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1 *diff.txt* For Vim version 7.0c. Last change: 2006 Apr 04
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4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
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6
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7 *diff* *vimdiff* *gvimdiff* *diff-mode*
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8 This file describes the +diff feature: Showing differences between two or
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9 three versions of the same file.
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10
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11 The basics are explained in section |08.7| of the user manual.
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12
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13 1. Starting diff mode |vimdiff|
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14 2. Viewing diffs |view-diffs|
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15 3. Jumping to diffs |jumpto-diffs|
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16 4. Copying diffs |copy-diffs|
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17 5. Diff options |diff-options|
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18
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19 {not in Vi}
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20
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21 ==============================================================================
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22 1. Starting diff mode
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23
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24 The easiest way to start editing in diff mode is with the "vimdiff" command.
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25 This starts Vim as usual, and additionally sets up for viewing the differences
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26 between the arguments. >
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27
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28 vimdiff file1 file2 [file3 [file4]]
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29
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30 This is equivalent to: >
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31
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32 vim -d file1 file2 [file3 [file4]]
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33
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34 You may also use "gvimdiff" or "vim -d -g". The GUI is started then.
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35 You may also use "viewdiff" or "gviewdiff". Vim starts in readonly mode then.
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36 "r" may be prepended for restricted mode (see |-Z|).
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37
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38 The second and following arguments may also be a directory name. Vim will
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39 then append the file name of the first argument to the directory name to find
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40 the file.
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41
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42 This only works when a standard "diff" command is available. See 'diffexpr'.
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43
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674
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44 Diffs are local to the current tab page |tab-page|. You can't see diffs with
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45 a window in another tab page. This does make it possible to have several
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46 diffs at the same time, each in their own tab page.
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47
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48 What happens is that Vim opens a window for each of the files. This is like
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49 using the |-O| argument. This uses vertical splits. If you prefer horizontal
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50 splits add the |-o| argument: >
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51
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52 vimdiff -o file1 file2 [file3]
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53
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54 If you always prefer horizontal splits include "horizontal" in 'diffopt'.
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55
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56 In each of the edited files these options are set:
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57
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58 'diff' on
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59 'scrollbind' on
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60 'scrollopt' includes "hor"
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61 'wrap' off
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62 'foldmethod' "diff"
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63 'foldcolumn' value from 'diffopt', default is 2
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64
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65 These options are set local to the window. When editing another file they are
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66 reset to the global value.
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67
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68 The differences shown are actually the differences in the buffer. Thus if you
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69 make changes after loading a file, these will be included in the displayed
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70 diffs. You might have to do ":diffupdate" now and then, not all changes are
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71 immediately taken into account.
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72
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73 In your .vimrc file you could do something special when Vim was started in
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74 diff mode. You could use a construct like this: >
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75
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76 if &diff
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77 setup for diff mode
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78 else
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79 setup for non-diff mode
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80 endif
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81
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82 While already in Vim you can start diff mode in three ways.
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83
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84 *E98*
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85 :diffsplit {filename} *:diffs* *:diffsplit*
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86 Open a new window on the file {filename}. The options are set
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87 as for "vimdiff" for the current and the newly opened window.
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88 Also see 'diffexpr'.
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89
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90 *:difft* *:diffthis*
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91 :diffthis Make the current window part of the diff windows. This sets
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92 the options like for "vimdiff".
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93
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94 :diffpatch {patchfile} *:diffp* *:diffpatch*
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95 Use the current buffer, patch it with the diff found in
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96 {patchfile} and open a buffer on the result. The options are
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97 set as for "vimdiff".
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98 {patchfile} can be in any format that the "patch" program
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99 understands or 'patchexpr' can handle.
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100 Note that {patchfile} should only contain a diff for one file,
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101 the current file. If {patchfile} contains diffs for other
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102 files as well, the results are unpredictable. Vim changes
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103 directory to /tmp to avoid files in the current directory
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104 accidentally being patched. But it may still result in
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105 various ".rej" files to be created. And when absolute path
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106 names are present these files may get patched anyway.
