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1 *diff.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2006 Jan 22
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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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44 What happens is that Vim opens a window for each of the files. This is like
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45 using the |-O| argument. This uses vertical splits. If you prefer horizontal
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46 splits add the |-o| argument: >
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47
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48 vimdiff -o file1 file2 [file3]
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49
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50 In each of the edited files these options are set:
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51
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52 'diff' on
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53 'scrollbind' on
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54 'scrollopt' includes "hor"
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55 'wrap' off
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56 'foldmethod' "diff"
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57 'foldcolumn' 2
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58
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59 These options are set local to the window. When editing another file they are
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60 reset to the global value.
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61
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62 The differences shown are actually the differences in the buffer. Thus if you
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63 make changes after loading a file, these will be included in the displayed
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64 diffs. You might have to do ":diffupdate" now and then, not all changes are
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65 immediately taken into account.
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66
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67 In your .vimrc file you could do something special when Vim was started in
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68 diff mode. You could use a construct like this: >
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69
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70 if &diff
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71 setup for diff mode
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72 else
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73 setup for non-diff mode
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74 endif
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75
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76 While already in Vim you can start diff mode in three ways.
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77
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78 *E98*
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79 :diffsplit {filename} *:diffs* *:diffsplit*
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80 Open a new window on the file {filename}. The options are set
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81 as for "vimdiff" for the current and the newly opened window.
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82 Also see 'diffexpr'.
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83
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84 *:difft* *:diffthis*
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85 :diffthis Make the current window part of the diff windows. This sets
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86 the options like for "vimdiff".
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87
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88 :diffpatch {patchfile} *:diffp* *:diffpatch*
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89 Use the current buffer, patch it with the diff found in
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90 {patchfile} and open a buffer on the result. The options are
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91 set as for "vimdiff".
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92 {patchfile} can be in any format that the "patch" program
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93 understands or 'patchexpr' can handle.
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94 Note that {patchfile} should only contain a diff for one file,
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95 the current file. If {patchfile} contains diffs for other
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96 files as well, the results are unpredictable. Vim changes
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97 directory to /tmp to avoid files in the current directory
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98 accidentally being patched. But it may still result in
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99 various ".rej" files to be created. And when absolute path
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100 names are present these files may get patched anyway.
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101
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102 To make these commands use a vertical split, prepend |:vertical|. Examples: >
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103
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104 :vert diffsplit main.c~
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105 :vert diffpatch /tmp/diff
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106 <
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107 *E96*
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108 There can be up to four buffers with 'diff' set.
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109
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110 Since the option values are remembered with the buffer, you can edit another
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111 file for a moment and come back to the same file and be in diff mode again.
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112
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113 *:diffo* *:diffoff*
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114 :diffoff Switch off diff mode for the current window.
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115
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116 :diffoff! Switch off diff mode for all windows.
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117
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118 The ":diffoff" command resets the relevant options to their default value.
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119 This may be different from what the values were before diff mode was started,
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120 the old values are not remembered.
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121
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122 'diff' off
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123 'scrollbind' off
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124 'scrollopt' without "hor"
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125 'wrap' on
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126 'foldmethod' "manual"
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127 'foldcolumn' 0
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128
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129 ==============================================================================
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130 2. Viewing diffs *view-diffs*
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131
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132 The effect is that the diff windows show the same text, with the differences
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133 highlighted. When scrolling the text, the 'scrollbind' option will make the
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134 text in other windows to be scrolled as well. With vertical splits the text
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135 should be aligned properly.
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136
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137 The alignment of text will go wrong when:
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138 - 'wrap' is on, some lines will be wrapped and occupy two or more screen
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139 lines
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140 - folds are open in one window but not another
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141 - 'scrollbind' is off
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142 - changes have been made to the text
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143 - "filler" is not present in 'diffopt', deleted/inserted lines makes the
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144 alignment go wrong
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145
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146 All the buffers edited in a window where the 'diff' option is set will join in
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147 the diff. This is also possible for hidden buffers. They must have been
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148 edited in a window first for this to be possible.
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149
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150 Since 'diff' is a window-local option, it's possible to view the same buffer
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151 in diff mode in one window and "normal" in another window. It is also
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152 possible to view the changes you have made to a buffer, but since Vim doesn't
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153 allow having two buffers for the same file, you need to make a copy of the
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154 original file and diff with that. For example: >
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155 :!cp % tempfile
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156 :diffsplit tempfile
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157
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158 A buffer that is unloaded cannot be used for the diff. But it does work for
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159 hidden buffers. You can use ":hide" to close a window without unloading the
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195
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160 buffer. If you don't want a buffer to remain used for the diff do ":set
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161 nodiff" before hiding it.
