Mercurial > vim
annotate runtime/doc/diff.txt @ 4444:ccecb03e5e8b v7.3.970
updated for version 7.3.970
Problem: Syntax highlighting can be slow.
Solution: Include the NFA regexp engine. Add the 'regexpengine' option to
select which one is used. (various authors, including Ken Takata,
Andrei Aiordachioaie, Russ Cox, Xiaozhou Liua, Ian Young)
| author | Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org> |
|---|---|
| date | Sun, 19 May 2013 19:40:29 +0200 |
| parents | 058f26a834c4 |
| children | 6ec6b7ff2d43 |
| rev | line source |
|---|---|
| 3830 | 1 *diff.txt* For Vim version 7.3. Last change: 2012 Sep 05 |
| 7 | 2 |
| 3 | |
| 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 *diff* *vimdiff* *gvimdiff* *diff-mode* | |
|
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8 This file describes the |+diff| feature: Showing differences between two, |
| 1698 | 9 three or four versions of the same file. |
| 7 | 10 |
| 11 The basics are explained in section |08.7| of the user manual. | |
| 12 | |
| 13 1. Starting diff mode |vimdiff| | |
| 14 2. Viewing diffs |view-diffs| | |
| 15 3. Jumping to diffs |jumpto-diffs| | |
| 16 4. Copying diffs |copy-diffs| | |
| 17 5. Diff options |diff-options| | |
| 18 | |
| 19 {not in Vi} | |
| 20 | |
| 21 ============================================================================== | |
| 22 1. Starting diff mode | |
| 23 | |
| 24 The easiest way to start editing in diff mode is with the "vimdiff" command. | |
| 25 This starts Vim as usual, and additionally sets up for viewing the differences | |
| 26 between the arguments. > | |
| 27 | |
| 28 vimdiff file1 file2 [file3 [file4]] | |
| 29 | |
| 30 This is equivalent to: > | |
| 31 | |
| 32 vim -d file1 file2 [file3 [file4]] | |
| 33 | |
| 34 You may also use "gvimdiff" or "vim -d -g". The GUI is started then. | |
| 35 You may also use "viewdiff" or "gviewdiff". Vim starts in readonly mode then. | |
| 36 "r" may be prepended for restricted mode (see |-Z|). | |
| 37 | |
| 38 The second and following arguments may also be a directory name. Vim will | |
| 39 then append the file name of the first argument to the directory name to find | |
| 40 the file. | |
| 41 | |
| 42 This only works when a standard "diff" command is available. See 'diffexpr'. | |
| 43 | |
| 674 | 44 Diffs are local to the current tab page |tab-page|. You can't see diffs with |
| 45 a window in another tab page. This does make it possible to have several | |
| 46 diffs at the same time, each in their own tab page. | |
| 47 | |
| 7 | 48 What happens is that Vim opens a window for each of the files. This is like |
| 49 using the |-O| argument. This uses vertical splits. If you prefer horizontal | |
| 50 splits add the |-o| argument: > | |
| 51 | |
| 1698 | 52 vimdiff -o file1 file2 [file3 [file4]] |
| 7 | 53 |
| 766 | 54 If you always prefer horizontal splits include "horizontal" in 'diffopt'. |
| 55 | |
| 7 | 56 In each of the edited files these options are set: |
| 57 | |
| 58 'diff' on | |
| 59 'scrollbind' on | |
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60 'cursorbind' on |
| 7 | 61 'scrollopt' includes "hor" |
| 62 'wrap' off | |
| 63 'foldmethod' "diff" | |
| 766 | 64 'foldcolumn' value from 'diffopt', default is 2 |
| 7 | 65 |
| 66 These options are set local to the window. When editing another file they are | |
| 67 reset to the global value. | |
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68 The options can still be overruled from a modeline when re-editing the file. |
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69 However, 'foldmethod' and 'wrap' won't be set from a modeline when 'diff' is |
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70 set. |
| 7 | 71 |
| 72 The differences shown are actually the differences in the buffer. Thus if you | |
| 73 make changes after loading a file, these will be included in the displayed | |
| 74 diffs. You might have to do ":diffupdate" now and then, not all changes are | |
| 75 immediately taken into account. | |
| 76 | |
