cleardiff

cleardiff is a line-oriented file comparison and merge utility with a character-based user interface. It can process up to 32 files. cleardiff has some alternative interfaces:

• On all supported platforms, cleardiff can be invoked with the cleartool diff command to perform a file comparison, or with the cleartool merge subcommand to perform a merge.
• On UNIX and Linux only, ClearCase includes a corresponding GUI tool, xcleardiff. This tool can be invoked with the diff –graphical and merge –graphical subcommands and through xclearcase.

–tin/y | –win/dow (UNIX and Linux only)

–window creates a child process, which displays a side-by-side report in a separate 120-character difference window. The diff command returns immediately. To exit the difference window, type an interrupt character (typically, Ctrl+C).

–tiny is the same as –window, but uses a smaller font in a 165-character difference window.

–dif/f_format | –ser/ial_format | –col/umns n

–diff_format reports both headers and differences in the same style as the UNIX and Linux diff command, and suppresses the file summary from the beginning of the report.

–serial_format reports differences with each line containing output from a single file, instead of using a side-by-side format.

–columns establishes the width of a side-by-side report. The default width is 80 (that is, only the first 40 or so characters of corresponding difference lines appear). If n does not exceed the default width, this option is ignored.

–hea/ders_only | –qui/et | –sta/tus_only

–headers_only lists only the header line of each difference. The difference lines themselves are omitted.

–quiet suppresses the file summary from the beginning of the report.

–status_only suppresses all output, returning only an exit status: a 0 status indicates that no differences were found; a 1 status indicates that one or more differences were found. This option is useful in shell scripts.

–b/lank_ignore

When comparing and merging files, ignores extra white space characters in text lines: leading and trailing white space is ignored altogether; internal runs of white space characters are treated like a single <SPACE> character.

-favor/_contrib n (base=1,...)

(merge only) Specifies the contributor, in numeric value, to be used to fill in the non-changed areas of the merge output file. This option is only valid when both the –out and –b/lank_ignore options are used. If this option is not specified, the base contributor will be used.

–out output-pname

Stores the output of a merge in file output-pname. This file is not used for input, and must not already exist.

–bas/e pname

Makes file pname the base contributor for the comparison or merge. If you omit this option, the pname1 argument becomes the base contributor, and the comparison or merge automatically runs with the –qall option invoked.

–q/uery | –qal/l | –qnt/rivial | –abo/rt

–query prompts you for confirmation before proceeding with each change in the from-versions. Changes in the to-version are automatically accepted unless a conflict exists.

–qall turns off automatic acceptance of changes in which only one contributor differs from the base contributor. cleardiff prompts for confirmation of such changes, as it does when two or more contributors differ from the base contributor.

–qnt/rivial turns off automated merging and prompts you to determine whether you want to proceed except in the case where a trivial merge (branch copy) would be done.

–abort is intended for use with scripts or batch jobs that involve merges. It allows completely automatic merges to proceed, but aborts any merge that requires user interaction.

pname1 pname2 ...

The pathnames of contributors to compare or merge. These can be view-extended or version-extended path names. Only one such argument is required if you also specify a file with the –base option.

• On a Windows system, compare the current version of an element with a scratch copy in your home directory.

  z:\myvob> cleardiff msg.c C:\users\susan\msg.c.tmp
  ********************************
  <<< file 1: msg.c
  >>> file 2: C:\users\susan\msg.c.tmp
  ********************************
  ----------[changed 5]--------|-----------[changed to 5]------------
         static char msg[256]; | static char msg[BUFSIZ];
                              -|-
  ---------[changed 9-11]------|-----------[changed to 9]------------
                 env_user(),   | env_user(), env_home(), e+
                 env_home(),   |-
                 env_time() ); |
                              -|

• On a UNIX or Linux system, compare the same files, this time in a separate window and using a small font.

  % cleardiff -tiny msg.c ~/msg.c.tmp

• On a Windows system, compare the most recent versions on two branches of an element.

  y:\lib_vob> cleardiff util.c@@\main\LATEST
  util.c@@\main\rel2_bugfix\LATEST

cleartool, diff, diff(1), merge, type_manager, xclearcase, xcleardiff