git-diff-extended

The git-diff-extended script replaces the standard diff command with git diff to be able to compare strings on the commandine (and not only files). Additionally we make use of the great diff-highlight script (https://github.com/git/git/tree/master/contrib/diff-highlight) which improves git diff highlighting to show per character differences.

Requirements

• install git

Setup

1. cp git-diff-extended.sh in a certain directory, e.g. ~/bin

2. add this directory (~/bin) to $PATH, if not yet the case. Just add the following in ~/.bash_profile

   export PATH=~/bin:$PATH

3. add the following alias to ~/.bash_profile

   alias diff=git-diff-extended.sh $1

To enable per-character diff highlighting we need to do the following:

1. search the diff-highlight script in your git installation. The diff-highlight tool is part of git distributions but unfortunately its a bit hidden in the installation

   e.g. on MacOS its located in /usr/local/Cellar/git/<git-version>/share/git-core/contrib/diff-highlight/diff-highlight

2. cp diff-highlight to ~/bin (with the small risk that you miss updates on the diff-highlight with newer git versions)

   alternatively you can create a link, but this means it will not work after git update (because git version is in the path)

3. Add the following to ~/.gitconfig

[pager]
        diff = diff-highlight | less
        log = diff-highlight | less
        show = diff-highlight | less

Usage

To compare 2 strings

The strings may also contain spaces. Just surround them with quotation marks

If you run the command without parameters the help is displayed