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Re: Which Diff tool could I use for visually comparing two text files where Word Wrap is possible?



 

 

On Friday, March 31, 2023 11:37:30 PM Susmita/Rajib wrote:

> Suppose I wrote a book book1.txt. I then send it to an editor who

> corrects the initial mistakes, altering some lines while doing so,

> renaming to another file book2.txt.

>

> When I receive the editor's correction, I don't accept them

> straightaway, but based on his suggestions I change my book1 and edit

> and alter it further. Diff helps in comparing the two draft editions.

>

> This one cycle could again be repeated.

 

> I checked wdiff and also dwdiff. But they are very bland

> and very complicated to handle as dwdiff uses a lot of braces with +

> and - signs, but doesn't present the two files side by side for

> intuitive/visual comparison.

 

Thanks for the reply!

 

I don't remember the name of the utility that I used to use in the Microsoft world, but it was very nice in showing changes within lines or paragraphs, using underline and crossout (wrong name).

 

Just to create an example, suppose I changed the previious paragraph to say "I never used in Linux:" then that utility would show something like what I show below.

 

Aside: I'm not sure I can show crossout in an email, so will precede and end it with "-".

 

The utility also showed a vertical line at the beginning of either a line or paragraph that had changed.

 

I don't remember the name of the utility that I used to use in the Microsoft world, but it was very nice in showing changes within lines or paragraphs, using underline and crossout (wrong name).

 

 

| I don't remember the name of the utility that I *never used in Linux:* -used to use in the Microsoft world-, but it was very nice in showing changes within lines or paragraphs, using underline and crossout (wrong name).

 

I found that very useful for generally text based documents like specifications and contracts.

 

It did have trouble "resynchronizing" -- I mean, for example, if a section of text was not changed but moved a fair distance (for some definition of "fair") it often showed that as a deletion of the text from the original location and insertion of the (unchaged) text in a new location (which wasn't necessarily all bad).

 

IIRC, there was another problem that I characterized as trouble with resynchronizing, but, atm, I can't recall any details.

 

When I moved to Linux, I looked for a similar utility, and the closest I could find (at the time -- possibly 20 years ago) was wdiff.

 

I hope you find wnat you're looking for (or maybe even something better ;-)

 

--

rhk

 

(sig revised 20230312 -- modified first paragraph, some other irrelevant wordsmithing)

| No entity has permission to use this email to train an AI.

 

 


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