sdiff

sdiff is a command line tool that stands for "side-by-side diff". It is used to compare two files line by line. In its output, it shows the differences between the files in a side-by-side format.

The command syntax for sdiff is:

sdiff [options] file1 file2

By default, sdiff displays the diff output in a side-by-side format, with identical lines aligned in two columns. Lines that differ are marked with a | character.

In addition to the side-by-side format, sdiff also supports other output formats such as unified (-u) and context (-c) formats, which can be specified using command line options.

The sdiff tool can be helpful for comparing files with many lines and spotting the differences quickly. It also allows the comparison of files that are not sorted or have different line lengths.

Another useful feature of sdiff is that it supports merging changes from one file to another interactively. It prompts the user and allows them to choose whether to include changes from either file or keep both versions.

sdiff can also be used to compare the differences between directories. It compares corresponding files using their names and shows the differences between them.

Different options can be used with sdiff to customize the behavior. For example, the "-w" option can be used to set the width of the output, and the "-l" option can be used to suppress the repeated output of common lines.

Overall, sdiff is a powerful command line tool for comparing and merging files in different formats. It provides flexibility and customization options to suit various requirements.