/usr/share/doc/diffutils-doc/Invoking-sdiff.html

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<title>Comparing and Merging Files: Invoking sdiff</title>

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<a name="Invoking-sdiff"></a>
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</div>
<a name="Invoking-sdiff-1"></a>
<h2 class="chapter">16 Invoking <code>sdiff</code></h2>
<a name="index-invoking-sdiff"></a>
<a name="index-sdiff-invocation"></a>

<p>The <code>sdiff</code> command merges two files and interactively outputs the
results.  Its arguments are as follows:
</p>
<div class="example">
<pre class="example">sdiff -o <var>outfile</var> <var>options</var>&hellip; <var>from-file</var> <var>to-file</var>
</pre></div>

<p>This merges <var>from-file</var> with <var>to-file</var>, with output to <var>outfile</var>.
If <var>from-file</var> is a directory and <var>to-file</var> is not, <code>sdiff</code>
compares the file in <var>from-file</var> whose file name is that of <var>to-file</var>,
and vice versa.  <var>from-file</var> and <var>to-file</var> may not both be
directories.
</p>
<p><code>sdiff</code> options begin with &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, so normally <var>from-file</var>
and <var>to-file</var> may not begin with &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;.  However, <samp>--</samp> as an
argument by itself treats the remaining arguments as file names even if
they begin with &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;.  You may not use <samp>-</samp> as an input file.
</p>
<p><code>sdiff</code> without <samp>--output</samp> (<samp>-o</samp>) produces a
side-by-side difference.  This usage is obsolete; use the
<samp>--side-by-side</samp> (<samp>-y</samp>) option of <code>diff</code> instead.
</p>
<p>An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some
differences were found, and 2 means trouble.
</p>
<table class="menu" border="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">&bull; <a href="#sdiff-Options" accesskey="1">sdiff Options</a>:</td><td>&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="left" valign="top">Summary of options to <code>diff</code>.
</td></tr>
</table>

<hr>
<a name="sdiff-Options"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Up: <a href="#Invoking-sdiff" accesskey="u" rel="up">Invoking sdiff</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Index.html#Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<a name="Options-to-sdiff"></a>
<h3 class="section">16.1 Options to <code>sdiff</code></h3>
<a name="index-sdiff-options"></a>
<a name="index-options-for-sdiff"></a>

<p>Below is a summary of all of the options that <acronym>GNU</acronym>
<code>sdiff</code> accepts.  Each option has two equivalent names, one of
which is a single letter preceded by &lsquo;<samp>-</samp>&rsquo;, and the other of which
is a long name preceded by &lsquo;<samp>--</samp>&rsquo;.  Multiple single letter options
(unless they take an argument) can be combined into a single command
line argument.  Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique
prefix of their name.
</p>
<dl compact="compact">
<dt><samp>-a</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--text</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they
do not appear to be text.  See <a href="Comparison.html#Binary">Binary</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-b</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-space-change</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore changes in amount of white space.  See <a href="Comparison.html#White-Space">White Space</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-B</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-blank-lines</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.  See <a href="Comparison.html#Blank-Lines">Blank Lines</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-d</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--minimal</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes.  This
makes <code>sdiff</code> slower (sometimes much slower).  See <a href="diff-Performance.html#diff-Performance">diff Performance</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>--diff-program=<var>program</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Use the compatible comparison program <var>program</var> to compare files
instead of <code>diff</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-E</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-tab-expansion</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore changes due to tab expansion.
See <a href="Comparison.html#White-Space">White Space</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>--help</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Output a summary of usage and then exit.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-i</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-case</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.
See <a href="Comparison.html#Case-Folding">Case Folding</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-I <var>regexp</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-matching-lines=<var>regexp</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match <var>regexp</var>.
See <a href="Comparison.html#Specified-Lines">Specified Lines</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-l</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--left-column</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Print only the left column of two common lines.
See <a href="Output-Formats.html#Side-by-Side-Format">Side by Side Format</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-o <var>file</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--output=<var>file</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Put merged output into <var>file</var>.  This option is required for merging.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-s</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--suppress-common-lines</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Do not print common lines.  See <a href="Output-Formats.html#Side-by-Side-Format">Side by Side Format</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>--speed-large-files</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous
scattered small changes.  See <a href="diff-Performance.html#diff-Performance">diff Performance</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>--strip-trailing-cr</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Strip any trailing carriage return at the end of an input line.
See <a href="Comparison.html#Binary">Binary</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-t</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--expand-tabs</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs
in the input files.  See <a href="Adjusting-Output.html#Tabs">Tabs</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>--tabsize=<var>columns</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Assume that tab stops are set every <var>columns</var> (default 8) print
columns.  See <a href="Adjusting-Output.html#Tabs">Tabs</a>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-v</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--version</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Output version information and then exit.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-w <var>columns</var></samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--width=<var>columns</var></samp></dt>
<dd><p>Output at most <var>columns</var> (default 130) print columns per line.
See <a href="Output-Formats.html#Side-by-Side-Format">Side by Side Format</a>.  Note that for historical reasons, this
option is <samp>-W</samp> in <code>diff</code>, <samp>-w</samp> in <code>sdiff</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-W</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-all-space</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore white space when comparing lines.  See <a href="Comparison.html#White-Space">White Space</a>.
Note that for historical reasons, this option is <samp>-w</samp> in <code>diff</code>,
<samp>-W</samp> in <code>sdiff</code>.
</p>
</dd>
<dt><samp>-Z</samp></dt>
<dt><samp>--ignore-trailing-space</samp></dt>
<dd><p>Ignore white space at line end.  See <a href="Comparison.html#White-Space">White Space</a>.
</p></dd>
</dl>

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