diffuse(1) - Linux man page

Name

diffuse - graphical tool for merging and comparing text files

Synopsis

diffuse [-h | -? | --help | -v | --version]

diffuse [--no-rcfile | --rcfile file] [[option...] | [file...]...]

Description

Diffuse is a graphical tool for merging and comparing text files. Diffuse is able to compare an arbitrary number of files side-by-side and gives users the ability to manually adjust line matching and directly edit files. Diffuse can also retrieve revisions of files from Bazaar, CVS, Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Monotone, RCS, Subversion, and SVK repositories for comparison and merging.

Options

Help Options

If a help option is specified, it must be the only argument specified on the command line. Diffuse will immediately quit after displaying the help information.
-h, -?, --help: Display usage information.
-v, --version: Display version number and copyright information.

Configuration Options

If a configuration option is specified, it must be the first argument specified on the command line.
--no-rcfile: Do not read any initialisation files.
--rcfile file: Only read initialisation commands from file file.

General Options

-c, --commit rev: Include revision rev - 1 and rev of the next file named in the command line arguments in a file comparison tab.
-D, --close-if-same: Close all tabs with no differences.
-e, --encoding codec: Use codec to read and write files.
-m, --modified: Open all modified files from the remaining paths specified in the command line arguments in separate file comparison tabs.
-r, --revision rev: Include revision rev of the next file named in the command line arguments in a file comparison tab.
-s, --separate: Open all remaining files specified in the command line arguments in separate file comparison tabs.
-t, --tab: Start a new tab for any remaining files named in the command line arguments.
--null-file: Create a blank file comparison pane.

Display Options

Display options specified in the command line arguments will override saved preference values.
-b, --ignore-space-change: Ignore changes to the amount of white space.
-B, --ignore-blank-lines: Ignore changes whose lines are all blank.
-E, --ignore-end-of-line: Ignore end of line differences.
-i, --ignore-case: Ignore case differences in file contents.
-w, --ignore-all-space: Ignore all white space.

File Comparison

Use the File → New 2-Way File Merge and File → New 3-Way File Merge menu items to create additional tabs for comparing text files. File names and revisions can be specified either in the command line arguments used to invoke Diffuse or in fields on the Open File dialogue.

Diffuse displays files side-by-side inserting gaps to align similar lines of text. Differences are highlighted with a different background colour.

Comparison Summary

A summary of the compared files is located in the far right margin. The summary illustrates where gaps have been inserted to align matching lines of text and highlights differences using colour. Manual edits are also highlighted in green. A blue cursor identifies the region currently being viewed. The viewed region can be changed by clicking anywhere on the summary.

Selecting

Lines of text can be selected using the mouse pointer or keyboard. Select lines of text with the mouse pointer by clicking on a line. Click and drag to select multiple lines. Holding down the shift key when clicking will extend the current selection. Select lines using the keyboard by pressing the page up/down or arrow keys. Extend the current selection by holding down the shift key and pressing the page up/down or arrow keys. Move the selection to an adjacent file using the left and right arrow keys.

Matching Lines

The mouse pointer or keyboard can be used to manually align lines of text with adjacent files. To aligning lines of text using the mouse pointer, select a line of text with the left mouse button, right click on a line of text from an adjacent file, and choose Align with Selection. To align lines of text using the keyboard, move the selection with the cursor keys, press the space bar to pick the current line of text, move the selection with the cursor keys to a line of text in an adjacent file, and press the space bar to pick the target line of text. Pressing the escape key will cancel the operation. Use the Isolate menu item to prevent the selected lines from being matched with any lines from the adjacent files.

