# diff-so-fancy  [![Circle CI build](https://circleci.com/gh/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy.svg?style=shield)](https://circleci.com/gh/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy) [![TravisCI build](https://travis-ci.org/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy) [![AppVeyor build](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/github/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy?branch=master&svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/stevemao/diff-so-fancy/branch/master)

`diff-so-fancy` strives to make your diffs **human** readable instead of machine readable. This helps improve code quality and helps you spot defects faster.

## Screenshot

Vanilla `git diff` vs `git` and `diff-so-fancy`

![diff-highlight vs diff-so-fancy](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/3429760/32387617-44c873da-c082-11e7-829c-6160b853adcb.png)

## Install

Installation is as simple as cloning this repo and then putting the `diff-so-fancy` script in to your `$PATH`. The `lib/` directory will need to be kept relative to the core script.

`diff-so-fancy` is also available from the [NPM registry](https://www.npmjs.com/package/diff-so-fancy), [brew](https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/diff-so-fancy), and as a package on [Nix](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/applications/version-management/git-and-tools/diff-so-fancy/default.nix), in the [Arch community repo](https://archlinux.org/packages/community/any/diff-so-fancy/), and [ppa:aos for Debian/Ubuntu Linux](https://github.com/aos/dsf-debian).

Issues relating to packaging ('installation does not work', 'version is out of date', etc.) should be directed to those packages' own repositories/issue trackers where applicable.

**Note:** Windows users may need to install [MinGW](https://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/) or the [Windows subsystem for Linux](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10).

## Usage

### With git

Configure git to use `diff-so-fancy` for all diff output:

```shell
git config --global core.pager "diff-so-fancy | less --tabs=4 -RFX"
git config --global interactive.diffFilter "diff-so-fancy --patch"
```

### Improved colors for the highlighted bits

The default Git colors are not optimal. The colors used for the screenshot above were:

```shell
git config --global color.ui true

git config --global color.diff-highlight.oldNormal    "red bold"
git config --global color.diff-highlight.oldHighlight "red bold 52"
git config --global color.diff-highlight.newNormal    "green bold"
git config --global color.diff-highlight.newHighlight "green bold 22"

git config --global color.diff.meta       "11"
git config --global color.diff.frag       "magenta bold"
git config --global color.diff.func       "146 bold"
git config --global color.diff.commit     "yellow bold"
git config --global color.diff.old        "red bold"
git config --global color.diff.new        "green bold"
git config --global color.diff.whitespace "red reverse"
```

### With diff

Use `-u` with `diff` for unified output, and pipe the output to `diff-so-fancy`:

```shell
diff -u file_a file_b | diff-so-fancy
```

## Options

### markEmptyLines

Should the first block of an empty line be colored. (Default: true)

```shell
git config --bool --global diff-so-fancy.markEmptyLines false
```

### changeHunkIndicators

Simplify git header chunks to a more human readable format. (Default: true)

```shell
git config --bool --global diff-so-fancy.changeHunkIndicators false
```

### stripLeadingSymbols

Should the pesky `+` or `-` at line-start be removed. (Default: true)

```shell
git config --bool --global diff-so-fancy.stripLeadingSymbols false
```

### useUnicodeRuler

By default, the separator for the file header uses Unicode line-drawing characters. If this is causing output errors on your terminal, set this to `false` to use ASCII characters instead. (Default: true)

```shell
git config --bool --global diff-so-fancy.useUnicodeRuler false
```

### rulerWidth

By default, the separator for the file header spans the full width of the terminal. Use this setting to set the width of the file header manually.

```shell
git config --global diff-so-fancy.rulerWidth 47    # git log's commit header width
```

## The diff-so-fancy team

| Person                | Role             |
| --------------------- | ---------------- |
| @scottchiefbaker      | Project lead     |
| @OJFord               | Bug triage       |
| @GenieTim             | Travis OSX fixes |
| @AOS                  | Debian packager  |
| @Stevemao/@Paul Irish | NPM release team |

## Contributing

Pull requests are quite welcome, and should target the [`next` branch](https://github.com/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy/tree/next). We are also looking for any feedback or ideas on how to make `diff-so-fancy` even *fancier*.

### Other documentation

* [Pro-tips on advanced usage](pro-tips.md)
* [Reporting Bugs](reporting-bugs.md)
* [Hacking and Testing](hacking-and-testing.md)
* [History](history.md)

## Alternatives

* https://github.com/dandavison/delta

## License

MIT