| 77 In your .vimrc file you could do something special when Vim was started in | |
| 78 diff mode. You could use a construct like this: > | |
| 79 | |
| 80 if &diff | |
| 81 setup for diff mode | |
| 82 else | |
| 83 setup for non-diff mode | |
| 84 endif | |
| 85 | |
| 86 While already in Vim you can start diff mode in three ways. | |
| 87 | |
| 88 *E98* | |
| 3830 | 89 :diffs[plit] {filename} *:diffs* *:diffsplit* |
| 7 | 90 Open a new window on the file {filename}. The options are set |
| 91 as for "vimdiff" for the current and the newly opened window. | |
| 92 Also see 'diffexpr'. | |
| 93 | |
| 94 *:difft* *:diffthis* | |
| 3830 | 95 :difft[his] Make the current window part of the diff windows. This sets |
| 16 | 96 the options like for "vimdiff". |
| 7 | 97 |
| 3830 | 98 :diffp[atch] {patchfile} *E816* *:diffp* *:diffpatch* |
| 7 | 99 Use the current buffer, patch it with the diff found in |
| 100 {patchfile} and open a buffer on the result. The options are | |
| 101 set as for "vimdiff". | |
| 102 {patchfile} can be in any format that the "patch" program | |
| 103 understands or 'patchexpr' can handle. | |
| 104 Note that {patchfile} should only contain a diff for one file, | |
| 105 the current file. If {patchfile} contains diffs for other | |
| 106 files as well, the results are unpredictable. Vim changes | |
| 107 directory to /tmp to avoid files in the current directory | |
| 108 accidentally being patched. But it may still result in | |
| 109 various ".rej" files to be created. And when absolute path | |
| 110 names are present these files may get patched anyway. | |
| 111 | |
| 112 To make these commands use a vertical split, prepend |:vertical|. Examples: > | |
| 113 | |
| 114 :vert diffsplit main.c~ | |
| 115 :vert diffpatch /tmp/diff | |
| 766 | 116 |
| 117 If you always prefer a vertical split include "vertical" in 'diffopt'. | |
| 118 | |
| 7 | 119 *E96* |
| 120 There can be up to four buffers with 'diff' set. | |
| 121 | |
| 122 Since the option values are remembered with the buffer, you can edit another | |
| 123 file for a moment and come back to the same file and be in diff mode again. | |
| 16 | 124 |
| 125 *:diffo* *:diffoff* | |
| 3830 | 126 :diffo[ff] Switch off diff mode for the current window. |
| 16 | 127 |
| 3830 | 128 :diffo[ff]! Switch off diff mode for the current window and in all windows |
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129 in the current tab page where 'diff' is set. |
| 7 | 130 |
| 16 | 131 The ":diffoff" command resets the relevant options to their default value. |
| 132 This may be different from what the values were before diff mode was started, | |
| 133 the old values are not remembered. | |
| 134 | |
| 135 'diff' off | |
| 136 'scrollbind' off | |
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137 'cursorbind' off |
| 16 | 138 'scrollopt' without "hor" |
| 139 'wrap' on | |
| 140 'foldmethod' "manual" | |
| 141 'foldcolumn' 0 | |
| 7 | 142 |
| 143 ============================================================================== | |
| 144 2. Viewing diffs *view-diffs* | |
| 145 | |
| 146 The effect is that the diff windows show the same text, with the differences | |
| 147 highlighted. When scrolling the text, the 'scrollbind' option will make the | |
| 148 text in other windows to be scrolled as well. With vertical splits the text | |
| 149 should be aligned properly. | |
| 150 | |
| 151 The alignment of text will go wrong when: | |
| 152 - 'wrap' is on, some lines will be wrapped and occupy two or more screen | |
| 153 lines | |
| 154 - folds are open in one window but not another | |
| 155 - 'scrollbind' is off | |
| 156 - changes have been made to the text | |
| 157 - "filler" is not present in 'diffopt', deleted/inserted lines makes the | |
| 158 alignment go wrong | |
| 159 | |
| 160 All the buffers edited in a window where the 'diff' option is set will join in | |
| 161 the diff. This is also possible for hidden buffers. They must have been | |
| 162 edited in a window first for this to be possible. | |
| 163 | |
| 1121 | 164 *:DiffOrig* *diff-original-file* |