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107
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108 To make these commands use a vertical split, prepend |:vertical|. Examples: >
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109
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110 :vert diffsplit main.c~
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111 :vert diffpatch /tmp/diff
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112
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113 If you always prefer a vertical split include "vertical" in 'diffopt'.
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114
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115 *E96*
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116 There can be up to four buffers with 'diff' set.
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117
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118 Since the option values are remembered with the buffer, you can edit another
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119 file for a moment and come back to the same file and be in diff mode again.
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120
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121 *:diffo* *:diffoff*
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122 :diffoff Switch off diff mode for the current window.
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123
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124 :diffoff! Switch off diff mode for all windows in the current tab page.
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125
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126 The ":diffoff" command resets the relevant options to their default value.
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127 This may be different from what the values were before diff mode was started,
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128 the old values are not remembered.
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129
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130 'diff' off
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131 'scrollbind' off
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132 'scrollopt' without "hor"
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133 'wrap' on
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134 'foldmethod' "manual"
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135 'foldcolumn' 0
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136
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137 ==============================================================================
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138 2. Viewing diffs *view-diffs*
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139
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140 The effect is that the diff windows show the same text, with the differences
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141 highlighted. When scrolling the text, the 'scrollbind' option will make the
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142 text in other windows to be scrolled as well. With vertical splits the text
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143 should be aligned properly.
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144
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145 The alignment of text will go wrong when:
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146 - 'wrap' is on, some lines will be wrapped and occupy two or more screen
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147 lines
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148 - folds are open in one window but not another
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149 - 'scrollbind' is off
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150 - changes have been made to the text
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151 - "filler" is not present in 'diffopt', deleted/inserted lines makes the
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152 alignment go wrong
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153
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154 All the buffers edited in a window where the 'diff' option is set will join in
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155 the diff. This is also possible for hidden buffers. They must have been
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156 edited in a window first for this to be possible.
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157
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158 Since 'diff' is a window-local option, it's possible to view the same buffer
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159 in diff mode in one window and "normal" in another window. It is also
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160 possible to view the changes you have made to a buffer, but since Vim doesn't
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161 allow having two buffers for the same file, you need to make a copy of the
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162 original file and diff with that. For example: >
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163 :!cp % tempfile
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164 :diffsplit tempfile
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165
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166 A buffer that is unloaded cannot be used for the diff. But it does work for
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167 hidden buffers. You can use ":hide" to close a window without unloading the
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195
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168 buffer. If you don't want a buffer to remain used for the diff do ":set
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169 nodiff" before hiding it.
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170
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171 *:diffu* *:diffupdate*
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270
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172 :diffu[pdate] Update the diff highlighting and folds.
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173
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174 Vim attempts to keep the differences updated when you make changes to the
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175 text. This mostly takes care of inserted and deleted lines. Changes within a
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176 line and more complicated changes do not cause the differences to be updated.
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177 To force the differences to be updated use: >
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178
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179 :diffupdate
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180
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181
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182 Vim will show filler lines for lines that are missing in one window but are
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183 present in another. These lines were inserted in another file or deleted in
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184 this file. Removing "filler" from the 'diffopt' option will make Vim not
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185 display these filler lines.
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186
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187
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188 Folds are used to hide the text that wasn't changed. See |folding| for all
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189 the commands that can be used with folds.
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190
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191 The context of lines above a difference that are not included in the fold can
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192 be set with the 'diffopt' option. For example, to set the context to three
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193 lines: >
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194
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195 :set diffopt=filler,context:3
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196
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197
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198 The diffs are highlighted with these groups:
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199
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200 |hl-DiffAdd| DiffAdd Added (inserted) lines. These lines exist in
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201 this buffer but not in another.
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202 |hl-DiffChange| DiffChange Changed lines.
