View differences between two changesets on one file

Question

I have a file tracked in Mercurial. I can see its history with hg log. How can I see the diffs between its most recent version, and the last checked-in changeset?

Isn't "most recent version" the same as "last checked-in changeset version"? — Lasse V. Karlsen, Nov 11 '10 at 12:45

score 61 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 27 '17 at 22:01

61

hg diff -r <first_revision_number>:<other_revision_number> filename

that will do it

e.g hg diff -r 0:1 default.aspx

hope it helps

edited Feb 27 '17 at 22:01

Daniel Porteous

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answered Nov 11 '10 at 12:31

stack72

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Interesting: Not finding this in `hg diff -h --verbose`. Really should be there. – CodeLurker Aug 29 '17 at 16:36

score 43 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

43

If you know the revision numbers, then what PaulStack said is correct.

If you explicitly want to know the difference between the current tip of the branch, and it's previous, you can use shortcuts. Of course, if the file hasn't changed, the diff won't show anything useful.

hg diff -r -1:. filename

The -1 says previous changeset on this branch. the '.' means the current changeset. You can use -2, -3 etc, but once you hit a merge point, it gets a little more interesting. (reference: http://hgtip.com/tips/beginner/2009-10-05-shortcuts-for-specifying-revisions/)

If what you want is the outstanding changes in your workspace, then it's merely hg diff filename.

A few useful places for HG newbies is http://hgtip.com.

The HG definitive guide at http://hgbook.red-bean.com/.

A stackoverflow like site that's more HG specific is the Kiln support site. http://kiln.stackexchange.com. Kiln is built on top of HG, and uses a modified TortoiseHG client, so most of the questions and answers there are informative. They will also answer questions even if you aren't a user.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Community

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answered Nov 11 '10 at 12:50

Mikezx6r

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This is (I think) a lot more likely to be helpful than the marked answer. – podperson Nov 13 '15 at 00:53
Interesting: Not finding this in `hg diff -h --verbose`. Really should be there. – CodeLurker Aug 29 '17 at 16:36
The -1 revision shortcut is being deprecated. Is there another method to do this? – Ecnassianer Dec 11 '19 at 01:27
Sorry, no idea. I've had to move to Git, so haven't use HG in years. – Mikezx6r Dec 12 '19 at 02:06

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 24 '17 at 03:19

there is also de ^ syntax for the parent revision, which in addition to . (the parent of the working directory) make a useful combination:

show the diff between current checked out revision and its parent revision (this works around tip and -1 limitations)

hg diff -r .^:.

View differences between two changesets on one file

3 Answers3