SDIFF

sdiff − find differences between two files and merge interactively

sdiff -o outfile [options] from-file to-file

The sdiff command merges two files and interactively outputs the results to outfile.

If from-file is a directory and to-file is not, sdiff compares the file in from-file whose file name is that of to-file, and vice versa. from-file and to-file may not both be directories.

sdiff options begin with −, so normally from-file and to-file may not begin with −. However, −− as an argument by itself treats the remaining arguments as file names even if they begin with −. You may not use − as an input file.

sdiff without −o (or −−output) produces a side-by-side difference. This usage is obsolete; use diff −−side−by−side instead.

Options

Below is a summary of all of the options that GNU sdiff accepts. Each option has two equivalent names, one of which is a single letter preceded by −, and the other of which is a long name preceded by −−. Multiple single letter options (unless they take an argument) can be combined into a single command line argument. Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix of their name.

−a

Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not appear to be text.

−b

Ignore changes in amount of white space.

−B

Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.

−d

Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).

−H

Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.

−−expand−tabs

Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.

−i

Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.

−I regexp

Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.

−−ignore−all−space

Ignore white space when comparing lines.

−−ignore−blank−lines

Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.

−−ignore−case

Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.

−−ignore−matching−lines=regexp

Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.

−−ignore−space−change

Ignore changes in amount of white space.

−l

−−left−column

Print only the left column of two common lines.

−−minimal

Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).

−o file

−−output=file

Put merged output into file. This option is required for merging.

−s

−−suppress−common−lines

Do not print common lines.

−−speed−large−files

Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.

−t

Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.

−−text

Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not appear to be text.

−v

−−version

Output the version number of sdiff.

−w columns

−−width=columns

Use an output width of columns. Note that for historical reasons, this option is −W in diff, −w in sdiff.

−W

Ignore horizontal white space when comparing lines. Note that for historical reasons, this option is −w in diff, −W in sdiff.

cmp(1), comm(1), diff(1), diff3(1).

An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some differences were found, and 2 means trouble.