Editing

Press the enter key or double-click on a text area to enter text editing mode. The cursor will change to indicate text editing mode and the status bar at the bottom of the window will display the cursor's column position. In text editing mode, text can be selected with the mouse pointer by click and dragging. The current selection can be extended by holding down the shift key and moving the cursor by clicking with the mouse pointer or pressing any of the arrow, home, end or page up/down keys. Individual words can be selected by double-clicking on them with the mouse pointer. Whole lines can be selected by triple-clicking on them with the mouse pointer. Modify text by typing on the keyword. Modified lines will be highlighted in green. Use the Undo and Redo menu items to undo and redo the previously preformed operations. Press the escape key or click on another file's text area using the left mouse button to leave editing mode.

Merging

Use the difference buttons or menu items to navigate between blocks of differences within a file. When navigating, Diffuse will move the selection to the next continuous set of lines with differences or edits. Use the merge buttons or menu items to copy blocks of text into the selected range of lines. The Undo and Redo menu items can be used to undo and redo the previously preformed operations. All changes to a set of lines can be reverted using the Clear Edits menu item regardless of the order the edits were performed.

Version Control

Diffuse can retrieve file revisions from several version control systems via their command line interface. The Microsoft Windows build of Diffuse is able to use both the Cygwin and native versions of the supported version control systems. When using Diffuse with Cygwin, ensure Diffuse's Cygwin preferences correctly describe your system. If the Update paths for Cygwin preference exists for a version control system, it must be enabled to use the Cygwin version.

Version control systems are sensitive to the system path and other environment variable settings. The Launch from a Bash login shell preference may be used to easily set the environment for Cygwin version control systems.

Viewing Uncommitted Modifications

The -m option will cause Diffuse to open comparison tabs for each file the version control system indicates has uncommitted modifications. This is convenient for reviewing all changes before committing or resolving a merge conflict. If no paths are specified the current working directory will be used. For example, view all of your uncommitted modifications with this command line:

$ diffuse -m

The default revision of a file will be used for comparison if only one file is specified. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between the default revision of foo.C and the local foo.C file:

$ diffuse foo.C

Specifying Revisions

The -r option may also be used to explicitly specify a particular file revision. Any revision specifier understood by the version control system may be used. The local file will be used for comparison if only one file revision is specified. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 123 of foo.C and the local foo.C file:

$ diffuse -r 123 foo.C

Multiple file revisions can be compared by specifying multiple -r options. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 123 of foo.C and revision 321 of foo.C:

$ diffuse -r 123 -r 321 foo.C

Local files can be mixed with files from the version control system. For example, this will display a 3-way merge between revision MERGE_HEAD of foo.C, the local foo.C file, and revision HEAD of foo.C:

$ diffuse -r MERGE_HEAD foo.C foo.C -r HEAD foo.C

For the -c option may be used to easily specify a pair of numerically sequential revisions. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 1.2.2 of foo.C and revision 1.2.3 of foo.C:

$ diffuse -c 1.2.3 foo.C

Diffuse does not limit the number of panes that can be used for comparing files. The inputs to a Git octopus merge could be viewed with a command line like this:

$ diffuse -r HEAD^1 -r HEAD^2 -r HEAD^3 -r HEAD^4 -r HEAD^5 foo.C

Resources

Resources can be used to customise several aspects of Diffuse's appearance and behaviour such as changing the colours used in the user interface, customising the keyboard shortcuts, adding or replacing syntax highlighting rules, or changing the mapping from file extensions to syntax highlighting rules.

When Diffuse is started, it will read commands from the system wide initialisation file /etc/diffuserc (%INSTALL_DIR%\diffuserc on Microsoft Windows) and then the personal initialisation file ~/.config/diffuse/diffuserc (%HOME%\.config\diffuse\diffuserc on Microsoft Windows). This behaviour can be changed with the --no-rcfile and --rcfile configuration options. A Bourne shell-like lexical analyser is used to parse initialisation commands. Comments and special characters can be embedded using the same style of escaping used in Bourne shell scripts.

General

import file: Processes initialisation commands from file. Initialisation files will only be processed once.

