diff showing only differences inside line












5















I want to compare lines in two files, but to minimize noise in the output, I want only the actual differences in the lines to be printed.



For instance, given the two files below:



a.txt



a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


b.txt



a Ь c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


I want the output to be something like:



[-b-]{+Ь+}


Currently, the best approach I found was to use git diff --word-diff, but it outputs the whole line:



a [-b-]{+Ь+} c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


Is there a more direct way to do it, other than manually parsing the output? Also, ideally I would prefer to use something more commonly available than git diff, e.g. a POSIX shell tool that would not require the user to install extra packages.










share|improve this question





























    5















    I want to compare lines in two files, but to minimize noise in the output, I want only the actual differences in the lines to be printed.



    For instance, given the two files below:



    a.txt



    a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


    b.txt



    a Ь c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


    I want the output to be something like:



    [-b-]{+Ь+}


    Currently, the best approach I found was to use git diff --word-diff, but it outputs the whole line:



    a [-b-]{+Ь+} c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


    Is there a more direct way to do it, other than manually parsing the output? Also, ideally I would prefer to use something more commonly available than git diff, e.g. a POSIX shell tool that would not require the user to install extra packages.










    share|improve this question



























      5












      5








      5








      I want to compare lines in two files, but to minimize noise in the output, I want only the actual differences in the lines to be printed.



      For instance, given the two files below:



      a.txt



      a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      b.txt



      a Ь c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      I want the output to be something like:



      [-b-]{+Ь+}


      Currently, the best approach I found was to use git diff --word-diff, but it outputs the whole line:



      a [-b-]{+Ь+} c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      Is there a more direct way to do it, other than manually parsing the output? Also, ideally I would prefer to use something more commonly available than git diff, e.g. a POSIX shell tool that would not require the user to install extra packages.










      share|improve this question
















      I want to compare lines in two files, but to minimize noise in the output, I want only the actual differences in the lines to be printed.



      For instance, given the two files below:



      a.txt



      a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      b.txt



      a Ь c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      I want the output to be something like:



      [-b-]{+Ь+}


      Currently, the best approach I found was to use git diff --word-diff, but it outputs the whole line:



      a [-b-]{+Ь+} c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z


      Is there a more direct way to do it, other than manually parsing the output? Also, ideally I would prefer to use something more commonly available than git diff, e.g. a POSIX shell tool that would not require the user to install extra packages.







      shell-script diff






      share|improve this question















      share|improve this question













      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question








      edited 4 hours ago







      anol

















      asked 4 hours ago









      anolanol

      363411




      363411






















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

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          8














          Using wdiff:



          $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt

          ======================================================================
          [-b-] {+Ь+}
          ======================================================================


          The -3 or ---no-common option will remove words that are common between the two files and only show the differences.



          The ===... banner (and empty lines) may be removed with grep:



          $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt | grep -vx '=*'
          [-b-] {+Ь+}


          wdiff may also read unified diff data if you give it the -d or --diff-input option, for example from git:



          git diff somefile | wdiff -d -3


          Although wdiff is not a POSIX tool, it is commonly available.






          share|improve this answer

























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            1 Answer
            1






            active

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            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            8














            Using wdiff:



            $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt

            ======================================================================
            [-b-] {+Ь+}
            ======================================================================


            The -3 or ---no-common option will remove words that are common between the two files and only show the differences.



            The ===... banner (and empty lines) may be removed with grep:



            $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt | grep -vx '=*'
            [-b-] {+Ь+}


            wdiff may also read unified diff data if you give it the -d or --diff-input option, for example from git:



            git diff somefile | wdiff -d -3


            Although wdiff is not a POSIX tool, it is commonly available.






            share|improve this answer






























              8














              Using wdiff:



              $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt

              ======================================================================
              [-b-] {+Ь+}
              ======================================================================


              The -3 or ---no-common option will remove words that are common between the two files and only show the differences.



              The ===... banner (and empty lines) may be removed with grep:



              $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt | grep -vx '=*'
              [-b-] {+Ь+}


              wdiff may also read unified diff data if you give it the -d or --diff-input option, for example from git:



              git diff somefile | wdiff -d -3


              Although wdiff is not a POSIX tool, it is commonly available.






              share|improve this answer




























                8












                8








                8







                Using wdiff:



                $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt

                ======================================================================
                [-b-] {+Ь+}
                ======================================================================


                The -3 or ---no-common option will remove words that are common between the two files and only show the differences.



                The ===... banner (and empty lines) may be removed with grep:



                $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt | grep -vx '=*'
                [-b-] {+Ь+}


                wdiff may also read unified diff data if you give it the -d or --diff-input option, for example from git:



                git diff somefile | wdiff -d -3


                Although wdiff is not a POSIX tool, it is commonly available.






                share|improve this answer















                Using wdiff:



                $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt

                ======================================================================
                [-b-] {+Ь+}
                ======================================================================


                The -3 or ---no-common option will remove words that are common between the two files and only show the differences.



                The ===... banner (and empty lines) may be removed with grep:



                $ wdiff -3 a.txt b.txt | grep -vx '=*'
                [-b-] {+Ь+}


                wdiff may also read unified diff data if you give it the -d or --diff-input option, for example from git:



                git diff somefile | wdiff -d -3


                Although wdiff is not a POSIX tool, it is commonly available.







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited 4 hours ago

























                answered 4 hours ago









                KusalanandaKusalananda

                124k16235386




                124k16235386






























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