Keywords: latexdiff latex diff web online pdfdiff
An web interface for git-latexdiff (which is eventually based on latexdiff).
- Easy to Use: The input is two overleaf project zip file.
- Run your own backend: You can run and use your own backend, no file is sent to any remote server.
- Ready for paper submission: TODO
- Run your own API endpoint: You can run your own backend for better data security.
- Use the provided default API endpoint: All uploaded files will be deleted and not preserved.
(P.S. I'm excited to provide my first public service to the whole internet. Any issue related to the public API endpoint is also welcomed.)
docker pull am009/latexdiff-web-worker && \
docker run -p 8000:8000 -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock -v /tmp:/tmp --name latexdiff-backend -d am009/latexdiff-web-backend
Create a folder with the following three files:
new.zip: zipped latex project (new version).old.zip: zipped latex project (old version).config.json: config for the diff. See docs/config.md for details.
Then run the docker:
docker run --rm -v <path-to-folder>:/work am009/latexdiff-web-workerThen you will get the following file structure:
- <path-to-folder>/
diff.pdf: the diff result.git-latexdiff: the temp folder forgit-latexdiffnew: new project but the main tex is generated by latexdiff.main.tex: generated bylatexdiff old-main-fl.tex new-main-fl.tex > main.tex.main.tex.orig: The backup original main.tex.
old: old projectold-main-fl.tex: expanded old project tex.new-main-fl.tex: expanded new project tex.
git: the git repo containing two commit forgit latexdiffcommand.
Worker
- Initialize a git repo and commit everything
- Extract the new project, overwrite everything, commit again
- Invoke the git-latexdiff project
- git-latexdiff first runs latex-expand over two versions of projects
- Then, it runs latexdiff to get the diffed tex file.
- Compile the tex file and get the result pdf file.
Website
The web app is a simple web interface for the docker.
- For security reasons, everything happens in a docker container with no network.
- To save storage space and keep user's privacy, everything (files and the docker container) is deleted.
- If any error occurs, the output, and the command line to reproduce the run is returned to the user.
You can specify -e DEBUG=1 to the docker run command, and the pdf diff will be generated to a git latexdiff temp folder (e.g., git-latexdiff.2026).
Because unknown options for git latexdiff will be passed to latexdiff, so both tools' options can be specified in other options.
options for latexdiff
Usage: /usr/bin/latexdiff [options] old.tex new.tex > diff.tex
Compares two latex files and writes tex code to stdout, which has the same format as new.tex but
has all changes relative to old.tex marked up or commented. Note that old.tex and new.tex need to
be real files (not pipes or similar) as they are opened twice.
--type=markupstyle
-t markupstyle Add code to preamble for selected markup style
Available styles: UNDERLINE CTRADITIONAL TRADITIONAL CFONT FONTSTRIKE INVISIBLE
CHANGEBAR CCHANGEBAR CULINECHBAR CFONTCHBAR BOLD PDFCOMMENT
[ Default: UNDERLINE ]
--subtype=markstyle
-s markstyle Add code to preamble for selected style for bracketing
commands (e.g. to mark changes in margin)
Available styles: SAFE MARGIN DVIPSCOL COLOR ZLABEL ONLYCHANGEDPAGE (LABEL)*
[ Default: SAFE ]
* LABEL subtype is deprecated
--floattype=markstyle
-f markstyle Add code to preamble for selected style which
replace standard marking and markup commands within floats
(e.g., marginal remarks cause an error within floats
so marginal marking can be disabled thus)
Available styles: FLOATSAFE IDENTICAL
[ Default: FLOATSAFE ]
--encoding=enc
-e enc Specify encoding of old.tex and new.tex. Typical encodings are
ascii, utf8, latin1, latin9. A list of available encodings can be
obtained by executing
perl -MEncode -e 'print join ("\n",Encode->encodings( ":all" )) ;'
[Default encoding is utf8 unless the first few lines of the preamble contain
an invocation "\usepackage[..]{inputenc} in which case the
encoding chosen by this command is asssumed. Note that ASCII (standard
latex) is a subset of utf8]
--preamble=file
-p file Insert file at end of preamble instead of auto-generating
preamble. The preamble must define the following commands
\DIFaddbegin,\DIFaddend,\DIFadd{..},
\DIFdelbegin,\DIFdelend,\DIFdel{..},
and varieties for use within floats
\DIFaddbeginFL,\DIFaddendFL,\DIFaddFL{..},
\DIFdelbeginFL,\DIFdelendFL,\DIFdelFL{..}
(If this option is set -t, -s, and -f options
are ignored.)
