git-diff.txt: reorder possible usages

Martin Ågren · gitster · commit 78b76d310f3e · 2020-07-13T12:47:38.000-07:00
The description of `git diff` goes through several different invocations (numbering added by me): 1. git diff [<options>] [--] [<path>...] 2. git diff [<options>] --no-index [--] <path> <path> 3. git diff [<options>] --cached [<commit>] [--] [<path>...] 4. git diff [<options>] <commit> [--] [<path>...] 5. git diff [<options>] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...] 6. git diff [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...] 7. git diff [<options>] <commit> <commit>... <commit> [--] [<path>...] 8. git diff [<options>] <commit>...<commit> [--] [<path>...] It then goes on to say that "all of the <commit> in the above description, except in the last two forms that use '..' notations, can be any <tree>". The "last two" actually refers to 6 and 8. This got out of sync in commit b7e10b2 ("Documentation: usage for diff combined commits", 2020-06-12) which added item 7 to the mix. As a further complication, after b7e10b2 we also have some potential confusion around "the '..' notation". The "..[.]" in items 6 and 8 are part of the rev notation, whereas the "..." in item 7 is manpage language for "one or more". Move item 6 down, i.e., to between 7 and 8, to restore the ordering. Because 6 refers to 5 ("synonymous to the previous form") we need to tweak the language a bit. An added bonus of this commit is that we're trying to steer users away from `git diff <commit>..<commit>` and moving it further down probably doesn't hurt. Signed-off-by: Martin Ågren <martin.agren@gmail.com> Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
diff --git a/Documentation/git-diff.txt b/Documentation/git-diff.txt
@@ -63,12 +63,6 @@ files on disk.
 	This is to view the changes between two arbitrary
 	<commit>.
 
-'git diff' [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
-
-	This is synonymous to the previous form.  If <commit> on
-	one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
-	using HEAD instead.
-
 'git diff' [<options>] <commit> <commit>... <commit> [--] [<path>...]::
 
 	This form is to view the results of a merge commit.  The first
@@ -78,6 +72,13 @@ files on disk.
 	For instance, if `master` names a merge commit, `git diff master
 	master^@` gives the same combined diff as `git show master`.
 
+'git diff' [<options>] <commit>..<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
+
+	This is synonymous to the earlier form (without the "..") for
+	viewing the changes between two arbitrary <commit>.  If <commit> on
+	one side is omitted, it will have the same effect as
+	using HEAD instead.
+
 'git diff' [<options>] <commit>\...<commit> [--] [<path>...]::
 
 	This form is to view the changes on the branch containing
