vanderhoof@optum360.com> wrote:
> The output of git-diff includes lines beginning with "+" and "-" to indicate added and deleted lines.  A somewhat common task (at least for me) is to want to copy output from a "diff" (usually the deleted lines) and paste it back into my code.
>
> This is quite inconvenient because of the leading "+" and "-" characters.  I know there are shell and IDE / editor workarounds but it would be nice if there was a switch to git-diff to make it leave out those characters, especially since "--color" kind of makes those leading characters obsolete.

Color wouldn't show you new/old empty lines though (unless you use
different background color, but I doubt that looks readable).

> Would it make sense to develop such a switch or has there been work on that already?

I face this "problem" every day, but most editors nowadays have
block-based editing that would allow you to remove a column of "+/-"
easily. At least it has not bothered me to think of improving it.
-- 
Duy

RE: new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

[Vanderhoof, Tzadik]

> From: Duy Nguyen [mailto:pclouds@gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 6:54 AM
> To: Vanderhoof, Tzadik
> Cc: git@vger.kernel.org
> 
> On Tue, Feb 14, 2017 at 6:01 AM, Vanderhoof, Tzadik
> <tzadik.vanderhoof@optum360.com> wrote:
> > The output of git-diff includes lines beginning with "+" and "-" to indicate
> added and deleted lines.  A somewhat common task (at least for me) is to
> want to copy output from a "diff" (usually the deleted lines) and paste it back
> into my code.
> >
> > This is quite inconvenient because of the leading "+" and "-" characters.  I
> know there are shell and IDE / editor workarounds but it would be nice if
> there was a switch to git-diff to make it leave out those characters, especially
> since "--color" kind of makes those leading characters obsolete.
> 
> Color wouldn't show you new/old empty lines though (unless you use
> different background color, but I doubt that looks readable).
> 
> > Would it make sense to develop such a switch or has there been work on
> that already?
> 
> I face this "problem" every day, but most editors nowadays have block-
> based editing that would allow you to remove a column of "+/-"
> easily. At least it has not bothered me to think of improving it.

Would a patch be welcome?

Tzadik

> --
> Duy


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RE: new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

[Vanderhoof, Tzadik]

> From: Duy Nguyen [mailto:pclouds@gmail.com]
> Sent: Friday, February 17, 2017 6:54 AM
> To: Vanderhoof, Tzadik
> Cc: git@vger.kernel.org
> 
> > Would it make sense to develop such a switch or has there been work on
> that already?
> 
> I face this "problem" every day, but most editors nowadays have block-
> based editing that would allow you to remove a column of "+/-"
> easily. At least it has not bothered me to think of improving it.

Would a patch be welcome?

Tzadik

> --
> Duy


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Re: new git-diff switch to eliminate leading "+" and "-" characters

[Junio C Hamano]

"Vanderhoof, Tzadik" <tzadik.vanderhoof@optum360.com> writes:

>> From: Duy Nguyen [mailto:pclouds@gmail.com]
>> 
>> I face this "problem" every day, but most editors nowadays have block-
>> based editing that would allow you to remove a column of "+/-"
>> easily. At least it has not bothered me to think of improving it.
>
> Would a patch be welcome?

I am not enthused for at least two reasons.  

The weaker one is "it would likely to introduce a lot of noise in
the code for a feature of dubious merit".  

The other is a bit more serious.  Cutting and pasting has been a
source of lost or mangled whitespaces.  Tabs get expanded, a wrapped
long single line turns into two lines, an originally indented line
auto-indented when inserted to the receiving editor, etc., etc.,
depending on the pager that the output was passed through for the
terminal, the terminal program itself and the editor.  The "feature"
will encourage cut-and-paste, and I personally would be reluctant to
add things that encourage bad practice to the users.

As Duy said, saving the "diff" output to another file, opening in an
editor that output file and the file the patch targets to modify,
and transferring the lines while dropping unnecessray parts (i.e.
unwanted context lines and preimage lines, and possibly undesired
postimage lines, and also the leading SP/+/- designators) has no
such downside.  It obviously has an added benefit that it makes it
less likely for people to cut and paste a line and then become
unsure if they really cut from the green line or they by mistake
also pasted an adjacent red line.

So, I'd say the answer is "probably not".