I remember as far back as DOS that there was a simple command line to compare files for any differences. Does anyone know of a utility that would easily enable comparing files for possible differences? It is a function some programs perform within, i.e. Cloner, but I mean one where you can pick two files, run a comparison that will also highlight the differences, if any.
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Compare Files?
- Thread starter cybermook
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open a terminal, then use:
to compare 2 files. Or:
The
diff (file input 1) (file input 2)to compare 2 files. Or:
diff -rq folder1 folder2The
q switch sets diff in brief mode. If not set to brief mode, diff would not only tell you which files are different between the two folders, but also show the actual line-by-line differences for any text files that exist in both locations but are not identical (as it does for the first command sequence). r tells diff to look at each directory recursively, including subdirectories.
I usually use the command-line to diff files or directories. But it's not very intuitive to use it.
The most polished app for Mac is Kaleidoscope as far as I know. It's expensive though and probably not worth it if you don't use it professionally. There is also the open source Meld, but the macOS builds are not well supported.
The most polished app for Mac is Kaleidoscope as far as I know. It's expensive though and probably not worth it if you don't use it professionally. There is also the open source Meld, but the macOS builds are not well supported.
There was kdiff3 0.9.98 in the good old days, free and open source, and worked fine on Mac, but it uses Qt 4 and have problems with modern Macs. There’re new versions of kdiff3 on Homebrew – https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/kdiff3 – but it lacks Apple Silicon version and there were some UI bugs in the past. But you could try it anyway, maybe you’d like it.
If you install Xcode, it comes with a standalone application for diffing text files called FileMerge.
appleinsider.com
How to compare files using Xcode's FileMerge tool
The often overlooked Xcode FileMerge app lets you spot what's changed between two files. Here's how to spot the differences using the tool.
appleinsider.com