Key Bindings

keybinding context action key_combination: Binds a key combination to action when used in context. Specify Shift and Control modifiers by prepending Shift+ and Ctrl+ to key_combination respectively. Keys normally modified by the Shift key should be specified using their modified value if key_combination involves the Shift key. For example, Ctrl+g and Shift+Ctrl+G. Remove bindings for key_combination by specifying None for the action.
Menu Item Key Bindings: Use menu for the context to define key bindings for menu items. The following values are valid for action:
open_file; File → Open File... menu item
Default: Ctrl+o; open_file_in_new_tab; File → Open File In New Tab... menu item
Default: Ctrl+t; open_modified_files; File → Open Modified Files... menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+O; reload_file; File → Reload File menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+R; save_file; File → Save File menu item
Default: Ctrl+s; save_file_as; File → Save File As... menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+A; save_all; File → Save All menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+S; new_2_way_file_merge; File → New 2-Way File Merge menu item
Default: Ctrl+2; new_3_way_file_merge; File → New 3-Way File Merge menu item
Default: Ctrl+3; close_tab; View → Close Tab menu item
Default: Ctrl+w; undo_close_tab; View → Undo Close Tab menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+w; quit; File → Quit menu item
Default: Ctrl+q; undo; Edit → Undo menu item
Default: Ctrl+z; redo; Edit → Redo menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Z; cut; Edit → Cut menu item
Default: Ctrl+x; copy; Edit → Copy menu item
Default: Ctrl+c; paste; Edit → Paste menu item
Default: Ctrl+v; select_all; Edit → Select All menu item
Default: Ctrl+a; clear_edits; Merge → Clear Edits menu item
Default: Ctrl+r; dismiss_all_edits; Merge → Dismiss All Edits menu item
Default: Ctrl+d; find; Edit → Find... menu item
Default: Ctrl+f; find_next; Edit → Find Next menu item
Default: Ctrl+g; find_previous; Edit → Find Previous menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+G; go_to_line; Edit → Go To Line... menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+L; preferences; View → Preferences menu item
Default: None; no_syntax_highlighting; View → Syntax Highlighting → None menu item
Default: None; syntax_highlighting_syntax; View → Syntax Highlighting → syntax menu item
Default: None; realign_all; Merge → Realign All menu item
Default: Ctrl+l; isolate; Merge → Isolate menu item
Default: Ctrl+i; first_difference; Merge → First Difference menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Up; previous_difference; Merge → Previous Difference menu item
Default: Ctrl+Up; next_difference; Merge → Next Difference menu item
Default: Ctrl+Down; last_difference; Merge → Last Difference menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Down; previous_tab; View → Previous Tab menu item
Default: Ctrl+Page_Up; next_tab; View → Next Tab menu item
Default: Ctrl+Page_Down; shift_pane_right; shift the currently selected pane to the right
Default: Shift+Ctrl+parenleft; shift_pane_left; shift the currently selected pane to the left
Default: Shift+Ctrl+parenright; convert_to_upper_case; Edit → Convert To Upper Case menu item
Default: Ctrl+u; convert_to_lower_case; Edit → Convert To Lower Case menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+U; sort_lines_in_ascending_order; Edit → Sort Lines In Ascending Order menu item
Default: Ctrl+y; sort_lines_in_descending_order; Edit → Sort Lines In Descending Order menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Y; remove_trailing_white_space; Edit → Remove Trailing White Space menu item
Default: Ctrl+k; convert_tabs_to_spaces; Edit → Convert Tabs To Spaces menu item
Default: Ctrl+b; convert_leading_spaces_to_tabs; Edit → Convert Leading Spaces To Tabs menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+B; increase_indenting; Edit → Increase Indenting menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+>; decrease_indenting; Edit → Decrease Indenting menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+<; convert_to_dos; Edit → Convert To DOS Format menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+E; convert_to_mac; Edit → Convert To Mac Format menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+C; convert_to_unix; Edit → Convert To Unix Format menu item
