NAME

sdiff − side-by-side difference program

SYNOPSIS

sdiff [ options ... ] file1 file2

DESCRIPTION

Sdiff uses the output of diff(1) to produce a side-by-side listing of two files indicating those lines that are different. Each line of the two files is printed with a blank gutter between them if the lines are identical, a < in the gutter if the line only exists in file1, a > in the gutter if the line only exists in file2, and a | for lines that are different. 

For example:

x|y
aa
b<
c<
dd
>c

The following options exist:

−w  n Use the next argument, n, as the width of the output line. The default line length is 130 characters.

−l Only print the left side of any lines that are identical. 

−s Do not print identical lines. 

−o  output Use the next argument, output, as the name of a third file that is created as a user controlled merging of file1 and file2. Identical lines of file1 and file2 are copied to output. Sets of differences, as produced by diff(1), are printed; where a set of differences share a common gutter character. After printing each set of differences, sdiff prompts the user with a % and waits for one of the following user-typed commands:

l append the left column to the output file

r append the right column to the output file

s turn on silent mode; do not print identical lines

v turn off silent mode

e  l call the editor with the left column

e  r call the editor with the right column

e  b call the editor with the concatenation of left and right

e call the editor with a zero length file

q exit from the program

On exit from the editor, the resulting file is concatenated on the end of the output file.  The environment variable EDITOR may be used to specify the editor.  Otherwise vi will be used. 

SEE ALSO

diff(1), vi(1). 

Version 2.4  —  May 08, 1986