# `if-changed`
[](https://crates.io/crates/if-changed)
[](https://github.com/mathematic-inc/if-changed)
[](https://github.com/mathematic-inc/if-changed/actions/workflows/ci.yaml)
[](https://docs.rs/if-changed/latest/if_changed/index.html)
`if-changed` is a command-line utility that checks for `"if-changed"` and `"then-change"` comments in a repository diff and errors if dependent files need changes.
## Installation
```bash
cargo install if-changed
```
## Usage
```bash
Usage: if-changed [OPTIONS] [PATTERNS]...
Arguments:
[PATTERNS]...
Git patterns defining the set of files to check. By default, this will be all changed files between revisions.
This list follows the same rules as [`.gitignore`](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore) except relative paths/patterns are always matched against the repository root, even if the paths/patterns don't contain `/`. In particular, a leading `!` before a pattern will reinclude the pattern if it was excluded by a previous pattern.
Options:
--from-ref <FROM_REF>
The revision to compare against. By default, HEAD is used
[env: PRE_COMMIT_FROM_REF=]
--to-ref <TO_REF>
The revision to compare with. By default, the current working tree is used
[env: PRE_COMMIT_TO_REF=]
-h, --help
Print help (see a summary with '-h')
-V, --version
Print version
```
To use with [`pre-commit`](https://pre-commit.com), add the following to your `.pre-commit-config.yaml`:
```yaml
repos:
- repo: https://github.com/mathematic-inc/if-changed
rev: v0.3.2
hooks:
- id: if-changed
```
### Motivating example
Suppose you have the following:
```rs
// lib.rs
enum ErrorCode {
A,
B,
C,
}
```
```ts
// lib.ts
const enum ErrorCode {
A,
B,
C,
}
```
Typically, to synchronize these enums, a common approach is to extract the enum values into a "source-of-truth" file. This often requires significant effort to generate the enums using the build system or a script, and to ensure everything works correctly. If the job is a one-off, the costs heavily outweigh the benefits.
This is where `if-changed` comes in. Instead of the above, suppose we have:
```diff
// lib.rs
+// if-changed(ecrs)
enum ErrorCode {
A,
B,
C,
}
+// then-change(lib.ts:ects)
```
```diff
// lib.ts
+// if-changed(ects)
const enum ErrorCode {
A,
B,
C,
}
+// then-change(lib.rs:ecrs)
```
Once this is commited, the next time `lib.rs` (or `lib.ts`) is changed in the lines surrounded by `"if-changed"` and `"then-change"`, `if-changed` will error if the other file (referenced in the `"then-change"` comment) does not have any changes in the corresponding named block.
> [!TIP]
>
> If you just want to assert that any change in a file is ok, then just reference the file without the name. For example,
>
> ```diff
> // lib.ts
> // if-changed(ects)
> const enum ErrorCode {
> A,
> B,
> C,
> }
> -// then-change(lib.rs:ecrs)
> +// then-change(lib.rs)
> ```
### File lists
If a block needs to specify several files, you can use commas and/or newlines to separate paths/patterns. For example,
```c
// then-change(foo/bar, baz)
/// OR
// then-change(
// foo/bar
// bar
// )
```
These lists follow the same rules as [`.gitignore`](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitignore), with the exception that relative paths/patterns are always matched against the file in which they are written, even if the paths/patterns don't contain `/`. Use a starting `/` to match the pattern against the repository root, e.g. `/*/bar`.
### Long paths
If a path is too long, you can use a shell continuation `\` to split it across multiple lines. For example, for the path `this/is/a/really/long/path/to/some/very/far/away/file`, you can do
```c
// then-change(
// this/is/a/really/long/path/to/some/very/far/ \
// away/file
// )
```
### Disabling `if-changed`
To disable `if-changed` for a specific file during a commit, add `Ignore-if-changed: <path>, ... -- [REASON]` to the commit footer. Here, `<path>` should be the file path. In general, `<path>` can be any pattern allowed by [fnmatch](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/fnmatch.3.html).
> [!NOTE]
>
> If you want to disable `if-changed` when diffing the working tree, you can execute `if-changed` with the following:
>
> ```bash
> if-changed '*' !<path-or-pattern>
> ```
>
> where `<path-or-pattern>` is the path/pattern you want to ignore.
## Contributing
Contributions to `if-changed` are welcome! Please submit a pull request or create an issue in the GitHub repository.
> This project is free and open-source work by a 501(c)(3) non-profit. If you find it useful, please consider [donating](https://github.com/sponsors/mathematic-inc).