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. 

SEE ALSO

diff(1), ed(1). 

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  Version B.1,  May 11, 2021