DIRDIFF(1)

📦 version 2.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ DIRDIFF — bestie edition ✨

okay so 💖 you know how you have like five copies of the same project lying around and you're like "which one did i actually fix the bug in"? yeah. this is the manual for dirdiff, a graphical tool for displaying differences and merging changes between directory trees, living in the General Commands Manual section of your friendly neighbourhood man setup. grab a snack 🍓, this one's a whole vibe.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dirdiff [-a|--all] [-o|--only pattern] [-I|--ignore pattern] [-r|--rcs]
[-t|--bktag] [-c|--context num] [-b] [-w] [-B] [-i] [-d] [-S] [-k]
dir1 dir2 ...

literally just point it at your directories and let it cook. 🫶

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -a, --all — Don't exclude any files. every single one gets an invite to the party. 👑
  • -o, --only pattern — Only process files matching pattern. strict guest list only.
  • -I, --ignore pattern — Don't process files matching pattern. blocked. not on the list. 💀
  • -r, --rcs — Ignore differences in RCS strings. those $Revision$ things? yeah, not the drama we're here for.
  • -t, --bktag — Ignore differences in Bitkeeper strings. same energy, different version control.
  • -c, --context num — Set number of lines of context to show. how much ✨lore✨ you want around each change.
  • -b, -w, -B, -i, -d — Pass these on to diff. dirdiff isn't gonna gatekeep, it just hands them straight over to the real one.
  • -S — Show files that are the same in the file list. yes bestie, the same ones, sometimes you just want the full picture.
  • -K — Enable bitkeeper support. (that's a capital K, iykyk 🌈)
ngl the synopsis says -k and the options list says -K. that's just how it is. not my problem, i report, i don't fix. 🙈

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Dirdiff is a graphical tool for displaying the differences between directory trees — up to 5 of them, iconic — and for merging changes from one tree into another. 🎀

At startup, dirdiff displays a main window with a list of the files that are different between the trees. Colored squares are used to indicate the relative ages of the versions. Files are like leaves on a deciduous tree: the newest ones are green, and then they turn yellow, orange, and red as they get older. Missing files are black, and directories are white. it's giving autumn but make it filesystem 🍂

To see the differences between two versions of a file, double-click on the file name. By default, the first and last versions are compared, but this can be changed using the Diff menu in the main window. In the differences window, there are checkboxes to the left of all the sections which are different. You can use button 1 to select an individual checkbox, or shift-button 1 or button 3 to select a whole group. Selecting a line means that you are asking for that change to be made when you update either of the files using the Merge menu. The line will be removed if it is already present or added if it is not present. main character energy fr fr 💅

To copy from one tree to another, click on the file name and select the appropriate copy operation from the Copy menu of the main window.

Selecting Make patch from the File menu of the main window produces a file describing the changes between the files that can be applied by the patch tool. You can edit the patch before saving, and may wish to add explanatory text, instructions, or patch Prereq lines at the beginning. To save the patch, enter a filename in the patch window relative to the current directory, and choose Save. This will also close the window. slay ✨

If you are sending out patches, then the from directory should be the original version of the source. Try to make sure that the two files have the same number of leading directories. See the patch(1) man page for more information. (yes bestie, we're citing the man page inside the man page. meta. obsessed.)

🎀 NOTES 🎀

Dirdiff needs to be able to load the libfilecmp.so.0.0 shared library for the -r or -t flags to work. no library, no ignoring-those-strings, no exceptions. 😭

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Paul Mackerras — legend behaviour, no cap.

💜 written by the icon Paul Mackerras, dated May 2002, shipped as part of General Commands Manual, and it's DIRDIFF(1) forever and always. bye bestie, go diff something pretty ✨🦋🌸
📦 where this page comes from