SDIFF(1) GNU Tools SDIFF(1)NAMEsdiff - find differences between two files and merge interactively
SYNOPSISsdiff-o outfile [options] from-file to-file
DESCRIPTION
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 remain‐
ing 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This usage is obsolete; use diff --side-by-side instead.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 pre‐
ceded by -, and the other of which is a long name preceded by --. Mul‐
tiple single letter options (unless they take an argument) can be com‐
bined 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 numer‐
ous 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 reg‐
exp.
--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 reg‐
exp.
--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 merg‐
ing.
-s
--suppress-common-lines
Do not print common lines.
--speed-large-files
Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numer‐
ous 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 rea‐
sons, 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.
SEE ALSOcmp(1), comm(1), diff(1), diff3(1).
DIAGNOSTICS
An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some dif‐
ferences were found, and 2 means trouble.
GNU Tools 22sep1993 SDIFF(1)
