diffing.html #1

<TITLE>Diffing Files and Folders</TITLE>
<p>P4Web enables you to compare (<i>diff</i>) file revisions or folders to display changes.  </p>
<p>You can diff file revisions as follows:</p>
<ul>
  <li> To compare two adjacent file revisions (for example, revisions #3 and #4), 
    display the file's revision history and click <img  src="/rundiff?icon">.</li>
  <p>  
  <li>To display all changes made to a file after you opened it for edit, including 
    changes submitted by other users, choose <b><strong>Actions&gt;Diff 
    Head Rev vs. Workspace File</strong>. 
    </b></li>
  <p> 
  <li>To display the differences between any two comparable files in the depot, 
    choose <strong>Actions&gt;Diff Two Depot Files..</strong><b>.</b> and specify the desired files</li>
</ul>

<p>
To diff folders, choose <strong>Actions &gt;Diff Two Folders...</strong> and specify the paths that you want to compare. 
<p>
<hr>

<h3>Configuring Diff Display</h3>
<p> To configure default settings for the browser session, click <b>Settings</b> 
  or, if you are viewing a diff, click <b>Diff settings,</b> and choose the desired 
  option.You can configure diff options as follows:</p>
<b>Diff formats</b> 
<ul>
  <li>Two pane (full file): displays the entire contents of both files side by 
    side, with diffs highlighted.</li>
  <li>Two pane (context diffs): displays diffs side by side, preceded and followed 
    by the specified number of context (unchanged) lines, to enable you to see 
    the differences in the context of the surrounding text.</li>
  <li>Diffs only: displays diffs in line, using a UNIX-style format.</li>
  <li>RCS: displays diffs using a format based on Revision Control System (RCS).</li>
  <li>Unified format: displays single diff chunks with flags indicating changes.</li>
  <li>Summary: displays the number of lines added, deleted, and changed.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Two-pane line wrapping</b>: specifies how lines are wrapped when diffs are 
  displayed side by side.</p>
<p><b>Diffs shown</b>: specifies how white space diffs are handled</p>
<p><b>Diffs used for resolving files</b>: specifies which diffs are significant 
  when resolving files.</p>
<hr>

<h3>Notes</h3>
<p><b>Configuring diff utilities</b>: By default, P4Web uses Perforce's diff utilities. 
  However, if P4Web and your browser are running on the same computer, you can 
  configure another diff utility by setting the P4DIFF environment variable. To 
  specify the path and executable of the desired program. To specify arguments 
  for the external diff program, use the <tt>-d</tt> flag.</p>
<p><b>Diffing large files</b>: if you diff a file that exceed 10% of the P4Web 
  <b>Page content limit</b> setting, P4Web displays the diffs using Context mode, 
  and advises you how much to increase the setting if you want to use full file 
  mode to diff the file.</p>