Provided by: dwdiff_2.1.4-1build1_amd64 bug

NAME

       dwdiff - a delimited word diff program

SYNOPSIS

       dwdiff [OPTIONS] OLD FILE NEW FILE
       dwdiff [OPTIONS] --diff-input [DIFF FILE]

DESCRIPTION

       dwdiff  is a diff program that operates at the word level instead of the line level. It is
       different from wdiff in that it allows the user  to  specify  what  should  be  considered
       whitespace,  and in that it takes an optional list of characters that should be considered
       delimiters. Delimiters are single characters that are treated as if they are  words,  even
       when  there is no whitespace separating them from preceding words or delimiters. dwdiff is
       mostly  command-line  compatible  with  wdiff.  Only  the  --autopager,   --terminal   and
       --avoid-wraps options are not supported.

       The  default  output  from  dwdiff  is  the  new text, with the deleted and inserted parts
       annotated with markers. Command line options are available to change both what is printed,
       and the markers.

OPTIONS

       dwdiff accepts the following options (Note that all strings will first be escape expanded.
       All standard \-escapes are supported, as well as \u and \U Unicode escapes):

       -h, --help
              Display a short help message.

       -v, --version
              Print version and copyright information.

       -d delimiters, --delimiters=delimiters
              Specify a list of characters to be used as delimiters. The default is empty.

       -P, --punctuation
              Use punctuation characters as delimiters. The exact set of  punctuation  characters
              depends on the current locale.

       -W whitespace, --white-space=whitespace
              Specify  a  list  of  characters  to  be  used  as  whitespace.  The default set of
              whitespace characters depends on the current locale.

       -u, --diff-input
              Interpret the input as the output from diff in the  Unified  Diff  format  (usually
              produced  by  diff  -u).  In  this case only one input file is allowed. This option
              allows reformating diff output with dwdiff, and is  useful  for  example  to  post-
              process the output of svn diff.

       -1, --no-deleted
              Suppress printing of words deleted from the first file.

       -2, --no-inserted
              Suppress printing of words inserted in the second file.

       -3, --no-common
              Suppress printing of words common to both files.

       -L[width], --line-numbers[=width]
              Show  line  numbers  at  the start of each line. The line numbers displayed are the
              line number in the old file and the line number in the new file  respectively.  The
              optional width argument is the minimum number of positions per line number.

       -Cnum, --context=num
              Show  num  lines  of  context before and after each changes. A line with only -- is
              printed between blocks of changes.

       -s, --statistics
              Print statistics when done. The numbers printed include the number of words from in
              both  files,  the  number  of  deleted words, the number of inserted words, and the
              number of changed words. The number of changed words is counted as  the  number  of
              words  that  are  removed from the first file, and the number of words that replace
              them from the second file. All of these numbers are also expressed as a  percentage
              of the total number of words in the file the words came from.

       -i, --ignore-case
              Ignore  differences  in case when comparing words. This option is only available if
              the diff program that is called provides it.

       -I, --ignore-formatting
              Ignore differences in formatting of characters. This option switches to  using  the
              Unicode  compatibility  decomposition  instead of the canonical decomposition.  The
              compatibility decomposition  discards  formatting  information.  For  example,  the
              ligature  fi  will  be  decomposed into two separate characters for the purposes of
              comparison. However, also super- and subscript will be regarded equal  as  well  as
              different rotations of the same character.

       -c[spec], --color[=spec]
              Color  mode.  The optional spec can be used to customize the colors.  spec consists
              of [delete],[insert]. If either is omited it will  be  set  to  its  default  color
              (bright  red  or  bright  green  respectively).  Both  parts of the spec consist of
              [foreground][:background]. To obtain a list of permissible  color  names,  use  the
              word  ``list''  as  spec. Alternatively, you can specify any escape sequence to set
              attributes as a color by prepending e:.

              The standard markers for the begin  and  end  of  deleted  and  inserted  text  are
              suppressed, but any markers specified on the command line will still be printed.

       -l, --less-mode
              As -p but also overstrike deleted whitespace.

       -p, --printer
              Use  overstriking  with  an  underscore and bold text to emphasize changes. This is
              implemented by first printing the underscore or a duplicate of the character to  be
              printed,  followed by a backspace, followed by the character.  On regular terminals
              you won't see any effect. The less(1) command will however show underlined and bold
              text.

