lix/src/nix/diff-closures.md
Qyriad 194ba8a02f docs: guide to installables docs in installable commands' docs
The installables syntax is not documented in any of the man pages or
docbook pages for any of those individual commands. And while these
commands really should at least peripherally individually document how
installables work, in the meantime we can at least direct people to the
right place.

This commit also clarifies the unexpected fact that `nix profile remove`
and `nix profile upgrade` do *not* take installables.

Change-Id: I3b1453cb197a613bbab639c66a466365c3592c6d
2024-04-29 08:06:05 -06:00

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1.7 KiB
Markdown

R""(
**Note:** this command's interface is based heavily around [*installables*](./nix.md#installables), which you may want to read about first (`nix --help`).
# Examples
* Show what got added and removed between two versions of the NixOS
system profile:
```console
# nix store diff-closures /nix/var/nix/profiles/system-655-link /nix/var/nix/profiles/system-658-link
acpi-call: 2020-04-07-5.8.16 → 2020-04-07-5.8.18
baloo-widgets: 20.08.1 → 20.08.2
bluez-qt: +12.6 KiB
dolphin: 20.08.1 → 20.08.2, +13.9 KiB
kdeconnect: 20.08.2 → ∅, -6597.8 KiB
kdeconnect-kde: ∅ → 20.08.2, +6599.7 KiB
```
# Description
This command shows the differences between the two closures *before*
and *after* with respect to the addition, removal, or version change
of packages, as well as changes in store path sizes.
For each package name in the two closures (where a package name is
defined as the name component of a store path excluding the version),
if there is a change in the set of versions of the package, or a
change in the size of the store paths of more than 8 KiB, it prints a
line like this:
```console
dolphin: 20.08.1 → 20.08.2, +13.9 KiB
```
No size change is shown if it's below the threshold. If the package
does not exist in either the *before* or *after* closures, it is
represented using `∅` (empty set) on the appropriate side of the
arrow. If a package has an empty version string, the version is
rendered as `ε` (epsilon).
There may be multiple versions of a package in each closure. In that
case, only the changed versions are shown. Thus,
```console
libfoo: 1.2, 1.3 → 1.4
```
leaves open the possibility that there are other versions (e.g. `1.1`)
that exist in both closures.
)""