dxdiff(1X) — Commands
Digital
NAME
dxdiff − DECwindows visual differences program
SYNOPSIS
dxdiff [ options ] [ file1 file2 ]
PARAMETERS
fileSpecifies the two files that are to be opened at startup. If you do not specify any file names, dxdiff lets you specify files after it has started up.
DESCRIPTION
The dxdiff application does a line-by-line comparison of two files and displays the differences between them. The contents of the two files are displayed in two text regions on either side of a central difference region. The differences between the files are displayed as highlighted text. The differences are connected by lines or filled polygons across the central difference region. Line numbers are optionally displayed at each end of the difference lines, to show where the differences occur within the files. Note that the files must be ASCII text files.
FLAGS
−bd color Specifies the color of the window’s border (color displays only). The default is black.
−bg color Specifies the color of the window’s background (color displays only). The default is white.
−d dispname Specifies the display screen on which dxdiff displays its window. If the display option is not specified, dxdiff uses the display screen specified by your DISPLAY environment variable. The display option has the format hostname:number. Using two colons (::) instead of one (:) indicates that DECnet is to be used for transport. The default is :0. For more information, see X(1X).
−display dispname This option is the same as the −d option.
−fg color Specifies the color of the text (color displays only). The default is black.
−fn font Specifies the font used as the output font. The default font is times_bold12.
−geometry Specifies the width, length, and location of the dxdiff window. If the geometry option is not specified, dxdiff uses default values. The geometry option has the format [widthxlength][{+-}x{+-}y]. For more information about the screen coordinate system, see X(1X).
−sv Disables linked vertical scrolling.
+sv Enables linked vertical scrolling. This is the default.
−sh Disables linked horizontal scrolling
+sh Enables linked horizontal scrolling. This is the default.
−dl Enables the display of filled polygons to connect areas of different text. This is the default.
+dl Enables the display of lines to connect areas of different text.
−ln Disables the display of line numbers in the difference region.
+ln Enables the display of line numbers in the difference region. This is the default.
−lnfg color Specifies the foreground color for the line numbers in the difference box. The default is black.
Menus
The dxdiff window contains the following menus:
Files
Options
Differences
Help
FILES Menu
The dxdiff Files menu contains the following menu items:
Open Files...Calls up two Open... dialog boxes, to allow you to specify the two files that you want to compare. The Dialog boxes are labeled leftfileselector:0 and rightfileselector:0. You must select one file from each dialog box.
PrintNot implemented.
QuitExits the current dxdiff session. If the session is the original one, all other dxdiff sessions and windows are closed.
FLAGS Menu
The Options menu contains the following menu items:
Linked Vertical Scrolling On/Off
The default is linked vertical scrolling. When linked vertical scrolling is on and you scroll one of the files, the other file is scrolled with it line for line. When linked vertical scrolling is off, one file can be scrolled independently of the other one.
Linked Horizontal Scrolling On/Off
The default is linked horizontal scrolling. When linked horizontal scrolling is on and you scroll one of the files, the other file is scrolled with it. When linked horizontal scrolling is off, one file can be scrolled independently of the other one.
Render Diffs As Lines/Render Diffs As Filled Polygons
Displays either lines or filled polygons to connect the differences across the difference box. The default on startup is for filled polygons to be displayed.
Display Diff Line Numbers/No Diff Line Numbers
Displays line numbers at each end of the lines that connect the differences. The default is to display line numbers. If dxdiff cannot find a suitable font size for displaying the line numbers, this item is disabled.
Differences Menu
The Differences menu contains the following items:
Do DifferencesDisplays the differences between the two currently selected files.
Do Differences In NewOpens a new dxdiff window to display the differences between the two currently selected files. The existing dxdiff window remains on the screen for reference.
Help Menu
The Help Menu button invokes a help window that provides information on dxdiff.
X Defaults
The dxdiff application uses the values in the .Xdefaults file when you logged in and uses the appropriate resource specification to customize the appearance or characteristics of its displayed dxdiff window. The format for a resource specification in the .Xdefaults file is:
[name∗]resource: value
nameSpecifies the application name or the name string that restricts the resource assignment to that application or to a component of an application. If this argument is not specified, the resource assignment is globally available to all X applications.
resourceSpecifies the resource.
valueSpecifies the value that is to be assigned to the resource.
For more information, see X(1X).
Because each toolkit-based application can consist of a combination of widgets (for example, push buttons and a scroll bar), you can form the name string by adding widget class and name identifiers to the string. For further information about adding class and name identifiers, see X(1X).
For dxdiff, the available class identifiers are:
XmLabel
XmPushButton
XmRowColumn
XmScrollbar
XmText
For dxdiff, the available name identifiers are:
DxDiffThe application class name
dxdiffThe application name
dxdiffmaindisplayThe entire display, which includes all of the components of the window
mainmenuThe main menu bar, which includes the pull-down menus
leftfileselectorThe file selection dialog box for selecting a file to be displayed in the left text display region
rightfileselectorThe file selection dialog box for selecting a file to be displayed in the right text display region
filespulldownThe Files pull-down menu
openfilesThe Open Files button on the Files menu
printThe Print button on the Files menu
quitThe Quit button on the Files menu
optionspulldownThe Options pull-down menu
slaveverticalThe Linked Vertical Scrolling On/Off button on the Options menu
slavehorizontalThe Linked Horizontal Scrolling On/Off button on the Options menu
drawdiffThe Display Diffs As Lines/Filled Polygons button on the Options menu
drawlinenumbersThe Display Line Numbers button on the Options menu
differencespulldownThe Differences pull-down menu
dodifferencesThe Do Differences button on the Differences menu
dodifferencesinnewThe Do Differences In New button on the Differences menu
textregiondisplayThe text region display, which includes both the left and the right text display regions, each of which include the file name bars, the vertical scroll bars, the push button region and the text panes
diffregionThe region where the lines connecting the differences are displayed
filenamebarThe file name bars at the top of each text region
vscrollThe vertical scroll bars
textdisplayThe region where the file contents are displayed
displaymenuThe push button region at the bottom of each text display region
nextdiffThe Next Diff push button
prevdiffThe Prev Diff push button
In addition to the general resources listed in X(1X), the resources available for dxdiff are:
slaveVerticalScrollingEnable or disable linked vertical scrolling. The default is on.
slaveHorizontalScrolling
Enable or disable linked horizontal scrolling. The default is on.
displayLineNumbersEnable or disable display of line numbers in the difference region. The default is on.
drawDiffsAsLinesEnable or disable use of lines to connect areas of different text. The default is off. If drawing of lines is disabled, filled polygons are used.
lineNumberForeground
Specify the foreground color for line numbers in the difference box.
EXAMPLES
To change the background color of the dxdiff text regions, add the following entry to your .Xdefaults file:
dxdiff∗textdisplay∗background: blue
To change the background color of the push button region at the bottom of the window, add the following entry to your .Xdefaults file:
dxdiff∗displaymenu∗background: red
FILES
~/.Xdefaults
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/DxDiff
~/DxDiff