--exclude-safecmd=exclude-file
--exclude-safecmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
-A exclude-file
--replace-safecmd=replace-file
--append-safecmd=append-file
--append-safecmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
-a append-file Exclude from, replace or append to the list of regex
matching commands which are safe to use within the
scope of a \DIFadd or \DIFdel command. The file must contain
one Perl-RegEx per line (Comment lines beginning with # or % are
ignored). A literal comma within the comma-separated list must be
escaped thus "\,", Note that the RegEx needs to match the whole of
the token, i.e., /^regex$/ is implied and that the initial
"\" of the command is not included. The --exclude-safecmd
and --append-safecmd options can be combined with the --replace-safecmd
option and can be used repeatedly to add cumulatively to the lists.
--exclude-textcmd=exclude-file
--exclude-textcmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
-X exclude-file
--replace-textcmd=replace-file
--append-textcmd=append-file
--append-textcmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
-x append-file Exclude from, replace or append to the list of regex
matching commands whose last argument is text. See
entry for --exclude-safecmd directly above for further details.
--replace-context1cmd=replace-file
--append-context1cmd=append-file
--append-context1cmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
Replace or append to the list of regex matching commands
whose last argument is text but which require a particular
context to work, e.g. \caption will only work within a figure
or table. These commands behave like text commands, except when
they occur in a deleted section, when they are disabled, but their
argument is shown as deleted text.
--replace-context2cmd=replace-file
--append-context2cmd=append-file
--append-context2cmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
As corresponding commands for context1. The only difference is that
context2 commands are completely disabled in deleted sections, including
their arguments.
context2 commands are also the only commands in the preamble, whose argument will
be processed in word-by-word mode (which only works, if they occur no more than
once in the preamble).
--exclude-mboxsafecmd=exclude-file
--exclude-mboxsafecmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
--append-mboxsafecmd=append-file
--append-mboxsafecmd="cmd1,cmd2,..."
Define safe commands, which additionally need to be protected by encapsulating
in an \mbox{..}. This is sometimes needed to get around incompatibilities
between external packages and the ulem package, which is used for highlighting
in the default style UNDERLINE as well as CULINECHBAR CFONTSTRIKE
--config var1=val1,var2=val2,...
-c var1=val1,.. Set configuration variables.
-c configfile Available variables:
ARRENV (RegEx)
COUNTERCMD (RegEx)
FLOATENV (RegEx)
ITEMCMD (RegEx)
LISTENV (RegEx)
MATHARRENV (RegEx)
MATHARRREPL (String)
MATHENV (RegEx)
MATHREPL (String)
MINWORDSBLOCK (Integer)
PICTUREENV (RegEx)
SCALEDELGRAPHICS (Float)
VERBATIMENV (RegEx)
VERBATIMLINEENV (RegEx)
CUSTOMDIFCMD (RegEx)
This option can be repeated.
--add-to-config varenv1=pattern1,varenv2=pattern2
For configuration variables containing a regular expression (essentially those ending
in ENV, and COUNTERCMD) this provides an alternative way to modify the configuration
variables. Instead of setting the complete pattern, with this option it is possible to add an
alternative pattern. varenv must be one of the variables listed above that take a regular
expression as argument, and pattern is any regular expression (which might need to be
protected from the shell by quotation). Several patterns can be added at once by using semi-colons
to separate them, e.g. --add-to-config "LISTENV=myitemize;myenumerate,COUNTERCMD=endnote"
--packages=pkg1,pkg2,..
Tell latexdiff that .tex file is processed with the packages in list
loaded. This is normally not necessary if the .tex file includes the
preamble, as the preamble is automatically scanned for \usepackage commands.
Use of the --packages option disables automatic scanning, so if for any
reason package specific parsing needs to be switched off, use --packages=none.