              The  standard  markers  for  the  begin  and  end  of deleted and inserted text are
              suppressed, but any markers specified on the command line will still be printed.

       -mnum, --match-context=num
              Use num words of context before and after words for matching. Words in the old text
              will  then  only  match  words  in  the new text if words surrounding them are also
              equal. This improves the output  for  dwdiff  for  large  changes  with  frequently
              occurring  words.  However,  using  context  requires  more  disk  space  and  more
              processing time. The default value is 1. Set this option to 0 to revert to the  pre
              1.5 behavior.

       --aggregate-changes
              Allow multiple close changes to be treated as one change, if context words are used
              (see --match-context). This option reduces  the  processing  time  as  the  changes
              reported by the diff program are not post-processed to give more precise results.

       -A algorithm, --algorithm=algorithm
              Select  the  algorithm  to  be  used  for  determining differences. There are three
              possible values for algorithm: best,  which  tries  to  find  the  minimal  set  of
              changes,  normal,  which  trades some optimality for speed, and fast, which assumes
              that the input is large and contains few changes. By default the  normal  algorithm
              is used.

       -S[marker], --paragraph-separator[=marker]
              Show  insertion  or deletion of blocks of lines with only whitespace characters.  A
              special marker is inserted into the output to indicate these  blocks.  The  default
              marker is --.

       --wdiff-output
              Create  wdiff  compatible  output.  The  dwdiff  program  uses  a  different output
              algorithm, which provides a more intuitive output.

       -w string, --start-delete=string
              Specify a string to mark begin of deleted text. The default is [-.

       -x string, --stop-delete=string
              Specify a string to mark end of deleted text. The default is -].

       -y string, --start-insert=string
              Specify a string to mark begin of inserted text. The default is {+.

       -z string, --stop-insert=string
              Specify a string to mark end of inserted text. The default is +}.

       -R, --repeat-markers
              Repeat the begin and end markers at the start and end of line if a change crosses a
              newline.

       --profile=name
              Load  the  profile  with  name  name  from  the  .dwdiffrc  file in the user's home
              directory. Only the last profile named is actually read, unless it is followed by a
              --no-profile option. By default the profile named default is read.

       --no-profile
              Disable  reading  of  profiles,  unless followed by another --profile option.  This
              also disables reading the default profile.

       A single dash (-) as a file can be used to denote standard input. Only  one  file  can  be
       read  from  standard  input. To stop dwdiff from interpreting file names that start with a
       dash as options, one can specify a double dash (--) after which dwdiff will interpret  any
       following arguments as files to read.

       The  exit  status of dwdiff indicates the result of the comparison: 0 if the files are the
       same, 1 if the files are different. Should an error occur, dwdiff will exit with status 2.

PROFILES

       Since version 2.1.0, dwdiff allows users to create profiles. A profile is a set of options
       that  can be loaded using the --profile option. Profiles are specified in the .dwdiffrc in
       the user's home directory. The format of the .dwdiffrc file is as follows:

       A line contains either a profile header (a text enclosed in [])  or  a  long  option  name
       without  leading  dashes,  optionally followed by it's argument. Arguments are stripped of
       whitespace surrounding it. If an argument starts and ends with matching double  or  single
       quotes, these are removed as well. Comments can be included by starting a line with a hash
       mark (#).

       If no profile is  specified,  the  profile  named  default  will  be  loaded,  unless  the
       --no-profile option is specified. Here is an example .dwdiffrc:

            [default]
            color red,blue
            punctuation

            [html]
            start-delete <span style="color=red">
            stop-delete </span>
            start-insert <span style="color=green">
            stop-insert </span>

            [space-only]
            # Use only a space as whitespace.
            white-space " "

BUGS

       If  you  think you have found a bug, please check that you are using the latest version of
       dwdiff <http://os.ghalkes.nl/dwdiff.html>. When reporting bugs, please include  a  minimal
       example that demonstrates the problem.

AUTHOR

       G.P. Halkes <dwdiff@ghalkes.nl>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright © 2006-2017 G.P. Halkes and others
       dwdiff is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3.
       For  more  details on the license, see the file COPYING in the documentation directory. On
       Un*x systems this is usually /usr/share/doc/dwdiff-$VERSION$.

SEE ALSO

       dwfilter(1), wdiff(1), diff(1)

$VERSION$                                   2018/12/03                                  DWDIFF(1)