| 7 | 165 Since 'diff' is a window-local option, it's possible to view the same buffer |
| 166 in diff mode in one window and "normal" in another window. It is also | |
| 1121 | 167 possible to view the changes you have made to a buffer since the file was |
| 168 loaded. Since Vim doesn't allow having two buffers for the same file, you | |
| 169 need another buffer. This command is useful: > | |
| 2788 | 170 command DiffOrig vert new | set bt=nofile | r ++edit # | 0d_ |
| 171 \ | diffthis | wincmd p | diffthis | |
| 1121 | 172 (this is in |vimrc_example.vim|). Use ":DiffOrig" to see the differences |
| 173 between the current buffer and the file it was loaded from. | |
| 7 | 174 |
| 175 A buffer that is unloaded cannot be used for the diff. But it does work for | |
| 176 hidden buffers. You can use ":hide" to close a window without unloading the | |
| 195 | 177 buffer. If you don't want a buffer to remain used for the diff do ":set |
| 178 nodiff" before hiding it. | |
| 7 | 179 |
| 180 *:diffu* *:diffupdate* | |
| 3524 | 181 :diffu[pdate][!] Update the diff highlighting and folds. |
| 270 | 182 |
| 7 | 183 Vim attempts to keep the differences updated when you make changes to the |
| 184 text. This mostly takes care of inserted and deleted lines. Changes within a | |
| 185 line and more complicated changes do not cause the differences to be updated. | |
| 186 To force the differences to be updated use: > | |
| 187 | |
| 188 :diffupdate | |
| 189 | |
| 3524 | 190 If the ! is included Vim will check if the file was changed externally and |
| 191 needs to be reloaded. It will prompt for each changed file, like `:checktime` | |
| 192 was used. | |
| 7 | 193 |
| 194 Vim will show filler lines for lines that are missing in one window but are | |
| 195 present in another. These lines were inserted in another file or deleted in | |
| 196 this file. Removing "filler" from the 'diffopt' option will make Vim not | |
| 197 display these filler lines. | |
| 198 | |
| 199 | |
| 200 Folds are used to hide the text that wasn't changed. See |folding| for all | |
| 201 the commands that can be used with folds. | |
| 202 | |
| 203 The context of lines above a difference that are not included in the fold can | |
| 204 be set with the 'diffopt' option. For example, to set the context to three | |
| 205 lines: > | |
| 206 | |
| 207 :set diffopt=filler,context:3 | |
| 208 | |
| 209 | |
| 210 The diffs are highlighted with these groups: | |
| 211 | |
| 212 |hl-DiffAdd| DiffAdd Added (inserted) lines. These lines exist in | |
| 213 this buffer but not in another. | |
| 214 |hl-DiffChange| DiffChange Changed lines. | |
| 215 |hl-DiffText| DiffText Changed text inside a Changed line. Vim | |
| 216 finds the first character that is different, | |
| 217 and the last character that is different | |
| 218 (searching from the end of the line). The | |
| 219 text in between is highlighted. This means | |
| 220 that parts in the middle that are still the | |
| 829 | 221 same are highlighted anyway. Only "iwhite" of |
| 222 'diffopt' is used here. | |
| 4098 | 223 |hl-DiffDelete| DiffDelete Deleted lines. Also called filler lines, |
| 7 | 224 because they don't really exist in this |
| 225 buffer. | |
| 226 | |
| 227 ============================================================================== | |
| 228 3. Jumping to diffs *jumpto-diffs* | |
| 229 | |
| 230 Two commands can be used to jump to diffs: | |
| 231 *[c* | |
| 232 [c Jump backwards to the previous start of a change. | |
| 233 When a count is used, do it that many times. | |
| 234 *]c* | |
| 235 ]c Jump forwards to the next start of a change. | |
| 236 When a count is used, do it that many times. | |
| 237 | |
| 238 It is an error if there is no change for the cursor to move to. | |
| 239 | |
| 240 ============================================================================== | |
| 241 4. Diff copying *copy-diffs* *E99* *E100* *E101* *E102* *E103* | |
| 532 | 242 *merge* |
| 7 | 243 There are two commands to copy text from one buffer to another. The result is |
