git-clean-nonwhitespace

A script to remove all non-whitespace changes from the staging area, leaving only whitespace changes staged for commit.

Overview

This script is useful when you've made both logical code changes and whitespace/indentation fixes in the same files, and you want to commit the whitespace changes separately. It removes the non-whitespace changes from the staging area while preserving the whitespace changes.

Note: This script calls git-clean-whitespace --reverse to share implementation and provide consistent file handling capabilities, so you can't install this by itself. Ensure both scripts are in the same directory.

Usage

# Remove non-whitespace changes from all staged files
git clean-nonwhitespace

# Remove non-whitespace changes from a specific file
git clean-nonwhitespace src/main.js

# Remove non-whitespace changes from a file using absolute path
git clean-nonwhitespace /full/path/to/project/src/main.js

# Show help (shows git-clean-whitespace help)
git clean-nonwhitespace --help

Options

All options from git-clean-whitespace are supported:

• filename: Optional. Only process the specified file. Can be:
  • Relative to current working directory: src/main.js
  • Absolute system path: /full/path/to/file.js
  • Path relative to parent directories: ../other-file.js
• --help, -h: Show usage information

How It Works

The script calls git-clean-whitespace --reverse which:

1. Always runs from git repository root to ensure git commands work properly
2. Converts file paths from your current working directory or absolute paths to paths relative to the git repository root
3. Identifies non-whitespace changes using git diff --cached -w
4. Removes those changes from the staging area, leaving only whitespace changes staged

Use Case Example

1. You're working on a feature and notice some files have inconsistent indentation
2. You fix the indentation while making your logical changes
3. You stage all changes with git add .
4. You want to commit the indentation fixes first, then the logical changes
5. Run git clean-nonwhitespace to remove logical changes from staging
6. Commit the whitespace changes: git commit -m "Fix indentation"
7. Stage the remaining changes: git add .
8. Commit the logical changes: git commit -m "Add new feature"

Requirements

• Git repository with staged changes
• Standard Unix utilities

Notes

• This script only affects the staging area (index), not your working directory
• After running this script, your working directory will still contain all changes
• You can re-stage the non-whitespace changes afterward with git add
• The script works by applying the inverse of non-whitespace changes to the index