git and folder compare

[knut]

Hello,
some time ago I tried git and BC3 without success (at least in my eyes )

I was able to use BC3 as file comparison tool, but not with folder compare. Now I wanted to make a 2nd try, but in meantime I'm not sure, if BC3 will be able to make folder compare with different branches in git.

My question in short words: Can I use BC3 to compare branches inside git? (Windows 7, probably msysgit (not installed up to now :-) )

Actual I'm using "poor man version system": Just copy the directory and compare it with BC3.
I could combine it with git (select branch, copy it, select another branch and compare it with my previous copy).

Thanks.

[Zoë]

knut,

Sorry, we don't currently support that yet. It is on the wishlist and we have looked into it, but I doubt it will get into a 3.x release.

[banzaimonkey]

It is on the wishlist and we have looked into it, but I doubt it will get into a 3.x release.

Is this a limitation of BC or Git? I've transitioned to Git from Mercurial as this user did. Hg + BC supported folder diffs out of the box, so I'm curious why it doesn't work with Git.

[Greg Lawson]

knut,
Since git is now my favorite SCM tool and BC has always been my favorite comparison tool, I have been experimenting on how to use them together.
The conflict seems to be that git overlays different branches into the same directory. Two approaches I can imagine are:
1) place separate git branches in different directories so BC likes them. Synchronizing the directories requires pushing and pulling say from github. This works but is awkward, especially with uncommitted files blocking checkouts.
2) BC controls the overlay switching. We already have their answer, maybe later. A simpler idea might be to allow a 'conversion' program like is available when comparing single files. The conversion program would do a 'git checkout otherBranch' before reading each directory. Since git checkouts are fast (I think the file system is re-mapped somehow rather than any files being copied. I think this is also the trade-off for not making multiple branches visible simultaneously) there shouldn't be any long waits.
Alternatively, I have been using BC less and less and using git based GUIs like gitg and git-cola more. They provide good comparisons between git file versions. For merging selectively, git-cola provides selecting hunks and creating new commits. I still wish BC would support git better, but in the meantime, I'm learning to get the job done using git GUI tools.