literal "\n" is ambiguous from newline in `Line`

[ghostsquad]

When a file has a literal \n (backslash + lowercase n), in the parsed Line object, it appears identically as a \n as if it was an actual newline.

[bluekeyes]

Thanks for the report. Unfortunately, I'm not able to reproduce this. Can you share an example patch where this is a problem or provide some more details about what you're trying to achieve?

I'm testing using this sample program (Go Playground):

package main

import (
        "log"
        "strings"

        "github.com/bluekeyes/go-gitdiff/gitdiff"
)

func main() {
        files, _, err := gitdiff.Parse(strings.NewReader(`
diff --git a/newlines.txt b/newlines.txt
--- a/newlines.txt
+++ b/newlines.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Use the '\n' escape sequence to represent new lines
+Some systems also use '\r' for carriage returns
+
        `))
        if err != nil {
                log.Fatal(err)
        }

        frag := files[0].TextFragments[0]
        for i, line := range frag.Lines {
                log.Printf("line %d: %q", i, line.Line)
        }
}

Output:

2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 0: "Use the '\\n' escape sequence to represent new lines\n"
2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 1: "Some systems also use '\\r' for carriage returns\n"
2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 2: "\n"

[ghostsquad]

Ya I made an empty file. Typed \n then hit enter. Made a second empty file. This library shows `\n\n` is the line being added/removed. Cheers! Wes Sent from Proton Mail for Android.

…

-------- Original Message --------

On Sunday, 01/11/26 at 09:06 Billy Keyes ***@***.***> wrote: **bluekeyes** left a comment (bluekeyes/go-gitdiff#64) Thanks for the report. Unfortunately, I'm not able to reproduce this. Can you share an example patch where this is a problem or provide some more details about what you're trying to achieve? I'm testing using this sample program (Go Playground): package main import ( "log" "strings" "github.com/bluekeyes/go-gitdiff/gitdiff" ) func main() { files, _, err := gitdiff.Parse(strings.NewReader(` diff --git a/newlines.txt b/newlines.txt --- a/newlines.txt +++ b/newlines.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +Use the '\n' escape sequence to represent new lines +Some systems also use '\r' for carriage returns + `)) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } frag := files[0].TextFragments[0] for i, line := range frag.Lines { log.Printf("line %d: %q", i, line.Line) } } Output: `2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 0: "Use the '\\n' escape sequence to represent new l ines\n" 2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 1: "Some systems also use '\\r' for carriage returns\ n" 2026/01/11 11:53:40 line 2: "\n" ` — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[ghostsquad]

[bluekeyes]

Where's that first screenshot showing the gitdiff.Line object from? Is that printed console output, a debugger/inspector, or something else?

[ghostsquad]

that's a screenshot of my terminal, I'm outputting the diff object using https://github.com/goforj/godump

[bluekeyes]

Thanks, that's what I was missing. I think godump is producing misleading output here. In the program below, 3 distinct string inputs produce the same output when printed by godump:

package main

import (
        "fmt"

        "github.com/goforj/godump"
)

func main() {
        strs := []string{
                "\\n\\n",
                "\\n\n",
                "\n\n",
        }

        for _, s := range strs {
                fmt.Printf("%q\n", s)
                godump.Dump(s)
                fmt.Println()
        }
}

Output:

"\\n\\n"
<#dump // main.go:18
"\n\n" #string

"\\n\n"
<#dump // main.go:18
"\n\n" #string

"\n\n"
<#dump // main.go:18
"\n\n" #string

[ghostsquad]

Oh! Well that's interesting.... I didn't think godump would be causing this.