MGDIFF(1x) MGDIFF(1x)
NAME
mgdiff - Motif-based graphical file difference browser
SYNOPSIS
mgdiff [-toolkitoption ...] [-quit] [-file name] [-args diffargs] [file1 file2]
DESCRIPTION
Mgdiff is a graphical front end to the diff command. It permits the user to view the differences between two ASCII files in context and,
optionally, to write out a third file which is the user-defined merging of those two files. It is inspired by a similar program, called
gdiff, which runs only on Silicon Graphics workstations and for which source code is not provided.
The program takes as arguments various flags (described in the next section) and the names of two files to compare. Either filename (but
not both) may be given as '-' to use standard input instead.
The resulting display consists mostly of two panes of text; the one on the left is the first file specified and the one on the right is the
second file specified. Between and below the text panes are scrollbars that permit changing the visible portions of the two files being
compared. In addition, the program implements the Scrolled Region recommendations of Section 2.3.4 of the OSF/Motif Style Guide (release
1.1), meaning that the arrow and paging keys will work to scroll as well. Above each text pane is the name of the file in that text pane
and the line number in the file which is being displayed.
The text in each of the text panes is divided into blocks of lines which are color-coded with one of five different colors. This indicates
that the block:
differs between the two files
is identical between the two files
has been inserted in one file or the other
is for display purposes (to match an inserted block in the other file)
has been selected by the user (for writing to a merged file)
These colors can be modified by the user via X resources; see the RESOURCES section of this manual page. A legend display of the colors
and their meanings is available using the Help menu.
On the right-hand side of the display is an overview area; this shows the files in their entirety. The sliders in the overview area track
the lines being displayed in the text panes.
At the top of the display is a Motif menu bar; those functions are discussed in the MENUS section of this manual page.
Earlier versions of this program (pre 2003) only allowed the selection of the left hand side difference or the right hand side difference.
It also would not allow a file to be saved with unselected blocks. The current version allows the user to select both sides of a differ-
ence by selecting blocks using the middle mouse button. When both sides of a difference are selected both blocks will be saved to the
merged file and marked in a similar manner to the way CVS marks merges that require manual resolution of conflicting changes. In addition,
the current version also allows saving of a merged file with unselected blocks. In this case, the merged file will contain neither the
left hand side nor the right hand side of the unselected blocks.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
-toolkitoption
These are the standard options accepted by all applications that use the X Toolkit Intrinsics. See the OPTIONS section in the X(1)
manual page.
-quit This option sets the resource Mgdiff.quitIfSame to "true". This will cause the program to exit immediately without bringing up a
window if the two files have no differences (as determined by the diff command).
-args diffargs
This option sets the resource Mgdiff.diffArgs to the value of the diffargs argument. These flags are passed to the diff command
that actually computes the differences between the two files. Since any argument can be passed, it is possible to specify flags
that cause the diff command to fail or to generate output in a different format that will cause mgdiff to fail. For most versions
of diff, only three flags make any sense. The first is '-b'; this causes diff to ignore trailing blanks (spaces and tabs) and to
treat all other strings of blanks as equivalent. The second flag is '-w'; this ignores blanks and treats strings of blanks as
equivalent. The last flag is '-i'; this ignores case when comparing letters.
-file name
This command sets the resource Mgdiff.filename to the value of the name argument. mgdiff uses this string to display over a file
read from standard input.
MENUS
The menubar contains the following menu topics as CascadeButtons: File, View, Select, Options and Help. The rest of this section discusses
each menu entry, showing it's name and accelerator, if any.
File
This pulldown menu controls file access:
Open... Ctrl+O
Brings up the "Open Files" FileSelectionDialog to allow the user to open two files for comparison.
Open Left... Ctrl+L
Brings up the "Open File" FileSelectionDialog to allow the user to specify a file to open and compare with the already opened
right-hand file.
Open Right... Ctrl+R
Brings up the "Open File" FileSelectionDialog to allow the user to specify a file to open and compare with the already opened
left-hand file.
Save As... Ctrl+S
Brings up the "Save File" FileSelectionDialog to allow the user to specify an output file for writing the merged file; this is an
application modal dialog. The program will allow the user to overwrite an existing file but pops up a QuestionDialog to allow the
user to cancel the operation if desired. If there are any unselected areas of difference between the two files the user is asked
whether they want to continue or cancel the operation. If the user continues, the output file will contain none of the unselected
blocks.
Save As Left...
Saves the merged file to the location given by the left hand side file location. The user will be asked if they are sure they wish
the existing file to be overwritten. As with the "Save As", if there are any unselected areas of difference between the two files
the user asked whether they want to continue or cancel the operation. If the user continues, the output file will contain none of
the data in the unselected blocks.
