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- User-visible changes in version 2.6:
-
- * New cmp, diff, diff3, sdiff option: --help
- * A new heuristic for diff greatly reduces the time needed to compare
- large input files that contain many differences.
- * Partly as a result, GNU diff's output is not exactly the same as before.
- Usually it is a bit smaller, but sometimes it is a bit larger.
-
-
- User-visible changes in version 2.5:
-
- * New cmp option: -v --version
-
-
- User-visible changes in version 2.4:
-
- * New cmp option: --ignore-initial=BYTES
- * New diff3 option: -T --initial-tab
- * New diff option: --line-format=FORMAT
- * New diff group format specifications:
- <PRINTF_SPEC>[eflmnEFLMN]
- A printf spec followed by one of the following letters
- causes the integer corresponding to that letter to be
- printed according to the printf specification.
- E.g. `%5df' prints the number of the first line in the
- group in the old file using the "%5d" format.
- e: line number just before the group in old file; equals f - 1
- f: first line number in group in the old file
- l: last line number in group in the old file
- m: line number just after the group in old file; equals l + 1
- n: number of lines in group in the old file; equals l - f + 1
- E, F, L, M, N: likewise, for lines in the new file
- %(A=B?T:E)
- If A equals B then T else E. A and B are each either a decimal
- constant or a single letter interpreted as above. T and E are
- arbitrary format strings. This format spec is equivalent to T if
- A's value equals B's; otherwise it is equivalent to E. For
- example, `%(N=0?no:%dN) line%(N=1?:s)' is equivalent to `no lines'
- if N (the number of lines in the group in the the new file) is 0,
- to `1 line' if N is 1, and to `%dN lines' otherwise.
- %c'C'
- where C is a single character, stands for the character C. C may not
- be a backslash or an apostrophe. E.g. %c':' stands for a colon.
- %c'\O'
- where O is a string of 1, 2, or 3 octal digits, stands for the
- character with octal code O. E.g. %c'\0' stands for a null character.
- * New diff line format specifications:
- <PRINTF_SPEC>n
- The line number, printed with <PRINTF_SPEC>.
- E.g. `%5dn' prints the line number with a "%5d" format.
- %c'C'
- %c'\O'
- The character C, or with octal code O, as above.
- * Supported <PRINTF_SPEC>s have the same meaning as with printf, but must
- match the extended regular expression %-*[0-9]*(\.[0-9]*)?[doxX].
- * The format spec %0 introduced in version 2.1 has been removed, since it
- is incompatible with printf specs like %02d. To represent a null char,
- use %c'\0' instead.
- * cmp and diff now conform to Posix.2 (ISO/IEC 9945-2:1993)
- if the underlying system conforms to Posix:
- - Some messages' wordings are changed in minor ways.
- - ``White space'' is now whatever C's `isspace' says it is.
- - When comparing directories, if `diff' finds a file that is not a regular
- file or a directory, it reports the file's type instead of diffing it.
- (As usual, it follows symbolic links first.)
- - When signaled, sdiff exits with the signal's status, not with status 2.
- * Now portable to hosts where int, long, pointer, etc. are not all the same
- size.
- * `cmp - -' now works like `diff - -'.
-
-
- User-visible changes in version 2.3:
-
- * New diff option: --horizon-lines=lines
-
-
- User-visible changes in version 2.1:
-
- * New diff options:
- --{old,new,unchanged}-line-format='format'
- --{old,new,unchanged,changed}-group-format='format'
- -U
- * New diff3 option:
- -A --show-all
- * diff3 -m now defaults to -A, not -E.
- * diff3 now takes up to three -L or --label options, not just two.
- If just two options are given, they refer to the first two input files,
- not the first and third input files.
- * sdiff and diff -y handle incomplete lines.
-
-
- User-visible changes in version 2.0:
-
- * Add sdiff and cmp programs.
- * Add Texinfo documentation.
- * Add configure script.
- * Improve diff performance.
- * New diff options:
- -x --exclude
- -X --exclude-from
- -P --unidirectional-new-file
- -W --width
- -y --side-by-side
- --left-column
- --sdiff-merge-assist
- --suppress-common-lines
- * diff options renamed:
- --label renamed from --file-label
- --forward-ed renamed from --reversed-ed
- --paginate renamed from --print
- --entire-new-file renamed from --entire-new-files
- --new-file renamed from --new-files
- --all-text removed
- * New diff3 options:
- -v --version
- * Add long-named equivalents for other diff3 options.
- * diff options -F (--show-function-line) and -I (--ignore-matching-lines)
- can now be given more than once.
-