| 244 that the buffers will be equal within the specified range. | |
| 245 | |
| 246 *:diffg* *:diffget* | |
| 247 :[range]diffg[et] [bufspec] | |
| 248 Modify the current buffer to undo difference with another | |
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249 buffer. If [bufspec] is given, that buffer is used. If |
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250 [bufspec] refers to the current buffer then nothing happens. |
| 7 | 251 Otherwise this only works if there is one other buffer in diff |
| 252 mode. | |
| 253 See below for [range]. | |
| 254 | |
| 1121 | 255 *:diffpu* *:diffput* *E793* |
| 7 | 256 :[range]diffpu[t] [bufspec] |
| 257 Modify another buffer to undo difference with the current | |
| 258 buffer. Just like ":diffget" but the other buffer is modified | |
| 259 instead of the current one. | |
| 532 | 260 When [bufspec] is omitted and there is more than one other |
| 261 buffer in diff mode where 'modifiable' is set this fails. | |
| 7 | 262 See below for [range]. |
| 263 | |
| 264 *do* | |
| 265 do Same as ":diffget" without argument or range. The "o" stands | |
| 266 for "obtain" ("dg" can't be used, it could be the start of | |
| 2596 | 267 "dgg"!). Note: this doesn't work in Visual mode. |
| 7 | 268 |
| 269 *dp* | |
| 270 dp Same as ":diffput" without argument or range. | |
| 2596 | 271 Note: this doesn't work in Visual mode. |
| 272 | |
| 7 | 273 |
| 274 When no [range] is given, the diff at the cursor position or just above it is | |
| 275 affected. When [range] is used, Vim tries to only put or get the specified | |
| 276 lines. When there are deleted lines, this may not always be possible. | |
| 277 | |
| 278 There can be deleted lines below the last line of the buffer. When the cursor | |
| 279 is on the last line in the buffer and there is no diff above this line, the | |
| 280 ":diffget" and "do" commands will obtain lines from the other buffer. | |
| 281 | |
| 282 To be able to get those lines from another buffer in a [range] it's allowed to | |
| 283 use the last line number plus one. This command gets all diffs from the other | |
| 284 buffer: > | |
| 285 | |
| 286 :1,$+1diffget | |
| 287 | |
| 288 Note that deleted lines are displayed, but not counted as text lines. You | |
| 289 can't move the cursor into them. To fill the deleted lines with the lines | |
| 290 from another buffer use ":diffget" on the line below them. | |
| 819 | 291 *E787* |
| 292 When the buffer that is about to be modified is read-only and the autocommand | |
| 293 that is triggered by |FileChangedRO| changes buffers the command will fail. | |
| 294 The autocommand must not change buffers. | |
| 7 | 295 |
| 296 The [bufspec] argument above can be a buffer number, a pattern for a buffer | |
| 297 name or a part of a buffer name. Examples: | |
| 298 | |
| 299 :diffget Use the other buffer which is in diff mode | |
| 300 :diffget 3 Use buffer 3 | |
| 301 :diffget v2 Use the buffer which matches "v2" and is in | |
| 302 diff mode (e.g., "file.c.v2") | |
| 303 | |
| 304 ============================================================================== | |
| 305 5. Diff options *diff-options* | |
| 306 | |
| 307 Also see |'diffopt'| and the "diff" item of |'fillchars'|. | |
| 308 | |
| 309 | |
| 310 FINDING THE DIFFERENCES *diff-diffexpr* | |
| 311 | |
| 312 The 'diffexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard | |
| 313 "diff" program to compare two files and find the differences. | |
| 314 | |
| 315 When 'diffexpr' is empty, Vim uses this command to find the differences | |
| 316 between file1 and file2: > | |
| 317 | |
| 318 diff file1 file2 > outfile | |
| 319 | |
| 320 The ">" is replaced with the value of 'shellredir'. | |
| 321 | |
| 322 The output of "diff" must be a normal "ed" style diff. Do NOT use a context | |
| 323 diff. This example explains the format that Vim expects: > | |
| 324 | |
| 325 1a2 | |
| 326 > bbb | |
| 327 4d4 | |
| 328 < 111 | |
| 329 7c7 | |
| 330 < GGG | |
| 331 --- | |
| 332 > ggg | |
| 333 | |
| 334 The "1a2" item appends the line "bbb". | |
