git-diff --numstat -z: make it machine readable

The "-z" format is all about machine parsability, but showing renamed
paths as "common/{a => b}/suffix" makes it impossible.  The scripts would
never have successfully parsed "--numstat -z -M" in the old format.

This fixes the output format in a (hopefully minimally) backward
incompatible way.

 * The output without -z is not changed.  This has given a good way for
   humans to view added and deleted lines separately, and showing the
   path in combined, shorter way would preserve readability.

 * The output with -z is unchanged for paths that do not involve renames.
   Existing scripts that do not pass -M/-C are not affected at all.

 * The output with -z for a renamed path is shown in a format that can
   easily be distinguished from an unrenamed path.

This is based on Jakub Narebski's patch.  Bugs and documentation typos
are mine.

Signed-off-by: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>

1 files changed, 61 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/diff-format.txt b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
index 2c3a4c433b..400cbb3b1c 100644
--- a/Documentation/diff-format.txt
+++ b/Documentation/diff-format.txt
@@ -84,3 +84,64 @@ all parents.
 
 
 include::diff-generate-patch.txt[]
+
+
+other diff formats
+------------------
+
+The `--summary` option describes newly added, deleted, renamed and
+copied files.  The `--stat` option adds diffstat(1) graph to the
+output.  These options can be combined with other options, such as
+`-p`, and are meant for human consumption.
+
+When showing a change that involves a rename or a copy, `--stat` output
+formats the pathnames compactly by combining common prefix and suffix of
+the pathnames.  For example, a change that moves `arch/i386/Makefile` to
+`arch/x86/Makefile` while modifying 4 lines will be shown like this:
+
+------------------------------------
+arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile    |   4 +--
+------------------------------------
+
+The `--numstat` option gives the diffstat(1) information but is designed
+for easier machine consumption.  An entry in `--numstat` output looks
+like this:
+
+----------------------------------------
+1	2	README
+3	1	arch/{i386 => x86}/Makefile
+----------------------------------------
+
+That is, from left to right:
+
+. the number of added lines;
+. a tab;
+. the number of deleted lines;
+. a tab;
+. pathname (possibly with rename/copy information);
+. a newline.
+
+When `-z` output option is in effect, the output is formatted this way:
+
+----------------------------------------
+1	2	README NUL
+3	1	NUL arch/i386/Makefile NUL arch/x86/Makefile NUL
+----------------------------------------
+
+That is:
+
+. the number of added lines;
+. a tab;
+. the number of deleted lines;
+. a tab;
+. a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied);
+. pathname in preimage;
+. a NUL (only exists if renamed/copied);
+. pathname in postimage (only exists if renamed/copied);
+. a NUL.
+
+The extra `NUL` before the preimage path in renamed case is to allow
+scripts that read the output to tell if the current record being read is
+a single-path record or a rename/copy record without reading ahead.
+After reading added and deleted lines, reading up to `NUL` would yield
+the pathname, but if that is `NUL`, the record will show two paths.