nbstripout: what does `diff=ipynb` do in .gitattributes?

Question

I'm using nbstripout to remove Jupyter output before committing. nbstripout generated a .gitattribute file that looks like this:

*.ipynb filter=nbstripout

*.ipynb diff=ipynb

This works as expected, whenever I git status, git diff, or git commit, it doesn't include Jupyter outputs. However, when I remove the second line, it does the same thing.

What does *.ipynb diff=ipynb do in this case?

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 05 '18 at 06:02

3

The diff attribute, when set to a string, references a diff driver.

But the first attributes reference a content filter driver using the same command.
Since the content filter driver is involved when doing a git diff (through the smudge command), it does the same operation (meaning it changes the content of the working tree file compared with the index)

answered Nov 05 '18 at 06:02

VonC

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So it's supposed to be the same without the second line? – Leo Jiang Nov 05 '18 at 13:29
@LeoJiang Yes, the smudge content filter would play the same role as the diff attributes. – VonC Nov 05 '18 at 13:31

nbstripout: what does `diff=ipynb` do in .gitattributes?

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