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162
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163 *:diffu* *:diffupdate*
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270
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164 :diffu[pdate] Update the diff highlighting and folds.
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165
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166 Vim attempts to keep the differences updated when you make changes to the
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167 text. This mostly takes care of inserted and deleted lines. Changes within a
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168 line and more complicated changes do not cause the differences to be updated.
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169 To force the differences to be updated use: >
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170
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171 :diffupdate
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172
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173
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174 Vim will show filler lines for lines that are missing in one window but are
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175 present in another. These lines were inserted in another file or deleted in
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176 this file. Removing "filler" from the 'diffopt' option will make Vim not
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177 display these filler lines.
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178
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179
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180 Folds are used to hide the text that wasn't changed. See |folding| for all
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181 the commands that can be used with folds.
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182
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183 The context of lines above a difference that are not included in the fold can
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184 be set with the 'diffopt' option. For example, to set the context to three
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185 lines: >
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186
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187 :set diffopt=filler,context:3
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188
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189
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190 The diffs are highlighted with these groups:
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191
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192 |hl-DiffAdd| DiffAdd Added (inserted) lines. These lines exist in
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193 this buffer but not in another.
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194 |hl-DiffChange| DiffChange Changed lines.
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195 |hl-DiffText| DiffText Changed text inside a Changed line. Vim
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196 finds the first character that is different,
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197 and the last character that is different
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198 (searching from the end of the line). The
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199 text in between is highlighted. This means
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200 that parts in the middle that are still the
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201 same are highlighted anyway.
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202 |hl-DiffDelete| DiffDelete Deleted lines. Also called filler lines,
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203 because they don't really exist in this
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204 buffer.
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205
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206 ==============================================================================
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207 3. Jumping to diffs *jumpto-diffs*
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208
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209 Two commands can be used to jump to diffs:
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210 *[c*
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211 [c Jump backwards to the previous start of a change.
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212 When a count is used, do it that many times.
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213 *]c*
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214 ]c Jump forwards to the next start of a change.
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215 When a count is used, do it that many times.
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216
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217 It is an error if there is no change for the cursor to move to.
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218
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219 ==============================================================================
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220 4. Diff copying *copy-diffs* *E99* *E100* *E101* *E102* *E103*
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221 *merge*
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222 There are two commands to copy text from one buffer to another. The result is
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223 that the buffers will be equal within the specified range.
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224
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225 *:diffg* *:diffget*
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226 :[range]diffg[et] [bufspec]
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227 Modify the current buffer to undo difference with another
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228 buffer. If [bufspec] is given, that buffer is used.
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229 Otherwise this only works if there is one other buffer in diff
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230 mode.
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231 See below for [range].
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232
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233 *:diffpu* *:diffput*
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234 :[range]diffpu[t] [bufspec]
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235 Modify another buffer to undo difference with the current
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236 buffer. Just like ":diffget" but the other buffer is modified
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237 instead of the current one.
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532
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238 When [bufspec] is omitted and there is more than one other
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239 buffer in diff mode where 'modifiable' is set this fails.
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240 See below for [range].
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241
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242 *do*
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243 do Same as ":diffget" without argument or range. The "o" stands
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244 for "obtain" ("dg" can't be used, it could be the start of
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245 "dgg"!).
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246
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247 *dp*
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248 dp Same as ":diffput" without argument or range.
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249
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250 When no [range] is given, the diff at the cursor position or just above it is
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251 affected. When [range] is used, Vim tries to only put or get the specified
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252 lines. When there are deleted lines, this may not always be possible.
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253
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254 There can be deleted lines below the last line of the buffer. When the cursor
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255 is on the last line in the buffer and there is no diff above this line, the
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256 ":diffget" and "do" commands will obtain lines from the other buffer.
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257
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258 To be able to get those lines from another buffer in a [range] it's allowed to
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259 use the last line number plus one. This command gets all diffs from the other
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260 buffer: >
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261
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262 :1,$+1diffget
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263
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264 Note that deleted lines are displayed, but not counted as text lines. You
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265 can't move the cursor into them. To fill the deleted lines with the lines
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266 from another buffer use ":diffget" on the line below them.