Default: Ctrl+e; copy_selection_right; Merge → Copy Selection Right menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Right; copy_selection_left; Merge → Copy Selection Left menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+Left; copy_left_into_selection; Merge → Copy Left Into Selection menu item
Default: Ctrl+Right; copy_right_into_selection; Merge → Copy Right Into Selection menu item
Default: Ctrl+Left; merge_from_left_then_right; Merge → Merge From Left Then Right menu item
Default: Ctrl+m; merge_from_right_then_left; Merge → Merge From Right Then Left menu item
Default: Shift+Ctrl+M; help_contents; Help → Help Contents menu item
Default: F1; about; Help → About menu item
Default: None
Line Editing Mode Key Bindings: Use line_mode for the context to define key bindings for line editing mode. The following values are valid for action:
enter_align_mode; enter alignment editing mode
Default: space; enter_character_mode; enter character editing mode
Default: Return, KP_Enter; first_line; move cursor to the first line
Defaults: Home, g; extend_first_line; move cursor to the first line, extending the selection
Default: Shift+Home; last_line; move cursor to the last line
Defaults: End, Shift+G; extend_last_line; move cursor to the last line, extending the selection
Default: Shift+End; up; move cursor up one line
Defaults: Up, k; extend_up; move cursor up one line, extending the selection
Defaults: Shift+Up, Shift+K; down; move cursor down one line
Defaults: Down, j; extend_down; move cursor down one line, extending the selection
Defaults: Shift+Down, Shift+J; left; move cursor left one file
Defaults: Left, h; extend_left; move cursor left one file, extending the selection
Default: Shift+Left; right; move cursor right one file
Defaults: Right, l; extend_right; move cursor right one file, extending the selection
Default: Shift+Right; page_up; move cursor up one page
Defaults: Page_Up, Ctrl+u; extend_page_up; move cursor up one page, extending the selection
Defaults: Shift+Page_Up, Shift+Ctrl+u; page_down; move cursor down one page
Defaults: Page_Down, Ctrl+d; extend_page_down; move cursor down one page, extending the selection
Defaults: Shift+Page_Down, Shift+Ctrl+d; delete_text; delete the selected text
Defaults: BackSpace, Delete, x; first_difference; select the first difference
Defaults: Ctrl+Home, Shift+P; previous_difference; select the previous difference
Default: p; next_difference; select the next difference
Default: n; last_difference; select the last difference
Defaults: Ctrl+End, Shift+N; clear_edits; clear all edits from the selected lines
Default: r; copy_left_into_selection; copy lines from the file on the left into the selection
Default: Shift+L; copy_right_into_selection; copy lines from the file on the right into the selection
Default: Shift+H; merge_from_left_then_right; merge lines from file on the left then file on the right
Default: m; merge_from_right_then_left; merge lines from file on the right then file on the left
Default: Shift+M; isolate; isolate the selected lines
Default: i
Alignment Editing Mode Key Bindings: Use align_mode for the context to define key bindings for alignment editing mode. The following values are valid for action:
enter_line_mode; enter line editing mode
Default: Escape; enter_character_mode; enter character editing mode
Default: Return, KP_Enter; first_line; move cursor to the first line
Default: g; last_line; move cursor to the last line
Default: Shift+G; up; move cursor up one line
Defaults: Up, k; down; move cursor down one line
Defaults: Down, j; left; move cursor left one file
Defaults: Left, h; right; move cursor right one file
Defaults: Right, l; page_up; move cursor up one page
Defaults: Page_Up, Ctrl+u; page_down; move cursor down one page
Defaults: Page_Down, Ctrl+d; align; align the selected line to the cursor position
Default: space
Character Editing Mode Key Bindings: Use character_mode for the context to define key bindings for character editing mode. The following values are valid for action:
enter_line_mode; enter line editing mode
Default: Escape

