Add option to view diff with a previous version of a package

[samuelstjean]

Since auracle knows the previous version of any package installed and when a new one is available, I was wondering if it could be possible to show a diff for those two version of every file? This would be useful to quickly know if a new version is only for a change of numbers or if new stuff was added to the package itself quickly.

I figured since the web version can show the history of the files, maybe it was also available to software interacting with the aur.

[falconindy]

Important correction: auracle knows current version of the package installed, because libalpm can answer that question. However, there's zero understanding of where that package came from. The assets used to build the package might have come from a third party repo, providing similar but not identical versions as the AUR. There's no guarantee that the versions even match due to the way makepkg can update PKGBUILDs.

If you want a diff, the best way to do this is either:

1. use 'auracle clone' to checkout the repo and use git commands to view the history
2. use the web UI to do the moral equivalent of the above.

[Morganamilo]

You can use the git ref AUR_SEEN to track the last commit that was reviewed. This is used by a handful of aur helpers.

[samuelstjean]

I see, I thought that since it shows you your local version it knows about it, but it seems like it just know it's different, especially since it could come from a locally slightly modified PKGBUILD.
I guess then there is no easy way to do what I am asking for, and even providing a diff between version installed and latest online would not always be accurate as mentioned, so I guess people will still go for manual diffing then, thanks.