SDIFF(1) manual page

Table of Contents

## NAME

sdiff - find differences between two files and merge interactively

## SYNOPSIS

sdiff -o outfile [options] from-file to-file

## DESCRIPTION

The sdiff command merges two files and interactively outputs the results to outfile.

If from-file is a directory and to-file is not, sdiff compares the file in from-file whose file name is that of to-file, and vice versa. from-file and to-file may not both be directories.

sdiff options begin with -, so normally from-file and to-file may not begin with -. However, -- as an argument by itself treats the remaining arguments as file names even if they begin with -. You may not use - as an input file.

sdiff without -o (or --output) produces a side-by-side difference. This usage is obsolete; use diff --side-by-side instead.

### Options

Below is a summary of all of the options that GNU sdiff accepts. Each option has two equivalent names, one of which is a single letter preceded by -, and the other of which is a long name preceded by --. 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.

-a
  Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not appear to be text.
-b
  Ignore changes in amount of white space.
-B
  Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
-d
  Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).
-H
  Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.
--expand-tabs
  Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.
-i
  Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.
-I regexp
  Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.
--ignore-all-space
  Ignore white space when comparing lines.
--ignore-blank-lines
  Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines.
--ignore-case
  Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same.
--ignore-matching-lines=regexp
  Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp.
--ignore-space-change
  Ignore changes in amount of white space.
-l
--left-column
  Print only the left column of two common lines.
--minimal
  Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes sdiff slower (sometimes much slower).
-o file
--output=file
  Put merged output into file. This option is required for merging.
-s
--suppress-common-lines
  Do not print common lines.
--speed-large-files
  Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes.
-t
  Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files.
--text
  Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not appear to be text.
-v
--version
  Output the version number of sdiff.
-w columns
--width=columns
  Use an output width of columns. Note that for historical reasons, this option is -W in diff, -w in sdiff.
-W
  Ignore horizontal white space when comparing lines. Note that for historical reasons, this option is -w in diff, -W in sdiff.

## SEE ALSO

cmp(1) , comm(1) , diff(1) , diff3(1) .

## DIAGNOSTICS

An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some differences were found, and 2 means trouble.

Table of Contents

- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION

- Options

- SEE ALSO
- DIAGNOSTICS