Invoking @command{sdiff}

The @command{sdiff} command merges two files and interactively outputs the results. Its arguments are as follows:

sdiff -o outfile options... from-file to-file

This merges from-file with to-file, with output to outfile. If from-file is a directory and to-file is not, @command{sdiff} compares the file in from-file whose file name is that of to-file, and vice versa. from-file and to-file may not both be directories.

@command{sdiff} options begin with `-', so normally from-file and to-file may not begin with `-'. However, @option{--} as an argument by itself treats the remaining arguments as file names even if they begin with `-'. You may not use `-' as an input file.

@command{sdiff} without @option{-o} (or @option{--output}) produces a side-by-side difference. This usage is obsolete; use the @option{-y} or @option{--side-by-side} option of @command{diff} instead.

An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some differences were found, and 2 means trouble.

Options to @command{sdiff}

Below is a summary of all of the options that GNU @command{sdiff} accepts. Each option has two equivalent names, one of which is a single letter preceded by `-', and the other of which is a long name preceded by `--'. Multiple single letter options (unless they take an argument) can be combined into a single command line argument. Long named options can be abbreviated to any unique prefix of their name.

@option{-a}

@option{--text}

Treat all files as text and compare them line-by-line, even if they do not appear to be text. See section Binary Files and Forcing Text Comparisons.

@option{-b}

@option{--ignore-space-change}

Ignore changes in amount of white space. See section Suppressing Differences in Blank and Tab Spacing.

@option{-B}

@option{--ignore-blank-lines}

Ignore changes that just insert or delete blank lines. See section Suppressing Differences in Blank Lines.

@option{-d}

@option{--minimal}

Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set of changes. This makes @command{sdiff} slower (sometimes much slower). See section @command{diff} Performance Tradeoffs.

@option{--diff-program=program}

Use the compatible comparison program program to compare files instead of @command{diff}.

@option{-E}

@option{--ignore-tab-expansion}

Ignore changes due to tab expansion. See section Suppressing Differences in Blank and Tab Spacing.

@option{--help}

Output a summary of usage and then exit.

@option{-i}

@option{--ignore-case}

Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and lower-case to be the same. See section Suppressing Case Differences.

@option{-I regexp}

@option{--ignore-matching-lines=regexp}

Ignore changes that just insert or delete lines that match regexp. See section Suppressing Lines Matching a Regular Expression.

@option{-l}

@option{--left-column}

Print only the left column of two common lines. See section Controlling Side by Side Format.

@option{-o file}

@option{--output=file}

Put merged output into file. This option is required for merging.

@option{-s}

@option{--suppress-common-lines}

Do not print common lines. See section Controlling Side by Side Format.

@option{--speed-large-files}

Use heuristics to speed handling of large files that have numerous scattered small changes. See section @command{diff} Performance Tradeoffs.

@option{--strip-trailing-cr}

Strip any trailing carriage return at the end of an input line. See section Binary Files and Forcing Text Comparisons.

@option{-t}

@option{--expand-tabs}

Expand tabs to spaces in the output, to preserve the alignment of tabs in the input files. See section Preserving Tab Stop Alignment.

@option{-v}

@option{--version}

Output version information and then exit.

@option{-w columns}

@option{--width=columns}

Output at most columns (default 130) print columns per line. See section Controlling Side by Side Format. Note that for historical reasons, this option is @option{-W} in @command{diff}, @option{-w} in @command{sdiff}.

@option{-W}

@option{--ignore-all-space}

Ignore white space when comparing lines. See section Suppressing Differences in Blank and Tab Spacing. Note that for historical reasons, this option is @option{-w} in @command{diff}, @option{-W} in @command{sdiff}.

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