SDIFF(1)                    GNU Tools                    SDIFF(1)

NAME
       sdiff  -  find  differences  between  two  files and merge
       interactively

SYNOPSIS
       sdiff -o outfile [options] from-file to-file

DESCRIPTION
       The sdiff command merges two files and interactively  out-
       puts the results to outfile.

       If from-file is a directory and to-file is not, sdiff com-
       pares 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.

       sdiff options begin with -, so normally from-file and  to-
       file  may not begin with -.  However, -- 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.

       sdiff without -o (or  --output)  produces  a  side-by-side
       difference.     This   usage   is   obsolete;   use   diff
       --side-by-side instead.

   Options
       Below is a summary of all of the options  that  GNU  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 let-
       ter 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.

       -a     Treat all files as text and compare  them  line-by-
              line, even if they do not appear to be text.

       -b     Ignore changes in amount of white space.

       -B     Ignore  changes  that  just  insert or delete blank
              lines.

       -d     Change the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller  set
              of  changes.   This  makes  sdiff slower (sometimes
              much slower).

       -H     Use heuristics to speed  handling  of  large  files
              that have numerous scattered small changes.

       --expand-tabs
              Expand  tabs  to  spaces in the output, to preserve
              the alignment of tabs in the input files.

       -i     Ignore changes in case; consider upper- and  lower-
              case to be the same.

       -I regexp
              Ignore  changes  that  just  insert or delete lines
              that match regexp.

       --ignore-all-space
              Ignore white space when comparing lines.

       --ignore-blank-lines
              Ignore changes that just  insert  or  delete  blank
              lines.

       --ignore-case
              Ignore  changes in case; consider upper- and lower-
              case to be the same.

       --ignore-matching-lines=regexp
              Ignore changes that just  insert  or  delete  lines
              that match regexp.

       --ignore-space-change
              Ignore changes in amount of white space.

       -l
       --left-column
              Print only the left column of two common lines.

       --minimal
              Change  the algorithm to perhaps find a smaller set
              of changes.  This  makes  sdiff  slower  (sometimes
              much slower).

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

       -s
       --suppress-common-lines
              Do not print common lines.

       --speed-large-files
              Use heuristics to speed  handling  of  large  files
              that have numerous scattered small changes.

       -t     Expand  tabs  to  spaces in the output, to preserve
              the alignment of tabs in the input files.

       --text Treat all files as text and compare  them  line-by-
              line, even if they do not appear to be text.

       -v
       --version
              Output the version number of sdiff.

       -w columns
       --width=columns
              Use an output width of columns.  Note that for his-
              torical reasons, this option is -W in diff,  -w  in
              sdiff.

       -W     Ignore horizontal white space when comparing lines.
              Note that for historical reasons, this option is -w
              in diff, -W in sdiff.

SEE ALSO
       cmp(1), comm(1), diff(1), diff3(1).

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

GNU Tools                   22sep1993                           1