The default git diff behavior is to open each diff file in serial (wait for previous file to be closed before opening next file).
I'm looking for a way to open all the files at once - in BeyondCompare for example this would open all the files in tabs within the same BC window.
This would make it easier to review a complex set of changes; flick back and forwards between the diff files and ignore unimportant files.
I did find this method (GitDiff.bat and GitDiff.rb) that copies the files out to old/new temp dirs and then does a folder compare on them.
But I'd rather view the working files directly (from the working dir), as BeyondCompare has the handy feature of being able to edit the file from within the diff window which is great for quick cleanups.
Edit: a similar method here in response to my question on the git mailing list.
Noticed here that Araxis Merge has a '-nowait' command option:
-nowait Prevents compare from waiting for a comparison to be closed
Maybe this returns an immediate exit code and would work, anyone experienced this? Can't find similar option for BeyondCompare...
The following works with meld and kdiff3
git difftool --dir-diff origin/branch1..origin/branch2
Opens all the files in a window that you can browse with ease. Can be used with changesets in place of origin/branch-name
eg: git difftool --dir-diff origin/master..24604fb72f7e16ed44115fbd88b447779cc74bb1
If all you want to do is open all the files that are currently modified, try something like:
vi $(git status | sed -n '/.*modified: */s///p')
If you are making commits of "complex sets of changes", you might want to reconsider your workflow. One of the really nice features of git is that it makes it easy for the developer to reduce complex change sets to a series of simple patches. Rather than trying to edit all of the files that are currently modified, you might want to look into
git add --patchwhich will allow you to selectively stage hunks.
For those interested in using git-diffall on Mac OS X with Araxis, I forked the git-diffall project on github and added an AppleScript that wraps the Araxis Merge command. Note: this is a slightly modified clone of the araxisgitdiff file that ships with Araxis Merge for Mac OS X.