| 335 The "4d4" item deletes the line "111". | |
| 3750 | 336 The "7c7" item replaces the line "GGG" with "ggg". |
| 7 | 337 |
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338 When 'diffexpr' is not empty, Vim evaluates it to obtain a diff file in the |
| 7 | 339 format mentioned. These variables are set to the file names used: |
| 340 | |
| 341 v:fname_in original file | |
| 342 v:fname_new new version of the same file | |
| 343 v:fname_out resulting diff file | |
| 344 | |
| 345 Additionally, 'diffexpr' should take care of "icase" and "iwhite" in the | |
| 346 'diffopt' option. 'diffexpr' cannot change the value of 'lines' and | |
| 347 'columns'. | |
| 348 | |
| 349 Example (this does almost the same as 'diffexpr' being empty): > | |
| 350 | |
| 351 set diffexpr=MyDiff() | |
| 352 function MyDiff() | |
| 353 let opt = "" | |
| 354 if &diffopt =~ "icase" | |
| 355 let opt = opt . "-i " | |
| 356 endif | |
| 357 if &diffopt =~ "iwhite" | |
| 358 let opt = opt . "-b " | |
| 359 endif | |
| 360 silent execute "!diff -a --binary " . opt . v:fname_in . " " . v:fname_new . | |
| 361 \ " > " . v:fname_out | |
| 362 endfunction | |
| 363 | |
| 364 The "-a" argument is used to force comparing the files as text, comparing as | |
| 365 binaries isn't useful. The "--binary" argument makes the files read in binary | |
| 366 mode, so that a CTRL-Z doesn't end the text on DOS. | |
| 367 | |
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368 *E810* *E97* |
| 7 | 369 Vim will do a test if the diff output looks alright. If it doesn't, you will |
| 370 get an error message. Possible causes: | |
| 371 - The "diff" program cannot be executed. | |
| 372 - The "diff" program doesn't produce normal "ed" style diffs (see above). | |
| 373 - The 'shell' and associated options are not set correctly. Try if filtering | |
| 374 works with a command like ":!sort". | |
| 375 - You are using 'diffexpr' and it doesn't work. | |
| 639 | 376 If it's not clear what the problem is set the 'verbose' option to one or more |
| 377 to see more messages. | |
| 7 | 378 |
| 2642 | 379 The self-installing Vim for MS-Windows includes a diff program. If you don't |
| 380 have it you might want to download a diff.exe. For example from | |
| 2662 | 381 http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/diffutils.htm. |
| 20 | 382 |
| 7 | 383 |
| 384 USING PATCHES *diff-patchexpr* | |
| 385 | |
| 386 The 'patchexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard | |
| 387 "patch" program. | |
| 388 | |
| 389 When 'patchexpr' is empty, Vim will call the "patch" program like this: > | |
| 390 | |
| 391 patch -o outfile origfile < patchfile | |
| 392 | |
| 393 This should work fine with most versions of the "patch" program. Note that a | |
| 394 CR in the middle of a line may cause problems, it is seen as a line break. | |
| 395 | |
| 396 If the default doesn't work for you, set the 'patchexpr' to an expression that | |
| 397 will have the same effect. These variables are set to the file names used: | |
| 398 | |
| 399 v:fname_in original file | |
| 400 v:fname_diff patch file | |
| 401 v:fname_out resulting patched file | |
| 402 | |
| 403 Example (this does the same as 'patchexpr' being empty): > | |
| 404 | |
| 766 | 405 set patchexpr=MyPatch() |
| 406 function MyPatch() | |
| 7 | 407 :call system("patch -o " . v:fname_out . " " . v:fname_in . |
| 408 \ " < " . v:fname_diff) | |
| 409 endfunction | |
| 410 | |
| 411 Make sure that using the "patch" program doesn't have unwanted side effects. | |
| 412 For example, watch out for additionally generated files, which should be | |
| 413 deleted. It should just patch the file and nothing else. | |
| 414 Vim will change directory to "/tmp" or another temp directory before | |
| 415 evaluating 'patchexpr'. This hopefully avoids that files in the current | |
| 416 directory are accidentally patched. Vim will also delete files starting with | |
| 417 v:fname_in and ending in ".rej" and ".orig". | |
| 418 | |
| 419 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |