diffuse - Man Page

If a help option is specified, it must be the only argument specified on the command line. Diffuse will immediately quit after displaying the help information.

-h,  -?,  --help

Display usage information.

-v,  --version

Display version number and copyright information.

If a configuration option is specified, it must be the first argument specified on the command line.

--no-rcfile

Do not read any initialisation files.

--rcfile file

Only read initialisation commands from file file.

-c,  --commit rev

Open separate file comparison tabs for all files affected by commit rev from the remaining paths specified in the command line arguments.

-D,  --close-if-same

Close all tabs with no differences.

-e,  --encoding codec

Use codec to read and write files.

-L,  --label label

Display label instead of the file name.

-m,  --modified

Open separate file comparison tabs for all modified files from the remaining paths specified in the command line arguments.

-r,  --revision rev

Include revision rev of the next file named in the command line arguments in a file comparison tab.

-s,  --separate

Open all remaining files specified in the command line arguments in separate file comparison tabs.

-t,  --tab

Start a new tab for any remaining files named in the command line arguments.

-V,  --vcs vcs-list

Search for version control systems in the ordering: vcs-list.

--line line

Start with line line selected.

--null-file

Create a blank file comparison pane.

Display options specified in the command line arguments will override saved preference values.

-b,  --ignore-space-change

Ignore changes to the amount of white space.

-B,  --ignore-blank-lines

Ignore changes whose lines are all blank.

-E,  --ignore-end-of-line

Ignore end of line differences.

-i,  --ignore-case

Ignore case differences in file contents.

-w,  --ignore-all-space

Ignore all white space.

A summary of the compared files is located in the far right margin. The summary illustrates where gaps have been inserted to align matching lines of text and highlights differences using colour. Manual edits are also highlighted in green. A blue cursor identifies the region currently being viewed. The viewed region can be changed by clicking anywhere on the summary.

Lines of text can be selected using the mouse pointer or keyboard. Select lines of text with the mouse pointer by clicking on a line. Click and drag to select multiple lines. Holding down the shift key when clicking will extend the current selection. Select lines using the keyboard by pressing the page up/down or arrow keys. Extend the current selection by holding down the shift key and pressing the page up/down or arrow keys. Move the selection to an adjacent file using the left and right arrow keys.

The mouse pointer or keyboard can be used to manually align lines of text with adjacent files. To aligning lines of text using the mouse pointer, select a line of text with the left mouse button, right click on a line of text from an adjacent file, and choose Align with Selection. To align lines of text using the keyboard, move the selection with the cursor keys, press the space bar to pick the current line of text, move the selection with the cursor keys to a line of text in an adjacent file, and press the space bar to pick the target line of text. Pressing the Escape key will cancel the operation.

Use the Isolate menu item to prevent the selected lines from being matched with any lines from the adjacent files.

Press the Enter key or double-click on a text area to enter text editing mode. The cursor will change to indicate text editing mode and the status bar at the bottom of the window will display the cursor's column position.

In text editing mode, text can be selected with the mouse pointer by click and dragging. The current selection can be extended by holding down the shift key and moving the cursor by clicking with the mouse pointer or pressing any of the arrow, home, end or page up/down keys. Individual words can be selected by double-clicking on them with the mouse pointer. Whole lines can be selected by triple-clicking on them with the mouse pointer.

Modify text by typing on the keyword. Modified lines will be highlighted in green. Use the Undo and Redo menu items to undo and redo the previously preformed operations.

Press the Escape key or click on another file's text area using the left mouse button to leave editing mode.

Use the difference buttons or menu items to navigate between blocks of differences within a file. When navigating, Diffuse will move the selection to the next continuous set of lines with differences or edits.

Use the merge buttons or menu items to copy blocks of text into the selected range of lines. The Undo and Redo menu items can be used to undo and redo the previously preformed operations. All changes to a set of lines can be reverted using the Clear Edits menu item regardless of the order the edits were performed.

The -m option will cause Diffuse to open comparison tabs for each file the version control system indicates has uncommitted modifications. This is convenient for reviewing all changes before committing or resolving a merge conflict. If no paths are specified the current working directory will be used. For example, view all of your uncommitted modifications with this command line:

$ diffuse -m

The default revision of a file will be used for comparison if only one file is specified. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between the default revision of foo.C and the local foo.C file:

$ diffuse foo.C

The -r option may also be used to explicitly specify a particular file revision. Any revision specifier understood by the version control system may be used. The local file will be used for comparison if only one file revision is specified. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 123 of foo.C and the local foo.C file:

$ diffuse -r 123 foo.C

Multiple file revisions can be compared by specifying multiple -r options. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 123 of foo.C and revision 321 of foo.C:

$ diffuse -r 123 -r 321 foo.C

Local files can be mixed with files from the version control system. For example, this will display a 3-way merge between revision MERGE_HEAD of foo.C, the local foo.C file, and revision HEAD of foo.C:

$ diffuse -r MERGE_HEAD foo.C foo.C -r HEAD foo.C

For the -c option may be used to easily specify a pair of sequential revisions. For example, this will display a 2-way merge between revision 1.2.2 of foo.C and revision 1.2.3 of foo.C:

$ diffuse -c 1.2.3 foo.C

Diffuse does not limit the number of panes that can be used for comparing files. The inputs to a Git octopus merge could be viewed with a command line like this:

$ diffuse -r HEAD^1 -r HEAD^2 -r HEAD^3 -r HEAD^4 -r HEAD^5 foo.C

import file

keybinding context action key_combination

Binds a key combination to action when used in context. Specify Shift and Control modifiers by prepending Shift+ and Ctrl+ to key_combination respectively. Keys normally modified by the Shift key should be specified using their modified value if key_combination involves the Shift key. For example, Ctrl+g and Shift+Ctrl+G. Remove bindings for key_combination by specifying None for the action.

Menu Item Key Bindings

Use menu for the context to define key bindings for menu items. The following values are valid for action:

open_file

File → Open File... menu item

Default: Ctrl+o

open_file_in_new_tab

File → Open File In New Tab... menu item

Default: Ctrl+t

open_modified_files

File → Open Modified Files... menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+O

open_commit

File → Open Commit... menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+T

reload_file

File → Reload File menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+R

save_file

File → Save File menu item

Default: Ctrl+s

save_file_as

File → Save File As... menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+A

save_all

File → Save All menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+S

new_2_way_file_merge

File → New 2-Way File Merge menu item

Default: Ctrl+2

new_3_way_file_merge

File → New 3-Way File Merge menu item

Default: Ctrl+3

new_n_way_file_merge

File → New N-Way File Merge menu item

Default: Ctrl+4

close_tab

File → Close Tab menu item

Default: Ctrl+w

undo_close_tab

File → Undo Close Tab menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+w

quit

File → Quit menu item

Default: Ctrl+q

undo

Edit → Undo menu item

Default: Ctrl+z

redo

Edit → Redo menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Z

cut

Edit → Cut menu item

Default: Ctrl+x

copy

Edit → Copy menu item

Default: Ctrl+c

paste

Edit → Paste menu item

Default: Ctrl+v

select_all

Edit → Select All menu item

Default: Ctrl+a

clear_edits

Edit → Clear Edits menu item

Default: Ctrl+r

dismiss_all_edits

Edit → Dismiss All Edits menu item

Default: Ctrl+d

find

Edit → Find... menu item

Default: Ctrl+f

find_next

Edit → Find Next menu item

Default: Ctrl+g

find_previous

Edit → Find Previous menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+G

go_to_line

Edit → Go To Line... menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+L

preferences

Edit → Preferences menu item

Default: None

no_syntax_highlighting

View → Syntax Highlighting → None menu item

Default: None

syntax_highlighting_syntax

View → Syntax Highlighting → syntax menu item

Default: None

realign_all

View → Realign All menu item

Default: Ctrl+l

isolate

View → Isolate menu item

Default: Ctrl+i

first_difference

View → First Difference menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Up

previous_difference

View → Previous Difference menu item

Default: Ctrl+Up

next_difference

View → Next Difference menu item

Default: Ctrl+Down

last_difference

View → Last Difference menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Down

first_tab

View → First Tab menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Page_Up

previous_tab

View → Previous Tab menu item

Default: Ctrl+Page_Up

next_tab

View → Next Tab menu item

Default: Ctrl+Page_Down

last_tab

View → Last Tab menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Page_Down

shift_pane_right

View → Shift Pane Right menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+parenleft

shift_pane_left

View → Shift Pane Left menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+parenright

convert_to_upper_case

Format → Convert To Upper Case menu item

Default: Ctrl+u

convert_to_lower_case

Format → Convert To Lower Case menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+U

sort_lines_in_ascending_order

Format → Sort Lines In Ascending Order menu item

Default: Ctrl+y

sort_lines_in_descending_order

Format → Sort Lines In Descending Order menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Y

remove_trailing_white_space

Format → Remove Trailing White Space menu item

Default: Ctrl+k

convert_tabs_to_spaces

Format → Convert Tabs To Spaces menu item

Default: Ctrl+b

convert_leading_spaces_to_tabs

Format → Convert Leading Spaces To Tabs menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+B

increase_indenting

Format → Increase Indenting menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+greater

decrease_indenting

Format → Decrease Indenting menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+less

convert_to_dos

Format → Convert To DOS Format menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+E

convert_to_mac

Format → Convert To Mac Format menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+C

convert_to_unix

Format → Convert To Unix Format menu item

Default: Ctrl+e

copy_selection_right

Merge → Copy Selection Right menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Right

copy_selection_left

Merge → Copy Selection Left menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+Left

copy_left_into_selection

Merge → Copy Left Into Selection menu item

Default: Ctrl+Right

copy_right_into_selection

Merge → Copy Right Into Selection menu item

Default: Ctrl+Left

merge_from_left_then_right

Merge → Merge From Left Then Right menu item

Default: Ctrl+m

merge_from_right_then_left

Merge → Merge From Right Then Left menu item

Default: Shift+Ctrl+M

help_contents

Help → Help Contents menu item

Default: F1

about

Help → About menu item

Default: None

Line Editing Mode Key Bindings

Use line_mode for the context to define key bindings for line editing mode. The following values are valid for action:

enter_align_mode

enter alignment editing mode

Default: space

enter_character_mode

enter character editing mode

Defaults: Return, KP_Enter

first_line

move cursor to the first line

Defaults: Home, g

extend_first_line

move cursor to the first line, extending the selection

Default: Shift+Home

last_line

move cursor to the last line

Defaults: End, Shift+G

extend_last_line

move cursor to the last line, extending the selection

Default: Shift+End

up

move cursor up one line

Defaults: Up, k

extend_up

move cursor up one line, extending the selection

Defaults: Shift+Up, Shift+K

down

move cursor down one line

Defaults: Down, j

extend_down

move cursor down one line, extending the selection

Defaults: Shift+Down, Shift+J

left

move cursor left one file

Defaults: Left, h

extend_left

move cursor left one file, extending the selection

Default: Shift+Left

right

move cursor right one file

Defaults: Right, l

extend_right

move cursor right one file, extending the selection

Default: Shift+Right

page_up

move cursor up one page

Defaults: Page_Up, Ctrl+u

extend_page_up

move cursor up one page, extending the selection

Defaults: Shift+Page_Up, Shift+Ctrl+u

page_down

move cursor down one page

Defaults: Page_Down, Ctrl+d

extend_page_down

move cursor down one page, extending the selection

Defaults: Shift+Page_Down, Shift+Ctrl+d

delete_text

delete the selected text

Defaults: BackSpace, Delete, x

first_difference

select the first difference

Defaults: Ctrl+Home, Shift+P

previous_difference

select the previous difference

Default: p

next_difference

select the next difference

Default: n

last_difference

select the last difference

Defaults: Ctrl+End, Shift+N

clear_edits

clear all edits from the selected lines

Default: r

copy_selection_left

copy lines from the selection into the file on the left

Default: None

copy_selection_right

copy lines from the selection into the file on the right

Default: None

copy_left_into_selection

copy lines from the file on the left into the selection

Default: Shift+L

copy_right_into_selection

copy lines from the file on the right into the selection

Default: Shift+H

merge_from_left_then_right

merge lines from file on the left then file on the right

Default: m

merge_from_right_then_left

merge lines from file on the right then file on the left

Default: Shift+M

isolate

isolate the selected lines

Default: i

Alignment Editing Mode Key Bindings

Use align_mode for the context to define key bindings for alignment editing mode. The following values are valid for action:

enter_line_mode

enter line editing mode

Default: Escape

enter_character_mode

enter character editing mode

Defaults: Return, KP_Enter

first_line

move cursor to the first line

Default: g

last_line

move cursor to the last line

Default: Shift+G

up

move cursor up one line

Defaults: Up, k

down

move cursor down one line

Defaults: Down, j

left

move cursor left one file

Defaults: Left, h

right

move cursor right one file

Defaults: Right, l

page_up

move cursor up one page

Defaults: Page_Up, Ctrl+u

page_down

move cursor down one page

Defaults: Page_Down, Ctrl+d

align

align the selected line to the cursor position

Default: space

Character Editing Mode Key Bindings

Use character_mode for the context to define key bindings for character editing mode. The following values are valid for action:

enter_line_mode

enter line editing mode

Default: Escape

string name value

Used String Resources

[ colour | color ] name red green blue

Used Colour Resources

float name value

Used Floating Point Resources

syntax name [initial_state default_tag]

Declares a new syntax style called name. Syntax highlighting uses a simple state machine that transitions between states when certain patterns are matched. The initial state for the state machine will be initial_state. All characters not matched by a pattern will be tagged as default_tag for highlighting. The syntax style called name can be removed by omitting initial_state and default_tag.

syntax_files name [pattern]

Specifies that files with a name matching pattern should be highlighted using the syntax style called name. Patterns used to match files for use with the syntax style called name can be removed by omitting pattern.

syntax_magic name [pattern [ignorecase]]

Specifies that files with a first line matching pattern should be highlighted using the syntax style called name. Patterns used to match files for use with the syntax style called name can be removed by omitting pattern.

syntax_pattern name initial_state final_state tag pattern [ignorecase]

Adds a pattern to the previously declared syntax style. Patterns are tried one at a time in the order they were declared until the first match is found. A pattern will only be used to match characters if the state machine is in the state initial_state. The state machine will transition to final_state if the pattern defined by pattern is matched. Case insensitive pattern matching will be used if ignorecase is specified. All characters matched by the pattern will be tagged as tag for highlighting.