1SDIFF(1) GNU Tools SDIFF(1)
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6 sdiff - find differences between two files and merge interactively
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9 sdiff -o outfile [options] from-file to-file
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12 The sdiff command merges two files and interactively outputs the
13 results to outfile.
14 If from-file is a directory and to-file is not, sdiff compares the file
16 in from-file whose file name is that of to-file, and vice versa. from-
17 file and to-file may not both be directories.
18 sdiff options begin with -, so normally from-file and to-file may not
20 begin with -. However, -- as an argument by itself treats the remain‐
21 ing arguments as file names even if they begin with -. You may not use
22 - as an input file.
23 sdiff without -o (or --output) produces a side-by-side difference.
25 This usage is obsolete; use diff --side-by-side instead.
26 Options
28 Below is a summary of all of the options that GNU sdiff accepts. Each
29 option has two equivalent names, one of which is a single letter pre‐
30 ceded by -, and the other of which is a long name preceded by --. Mul‐
31 tiple single letter options (unless they take an argument) can be com‐
32 bined into a single command line argument. Long named options can be
33 abbreviated to any unique prefix of their name.
34 -a Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if
36 they do not appear to be text.
37 -b Ignore changes in amount of white space.
39 -B Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
41 -d Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes.
43 This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).
44 -H Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numer‐
46 ous scattered small changes.
47 --expand-tabs
49 Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment
50 of tabs in the input files.
51 -i Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the
53 same.
54 -I regexp
56 Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match reg‐
57 exp.
58 --ignore-all-space
60 Ignore white space when comparing lines.
61 --ignore-blank-lines
63 Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
64 --ignore-case
66 Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the
67 same.
68 --ignore-matching-lines=regexp
70 Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match reg‐
71 exp.
72 --ignore-space-change
74 Ignore changes in amount of white space.
75 -l
77 --left-column
78 Print only the left column of two common lines.
79 --minimal
81 Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes.
82 This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).
83 -o file
85 --output=file
86 Put merged output into file. This option is required for merg‐
87 ing.
88 -s
90 --suppress-common-lines
91 Do not print common lines.
92 --speed-large-files
94 Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numer‐
95 ous scattered small changes.
96 -t Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment
98 of tabs in the input files.
99 --text Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if
101 they do not appear to be text.
102 -v
104 --version
105 Output the version number of sdiff.
106 -w columns
108 --width=columns
109 Use an output width of columns. Note that for historical rea‐
110 sons, this option is -W in diff, -w in sdiff.
111 -W Ignore horizontal white space when comparing lines. Note that
113 for historical reasons, this option is -w in diff, -W in sdiff.
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116 cmp(1), comm(1), diff(1), diff3(1).
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119 An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some dif‐
120 ferences were found, and 2 means trouble.
121GNU Tools 22sep1993 SDIFF(1)