Save As Right...
Saves the merged file to the location given by the right hand side file location. The user will be asked if they are sure they wish
the existing file to be overwritten. As with the "Save As", if there are any unselected areas of difference between the two files
the user asked whether they want to continue or cancel the operation. If the user continues, the output file will contain none of
the data in the unselected blocks.
Exit Ctrl+C
Exits the program immediately.
View
This pulldown menu contains commands for moving through the files.
Previous Ctrl+P
Scrolls both file views so that the previous area of difference is Mgdiff.linesOfContext lines from the top of the application win-
dow.
Next Ctrl+N
Scrolls both file views so that the next area of difference is Mgdiff.linesOfContext lines from the top of the application window.
Next Unselected Ctrl+U
Scrolls both file views so that the next unselected area of difference is Mgdiff.linesOfContext lines from the top of the applica-
tion window.
Select
The two files being compared can be optionally merged into one file. To do this, the user must select for each area of difference between
the two files which version should be written to the merged file. The menu entries in this pulldown menu allow the user to select or unse-
lect differences in groups rather than individually.
Left All
For all areas of difference between the two files select the left-hand file version.
Right All
For all areas of difference between the two files select the right-hand file version.
Unselect All
Unselects all areas of difference in both files.
Options
This pulldown menu controls miscellaneous appearance and/or behavior options.
Overview Ctrl+W
This menu entry toggles the presence of the overview area on the right-hand side of the application window. The default value for
this toggle is controlled by a resource, Mgdiff.overview, which is described in the RESOURCES section.
Horizontal Scrollbar Ctrl+H
This menu entry toggles the presence of the horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of the application window. The default value for
this toggle is controlled by a resource, Mgdiff.horzScrollbar, which is described in the RESOURCES section.
Drag Scroll Ctrl+D
This menu entry toggles the behaviour of the scrollbars in the application window. When set, dragging the slider of a scrollbar
results in a immediate change in the view of the text being compared. When unset, the view is only changed at the end of a slider
drag (when the mouse button is released.) This setting might be preferred on a slower X server. The default value for this toggle
is controlled by a resource, Mgdiff.dragScroll, which is described in the RESOURCES section.
Help
This pulldown menu displays commands for obtaining help on or information about mgdiff.
Version... Ctrl+V
Brings up an InformationDialog with author and version information.
Manual Page... Ctrl+M
Brings up a DialogShell with a ScrolledText widget containing this manual page. The command for generating this is customizable via
a resource, Mgdiff.manCommand, which is described in the RESOURCES section.
Color Legend... Ctrl+G
Brings up a DialogShell which summarizes the use of color in encoding the types of differences between the two files being compared.
OTHER DISPLAYS
/CONTROLS
You can move directly to a particular spot in the two files by using BDrag in the overview area.
The program uses what the OSF/Motif Style Guide calls "multiple selection" to select individual blocks for writing to a merged file.
Clicking BSelect on an unselected block adds it to the list of selected blocks. Clicking BSelect on a selected block removes it from the
list of selected blocks. In addition, Clicking BSelect on an unselected block which is opposite a selected block (in the other text panes)
removes the selected block from the list of selected blocks.
The numbers in the small boxes next to the file names are the line numbers of the lines at the top of the text panes.
WIDGETS
What follows is the hierarchy of Motif widgets, as generated by editres(1). The hierarchical structure of the widget tree is reflected in
the indentation. Each line consists of the widget class name followed by the widget instance name. This information might be useful if
you wish to customize the appearance of the program via resource settings.