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203 |hl-DiffText| DiffText Changed text inside a Changed line. Vim
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204 finds the first character that is different,
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205 and the last character that is different
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206 (searching from the end of the line). The
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207 text in between is highlighted. This means
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208 that parts in the middle that are still the
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209 same are highlighted anyway.
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210 |hl-DiffDelete| DiffDelete Deleted lines. Also called filler lines,
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211 because they don't really exist in this
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212 buffer.
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213
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214 ==============================================================================
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215 3. Jumping to diffs *jumpto-diffs*
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216
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217 Two commands can be used to jump to diffs:
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218 *[c*
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219 [c Jump backwards to the previous start of a change.
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220 When a count is used, do it that many times.
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221 *]c*
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222 ]c Jump forwards to the next start of a change.
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223 When a count is used, do it that many times.
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224
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225 It is an error if there is no change for the cursor to move to.
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226
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227 ==============================================================================
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228 4. Diff copying *copy-diffs* *E99* *E100* *E101* *E102* *E103*
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229 *merge*
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230 There are two commands to copy text from one buffer to another. The result is
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231 that the buffers will be equal within the specified range.
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232
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233 *:diffg* *:diffget*
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234 :[range]diffg[et] [bufspec]
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235 Modify the current buffer to undo difference with another
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236 buffer. If [bufspec] is given, that buffer is used.
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237 Otherwise this only works if there is one other buffer in diff
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238 mode.
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239 See below for [range].
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240
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241 *:diffpu* *:diffput*
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242 :[range]diffpu[t] [bufspec]
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243 Modify another buffer to undo difference with the current
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244 buffer. Just like ":diffget" but the other buffer is modified
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245 instead of the current one.
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246 When [bufspec] is omitted and there is more than one other
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247 buffer in diff mode where 'modifiable' is set this fails.
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248 See below for [range].
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249
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250 *do*
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251 do Same as ":diffget" without argument or range. The "o" stands
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252 for "obtain" ("dg" can't be used, it could be the start of
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253 "dgg"!).
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254
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255 *dp*
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256 dp Same as ":diffput" without argument or range.
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257
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258 When no [range] is given, the diff at the cursor position or just above it is
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259 affected. When [range] is used, Vim tries to only put or get the specified
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260 lines. When there are deleted lines, this may not always be possible.
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261
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262 There can be deleted lines below the last line of the buffer. When the cursor
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263 is on the last line in the buffer and there is no diff above this line, the
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264 ":diffget" and "do" commands will obtain lines from the other buffer.
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265
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266 To be able to get those lines from another buffer in a [range] it's allowed to
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267 use the last line number plus one. This command gets all diffs from the other
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268 buffer: >
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269
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270 :1,$+1diffget
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271
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272 Note that deleted lines are displayed, but not counted as text lines. You
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273 can't move the cursor into them. To fill the deleted lines with the lines
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274 from another buffer use ":diffget" on the line below them.
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275 *E787*
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276 When the buffer that is about to be modified is read-only and the autocommand
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277 that is triggered by |FileChangedRO| changes buffers the command will fail.
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278 The autocommand must not change buffers.
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279
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280 The [bufspec] argument above can be a buffer number, a pattern for a buffer
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281 name or a part of a buffer name. Examples:
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282
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283 :diffget Use the other buffer which is in diff mode
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284 :diffget 3 Use buffer 3
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285 :diffget v2 Use the buffer which matches "v2" and is in
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286 diff mode (e.g., "file.c.v2")
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287
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288 ==============================================================================
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289 5. Diff options *diff-options*
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290
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291 Also see |'diffopt'| and the "diff" item of |'fillchars'|.
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292
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293
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294 FINDING THE DIFFERENCES *diff-diffexpr*
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295
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296 The 'diffexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard
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297 "diff" program to compare two files and find the differences.
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298
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299 When 'diffexpr' is empty, Vim uses this command to find the differences
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300 between file1 and file2: >
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301
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302 diff file1 file2 > outfile
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303
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304 The ">" is replaced with the value of 'shellredir'.
