I\'m looking for a tool that will allow me to: Take a diff between two given pla
ID: 657263 • Letter: I
Question
I'm looking for a tool that will allow me to:
Take a diff between two given plain text files
Display the diff on screen in a traditional two-pane format, with differences highlighted
Print the diff, in a similar two-pane format, still with differences highlighted
Requirements:
Must be able to run on Windows 8
Displays and prints the diff in a left/right fashion, similar to many graphical diff utilities like for example WinMerge (I don't want something like the output of the Unix diff command)
Can print to any paper format (within reason; I'm mostly interested in landscape A4, but also have access to fancier equipment and the ability to use that may come in handy at times), and word-wraps the lines in the text as needed to fit the text on the page; word-wrap indications in the print output would be greatly beneficial but not strictly a requirement
Desires:
Free (gratis) is strongly desired
The ability to intelligently handle text files that use different character encodings (for example UTF-8 on one side and UTF-16 on the other side of the comparison) would be very nice
Syntax highlighting for SQL, C# and Javascript (both on screen and in print) would be very nice, but is not required
Line number printing would be very nice
Nice extras to have:
Print preview would be nice
Configurable font sizes (especially for print output) would be nice
Open source would be nice
What software might meet my needs?
Explanation / Answer
You want WinMerge. It will print highlighted differences, has print preview & is free.
[Update] I just tried Beyond Compare (v3, there is av4 available now) and it will even let you save the comparison as HTML. That should be enough(?). It's not free, but is worth the money for the extra features.
Related Questions
drjack9650@gmail.com
Navigate
Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.