Mgdiff mgdiff
XmMainWindow mainw
XmSeparatorGadget MainWinSep1
XmSeparatorGadget MainWinSep2
XmSeparatorGadget MainWinSep3
XmRowColumn menubar
XmCascadeButtonGadget button_0
XmCascadeButtonGadget button_1
XmCascadeButtonGadget button_2
XmCascadeButtonGadget button_3
XmCascadeButtonGadget button_4
XmMenuShell popup_file_menu
XmRowColumn select_menu
XmPushButtonGadget button_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_1
XmSeparatorGadget separator_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_2
XmRowColumn file_menu
XmPushButtonGadget button_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_1
XmPushButtonGadget button_2
XmPushButtonGadget button_3
XmSeparatorGadget separator_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_4
XmPushButtonGadget button_5
XmSeparatorGadget separator_1
XmPushButtonGadget button_6
XmRowColumn options_menu
XmToggleButtonGadget button_0
XmToggleButtonGadget button_1
XmToggleButtonGadget button_2
XmRowColumn help_menu
XmPushButtonGadget button_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_1
XmPushButtonGadget button_2
XmRowColumn view_menu
XmPushButtonGadget button_0
XmPushButtonGadget button_1
XmPushButtonGadget button_2
XmForm form1
XmFrame frame1
XmForm form3
XmScrollBar sbl
XmDrawingArea dam
XmScrollBar sbr
XmFrame frame2
XmForm form4
XmForm form2
XmScrollBar sb
XmForm form21
XmFrame frame3
XmLabel fnamel
XmFrame frame31
XmTextField linenuml
XmForm form22
XmFrame frame4
XmLabel fnamer
XmFrame frame41
XmTextField linenumr
XmDrawingArea textl
XmDrawingArea textr
XmScrollBar sbh
XmDialogShell version_popup
XmMessageBox version
XmLabelGadget symbol
XmLabelGadget
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmPushButtonGadget OK
XmPushButtonGadget Cancel
XmPushButtonGadget Help
XmDialogShell manualpage_popup
XmForm manualpage
XmPanedWindow pane
XmScrolledWindow help_textSW
XmScrollBar vbar
XmText help_text
XmForm form2a
XmPushButton OK
XmSash sash
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmSash sash
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmDialogShell legend_popup
XmForm legend
XmPanedWindow pane
XmRowColumn rc
XmLabel label1
XmLabel label2
XmLabel label3
XmLabel label4
XmLabel label5
XmForm form2a
XmPushButton OK
XmSash sash
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmSash sash
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmDialogShell werror_popup
XmMessageBox werror
XmLabelGadget symbol
XmLabelGadget
XmSeparatorGadget separator
XmPushButtonGadget OK
XmPushButtonGadget Cancel
XmPushButtonGadget Help
X RESOURCES
Mgdiff.diffForeground: black
Mgdiff.diffBackground: yellow
These colors are for blocks which differ between files.
Mgdiff.sameForeground: black
Mgdiff.sameBackground: grey
These colors are for blocks which are identical between files.
Mgdiff.insertForeground: black
Mgdiff.insertBackground: orange
These colors are for blocks which have been inserted in one file.
Mgdiff.blankForeground: black
Mgdiff.blankBackground: grey66
These colors are for blocks which are for display purposes.
Mgdiff.selectForeground: black
Mgdiff.selectBackground: light slate blue
These colors are for blocks which have been selected by the user.
Mgdiff.font: 7x13bold
Font for displaying text blocks.
Mgdiff.dragScroll: true
Set to true if scrollbar dragging should cause immediate changes in the viewed text, and false if the view should only change after the
scrollbar has been moved.
Mgdiff.overview: true
Set to true if the file overview section should appear.
Mgdiff.horzScrollbar: true
Set to true if the horizontal scrollbar should appear.
Mgdiff.linesOfContext: 3
Number of lines that should appear above a difference block gotten to using the Previous or Next commands. Should be greater or equal to
zero.
Mgdiff.manCommand: (man mgdiff | col -b) 2>&1
The command (or pipeline) used to produce a formatted manual page without escape codes.
Mgdiff.diffCommand: diff
The diff(1) compatible command to use for calculating differences between text files.
Mgdiff.diffArgs:
The arguments to be provided to the diff command. This resource can also be set via the -args command line option.
Mgdiff.quitIfSame: false
If the two files have no differences (as determined by the diff command) then exit immediately without bringing up a window. This resource
can also be set to "true" via the -quit command line option.
Mgdiff.filename: (stdin)
mgdiff uses this string to display over a file read from standard input. This resource can also be set via the -file command line option.
DIAGNOSTICS
Returns the exit status generated by the diff command. This is usually 0 for no differences, 1 for some differences and 2 for errors.
SEE ALSO
diff(1), X(1)
RESTRICTIONS
Using BDrag in the overview area doesn't work well when drag scrolling is turned off.
Doesn't support monochrome displays.
Input lines longer than BUFSIZ (see /usr/include/stdio.h) are silently truncated.
The code for parsing and passing arguments to the diff command assumes arguments are delimited by white space and does not do any quote
processing.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1994, Daniel Williams
Copyright (c) 2003, Erik de Castro Lopo
See X(1) for a full statement of rights and permissions.
AUTHORS
Daniel Williams (dan@sass.com)
Erik de Castro Lopo (erikd AT mega-nerd DOT com) added "Save as Left/Right" and saving both and neither sides.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To Andrew C. Myers for writing gdiff.
MGDIFF(1x)