Strings

string name value: Declares a string resource called name with value value.
Used String Resources: The following string resources are used by Diffuse:
character_classes; describes mapping used to identify characters of a similar class for selection when double-clicking
This resource is a series of range:value pairs. The range is either a single number or low-high corresponding to the code for the character or characters to be set. Neighbouring characters that map to the same value will be selected as a group when double-clicking on a word.; difference_colours; a list of colour resources used to indicate differences

Colours

[ colour | color ] name red green blue: Declares a colour resource called name. Individual colour components should be expressed as a value between 0 and 1.
Used Colour Resources: The following colour resources are used by Diffuse:
alignment; colour used to indicate a line picked for manual alignment; character_selection; colour used to indicate selected characters; cursor; colour used for the cursor; difference_1; colour used to identify differences between the first pair of files; difference_2; colour used to identify differences between the second pair of files; difference_3; colour used to identify differences between the third pair of files; edited; colour used to indicate edited lines; hatch; colour used for indicating alignment gaps; line_number; colour used for line numbers; line_number_background; background colour for the line number area; line_selection; colour used to indicate selected lines; map_background; background colour for the map area; preedit; pre-edit text colour; text; regular text colour; text_background; background colour for the text area

Floating Point Values

float name value: Declares a floating point resource called name with value value.
Used Floating Point Resources: The following floating point resources are used by Diffuse:
alignment_opacity; opacity used when compositing the manual alignment colour
Defaults: 1; character_difference_opacity; opacity used when compositing character difference colours
Defaults: 0.4; character_selection_opacity; opacity used when compositing the character selection colour
Defaults: 0.4; edited_opacity; opacity used when compositing the edited line colour
Defaults: 0.4; line_difference_alpha; alpha value used when compositing line difference colours
Defaults: 0.3; line_selection_opacity; opacity used when compositing the line selection colour
Defaults: 0.4

Syntax Highlighting

syntax name [initial_state default_tag]: Declares a new syntax style called name. Syntax highlighting uses a simple state machine that transitions between states when certain patterns are matched. The initial state for the state machine will be initial_state. All characters not matched by a pattern will be tagged as default_tag for highlighting. The syntax style called name can be removed by omitting initial_state and default_tag.
syntax_files name [pattern]: Specifies that files with a name matching pattern should be highlighted using the syntax style called name. Patterns used to match files for use with the syntax style called name can be removed by omitting pattern.
syntax_magic name [pattern [ignorecase]]: Specifies that files with a first line matching pattern should be highlighted using the syntax style called name. Patterns used to match files for use with the syntax style called name can be removed by omitting pattern.
syntax_pattern name initial_state final_state tag pattern [ignorecase]: Adds a pattern to the previously declared syntax style. Patterns are tried one at a time in the order they were declared until the first match is found. A pattern will only be used to match characters if the state machine is in the state initial_state. The state machine will transition to final_state if the pattern defined by pattern is matched. Case insensitive pattern matching will be used if ignorecase is specified. All characters matched by the pattern will be tagged as tag for highlighting.

Files

The following files are used by Diffuse:

/etc/diffuserc

system wide initialisations (%INSTALL_DIR%\diffuserc on Microsoft Windows)
/usr/share/diffuse/syntax/*.syntax: syntax files for various languages (%INSTALL_DIR%\syntax\*.syntax on Microsoft Windows)
~/.config/diffuse/diffuserc: your initialisations (%HOME%\.config\diffuse\diffuserc on Microsoft Windows)
~/.config/diffuse/prefs: your saved preferences (%HOME%\.config\diffuse\prefs on Microsoft Windows)
~/.config/diffuse/state: data persistent across sessions (%HOME%\.config\diffuse\state on Microsoft Windows)

Author

Diffuse was written by Derrick Moser <derrick_moser@yahoo.com>.

Copyright

Diffuse is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the licence, or (at your option) any later version.