BBDIFF(1) BBEdit Command Line Reference BBDIFF(1)
NAME
bbdiff - It still doesn't suck.
SYNOPSIS
bbdiff [ --<options> ] [ FILE1 FILE2 | FOLDER1 FOLDER2 ]
DESCRIPTION
The bbdiff tool is a simple utility that allows you to specify two
files, or folders, for comparison via BBEdit's Find Differences com-
mand. Type 'bbdiff' followed by two file or folder names to invoke
Find Differences on those items.
BBEdit is a commercial text editor from Bare Bones Software.
OPTIONS
The bbdiff tool accepts only long form switches (options preceded by
two dashes). The options offered by the bbdiff tool mirror the settings
available in the Find Differences dialog.
Use "--" to end switch parsing. For example, to find differences
between a file named "-a" and a file named "-z", use:
bbdiff -- -a -z
--case-sensitive
Equivalent to the "Case Sensitive" option in the dialog. If you
use this option, the comparison will be performed with case sensi-
tivity on.
--flatten-folders
Equivalent to the "Flatten Hierarchies" option in the dialog. If
you use this option, BBEdit considers the files in the folders as
a single flat list, allowing a file in one folder to match a file
of the same name in the other folder, regardless of whether they
are in the same subfolder in both hierarchies.
--help
Display a basic help line with a summary of the available options.
--ignore-curly-quotes
Equivalent to the "Ignore Curly Quotes" option in the dialog. If
you use this option, straight quotes and curly (typographer's)
quotes will be considered identical for purposes of comparison.
--ignore-extra-spaces
Equivalent to the "Ignore Spaces: Runs" option in the dialog. If
you use this option, whitespace runs of any length will be consid-
ered identical for purposes of comparison.
--ignore-leading-spaces
Equivalent to the "Ignore Spaces: Leading" option in the dialog.
If you use this option, whitespace runs of any length at the
beginning of a line will be considered identical for purposes of
comparison.
--ignore-trailing-spaces
Equivalent to the "Ignore Spaces: Trailing" option in the dialog.
If you use this option, whitespace runs of any length at the end
of a line will be considered identical for purposes of comparison.
--ignore-spaces
Equivalent to using all three of the preceding --ignore...spaces
options together.
--resume
Used in combination with --wait, this switch will cause the appli-
cation which was frontmost when the bbdiff tool was invoked to be
made frontmost again once you close the files specified on the
command line.
--short-version
Display the short-form version number of the bbdiff command line
tool.
--show-identical-files
Equivalent to the "List Identical Files" option in the dialog (for
folder comparisons). If you use this option, BBEdit will list all
common files in the compared folders regardless of their differ-
ences state. Otherwise, BBEdit will list only files for which
there are changes (paired files having differences) in the set of
items that appear in both folders.
--skip-shielded-folders
Equivalent to the "Skip (...) Folders" option in the dialog (for
folder comparisons). If you use this option, BBEdit will ignore
all files contained in folders whose names are enclosed in paren-
theses when performing the comparison.
--text-files-only
Equivalent to the "Only List Text Files" option in the dialog (for
folder comparisons). If you use this option, BBEdit will compare
only files which it considers to be text files when performing the
comparison. Otherwise, BBEdit will compare all files present in
the chosen folders.
BBEdit will consider a file to be a text file if it has a type of
"TEXT" (or other well-known text type), or, if the file is type-
less, according to the option chosen for "If a File's Type is
Unknown" in the Text Files: Opening panel of the Preferences win-
dow.
--version
Display the current version number of the bbdiff command line tool
and the BBEdit application.
--wait
Wait until the file is closed in BBEdit. Normally, the bbdiff tool
exits immediately after the specified files or folders are opened
in BBEdit. The --wait switch allows the bbdiff tool to be used as
an external differences engine for Unix tools that support such an
option, by not returning back to the calling tool in the Terminal
until the editing session is over.
AUTHORS
Bare Bones Software, Inc.
Web site: http://www.barebones.com/
Email: support@barebones.com
March 2005 Bare Bones Software BBDIFF(1)
Mac OS X 10.4 - Generated Fri Apr 29 06:55:55 CDT 2005