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267
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268 The [bufspec] argument above can be a buffer number, a pattern for a buffer
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269 name or a part of a buffer name. Examples:
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270
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271 :diffget Use the other buffer which is in diff mode
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272 :diffget 3 Use buffer 3
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273 :diffget v2 Use the buffer which matches "v2" and is in
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274 diff mode (e.g., "file.c.v2")
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275
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276 ==============================================================================
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277 5. Diff options *diff-options*
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278
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279 Also see |'diffopt'| and the "diff" item of |'fillchars'|.
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280
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281
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282 FINDING THE DIFFERENCES *diff-diffexpr*
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283
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284 The 'diffexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard
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285 "diff" program to compare two files and find the differences.
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286
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287 When 'diffexpr' is empty, Vim uses this command to find the differences
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288 between file1 and file2: >
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289
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290 diff file1 file2 > outfile
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291
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292 The ">" is replaced with the value of 'shellredir'.
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293
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294 The output of "diff" must be a normal "ed" style diff. Do NOT use a context
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295 diff. This example explains the format that Vim expects: >
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296
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297 1a2
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298 > bbb
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299 4d4
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300 < 111
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301 7c7
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302 < GGG
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303 ---
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304 > ggg
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305
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306 The "1a2" item appends the line "bbb".
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307 The "4d4" item deletes the line "111".
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308 The '7c7" item replaces the line "GGG" with "ggg".
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309
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310 When 'diffexpr' is not empty, Vim evaluates to obtain a diff file in the
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311 format mentioned. These variables are set to the file names used:
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312
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313 v:fname_in original file
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314 v:fname_new new version of the same file
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315 v:fname_out resulting diff file
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316
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317 Additionally, 'diffexpr' should take care of "icase" and "iwhite" in the
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318 'diffopt' option. 'diffexpr' cannot change the value of 'lines' and
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319 'columns'.
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320
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321 Example (this does almost the same as 'diffexpr' being empty): >
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322
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323 set diffexpr=MyDiff()
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324 function MyDiff()
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325 let opt = ""
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326 if &diffopt =~ "icase"
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327 let opt = opt . "-i "
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328 endif
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329 if &diffopt =~ "iwhite"
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330 let opt = opt . "-b "
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331 endif
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332 silent execute "!diff -a --binary " . opt . v:fname_in . " " . v:fname_new .
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333 \ " > " . v:fname_out
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334 endfunction
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335
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336 The "-a" argument is used to force comparing the files as text, comparing as
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337 binaries isn't useful. The "--binary" argument makes the files read in binary
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338 mode, so that a CTRL-Z doesn't end the text on DOS.
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339
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340 *E97*
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341 Vim will do a test if the diff output looks alright. If it doesn't, you will
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342 get an error message. Possible causes:
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343 - The "diff" program cannot be executed.
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344 - The "diff" program doesn't produce normal "ed" style diffs (see above).
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345 - The 'shell' and associated options are not set correctly. Try if filtering
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346 works with a command like ":!sort".
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347 - You are using 'diffexpr' and it doesn't work.
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639
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348 If it's not clear what the problem is set the 'verbose' option to one or more
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349 to see more messages.
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350
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351 The self-installing Vim includes a diff program. If you don't have it you
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352 might want to download a diff.exe. For example from
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353 http://jlb.twu.net/code/unixkit.php.
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354
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7
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355
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356 USING PATCHES *diff-patchexpr*
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357
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358 The 'patchexpr' option can be set to use something else than the standard
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359 "patch" program.
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360
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361 When 'patchexpr' is empty, Vim will call the "patch" program like this: >
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362
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363 patch -o outfile origfile < patchfile
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364
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365 This should work fine with most versions of the "patch" program. Note that a
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366 CR in the middle of a line may cause problems, it is seen as a line break.
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367
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368 If the default doesn't work for you, set the 'patchexpr' to an expression that
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369 will have the same effect. These variables are set to the file names used:
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370
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371 v:fname_in original file
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372 v:fname_diff patch file
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373 v:fname_out resulting patched file
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374
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375 Example (this does the same as 'patchexpr' being empty): >
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376
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377 let patchexpr=MyPatch
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378 function MyPatch
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379 :call system("patch -o " . v:fname_out . " " . v:fname_in .
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380 \ " < " . v:fname_diff)
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381 endfunction
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382
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383 Make sure that using the "patch" program doesn't have unwanted side effects.
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384 For example, watch out for additionally generated files, which should be
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385 deleted. It should just patch the file and nothing else.
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386 Vim will change directory to "/tmp" or another temp directory before
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387 evaluating 'patchexpr'. This hopefully avoids that files in the current
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388 directory are accidentally patched. Vim will also delete files starting with
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389 v:fname_in and ending in ".rej" and ".orig".
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390
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391 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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