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305
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306 The output of "diff" must be a normal "ed" style diff. Do NOT use a context
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307 diff. This example explains the format that Vim expects: >
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308
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309 1a2
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310 > bbb
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311 4d4
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312 < 111
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313 7c7
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314 < GGG
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315 ---
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316 > ggg
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317
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318 The "1a2" item appends the line "bbb".
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319 The "4d4" item deletes the line "111".
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320 The '7c7" item replaces the line "GGG" with "ggg".
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321
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322 When 'diffexpr' is not empty, Vim evaluates to obtain a diff file in the
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323 format mentioned. These variables are set to the file names used:
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324
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325 v:fname_in original file
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326 v:fname_new new version of the same file
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327 v:fname_out resulting diff file
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328
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329 Additionally, 'diffexpr' should take care of "icase" and "iwhite" in the
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330 'diffopt' option. 'diffexpr' cannot change the value of 'lines' and
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331 'columns'.
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332
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333 Example (this does almost the same as 'diffexpr' being empty): >
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334
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335 set diffexpr=MyDiff()
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336 function MyDiff()
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337 let opt = ""
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338 if &diffopt =~ "icase"
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339 let opt = opt . "-i "
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340 endif
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341 if &diffopt =~ "iwhite"
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342 let opt = opt . "-b "
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343 endif
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344 silent execute "!diff -a --binary " . opt . v:fname_in . " " . v:fname_new .
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345 \ " > " . v:fname_out
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346 endfunction
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347
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348 The "-a" argument is used to force comparing the files as text, comparing as
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349 binaries isn't useful. The "--binary" argument makes the files read in binary
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350 mode, so that a CTRL-Z doesn't end the text on DOS.
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351
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352 *E97*
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353 Vim will do a test if the diff output looks alright. If it doesn't, you will
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354 get an error message. Possible causes:
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355 - The "diff" program cannot be executed.
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356 - The "diff" program doesn't produce normal "ed" style diffs (see above).
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357 - The 'shell' and associated options are not set correctly. Try if filtering
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358 works with a command like ":!sort".
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359 - You are using 'diffexpr' and it doesn't work.
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639
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360 If it's not clear what the problem is set the 'verbose' option to one or more
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361 to see more messages.
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7
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362
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20
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363 The self-installing Vim includes a diff program. If you don't have it you
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364 might want to download a diff.exe. For example from
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365 http://jlb.twu.net/code/unixkit.php.
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366
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7
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367
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368 USING PATCHES *diff-patchexpr*
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369
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370 The 'patchexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard
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371 "patch" program.
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372
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373 When 'patchexpr' is empty, Vim will call the "patch" program like this: >
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374
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375 patch -o outfile origfile < patchfile
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376
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377 This should work fine with most versions of the "patch" program. Note that a
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378 CR in the middle of a line may cause problems, it is seen as a line break.
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379
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380 If the default doesn't work for you, set the 'patchexpr' to an expression that
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381 will have the same effect. These variables are set to the file names used:
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382
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383 v:fname_in original file
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384 v:fname_diff patch file
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385 v:fname_out resulting patched file
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386
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387 Example (this does the same as 'patchexpr' being empty): >
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388
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766
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389 set patchexpr=MyPatch()
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390 function MyPatch()
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391 :call system("patch -o " . v:fname_out . " " . v:fname_in .
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392 \ " < " . v:fname_diff)
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393 endfunction
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394
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395 Make sure that using the "patch" program doesn't have unwanted side effects.
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396 For example, watch out for additionally generated files, which should be
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397 deleted. It should just patch the file and nothing else.
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398 Vim will change directory to "/tmp" or another temp directory before
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399 evaluating 'patchexpr'. This hopefully avoids that files in the current
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400 directory are accidentally patched. Vim will also delete files starting with
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401 v:fname_in and ending in ".rej" and ".orig".
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402
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403 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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