The following packages trigger special behaviour:
endfloat hyperref amsmath apacite siunitx cleveref glossaries mhchem chemformula/chemmacros
biblatex
[ Default: scan the preamble for \usepackage commands to determine
loaded packages.]
--show-preamble Print generated or included preamble commands to stdout.
--show-safecmd Print list of regex matching and excluding safe commands.
--show-textcmd Print list of regex matching and excluding commands with text argument.
--show-config Show values of configuration variables
--show-all Show all of the above
NB For all --show commands, no old.tex or new.tex file needs to be given, and no
differencing takes place.
Other configuration options:
--allow-spaces Allow spaces between bracketed or braced arguments to commands
[Default requires arguments to directly follow each other without
intervening spaces]
--math-markup=level Determine granularity of markup in displayed math environments:
Possible values for level are (both numerical and text labels are acceptable):
off or 0: suppress markup for math environments. Deleted equations will not
appear in diff file. This mode can be used if all the other modes
cause invalid latex code.
whole or 1: Differencing on the level of whole equations. Even trivial changes
to equations cause the whole equation to be marked changed. This
mode can be used if processing in coarse or fine mode results in
invalid latex code.
coarse or 2: Detect changes within equations marked up with a coarse
granularity; changes in equation type (e.g.displaymath to equation)
appear as a change to the complete equation. This mode is recommended
for situations where the content and order of some equations are still
being changed. [Default]
fine or 3: Detect small change in equations and mark up and fine granularity.
This mode is most suitable, if only minor changes to equations are
expected, e.g. correction of typos.
--graphics-markup=level Change highlight style for graphics embedded with \includegraphics commands
Possible values for level:
none,off or 0: no highlighting for figures
new-only or 1: surround newly added or changed figures with a blue frame [Default]
both or 2: highlight new figures with a blue frame and show deleted figures
at reduced scale, and crossed out with a red diagonal cross. Use configuration
variable SCALEDELGRAPHICS to set size of deleted figures.
Note that changes to the optional parameters will make the figure appear as changed
to latexdiff, and this figure will thus be highlighted.
--disable-citation-markup
--disable-auto-mbox Suppress citation markup and markup of other vulnerable commands in styles
using ulem (UNDERLINE,FONTSTRIKE, CULINECHBAR)
(the two options are identical and are simply aliases)
--enable-citation-markup
--enforce-auto-mbox Protect citation commands and other vulnerable commands in changed sections
with \mbox command, i.e. use default behaviour for ulem package for other packages
(the two options are identical and are simply aliases)
Miscelleneous options
--label=label
-L label Sets the labels used to describe the old and new files. The first use
of this option sets the label describing the old file and the second
use of the option sets the label for the new file.
[Default: use the filename and modification dates for the label]
--no-label Suppress inclusion of old and new file names as comment in output file
--visible-label Include old and new filenames (or labels set with --label option) as
visible output
--flatten Replace \input and \include commands within body by the content
of the files in their argument. If \includeonly is present in the
preamble, only those files are expanded into the document. However,
no recursion is done, i.e. \input and \include commands within
included sections are not expanded. The included files are assumed to
be located in the same directories as the old and new master files,
respectively, making it possible to organise files into old and new directories.
--flatten is applied recursively, so inputted files can contain further
\input statements. Also handles files included by the import package
(\import and \subimport), and \subfile command.
--filter-script=filterscript Run files through this filterscript (full path preferred) before processing.
The filterscript must take STDIN input and output to STDOUT.
When coupled with --flatten, each file will be run through the filter as it is brought in.
--ignore-filter-stderr When running with --filter-script, STDERR from the script may cause readability issues.
Turn this flag on to ignore STDERR from the filter script.
--help
-h Show this help text.
--ignore-warnings Suppress warnings about inconsistencies in length between input
and parsed strings and missing characters.
--verbose
-V Output various status information to stderr during processing.
Default is to work silently.
--version Show version number.
Internal options:
These options are mostly for automated use by latexdiff-vc. They can be used directly, but
the API should be considered less stable than for the other options.
--no-links Suppress generation of hyperreferences, used for minimal diffs
(option --only-changes of latexdiff-vc).
options for git latexdiff
Usage: git latexdiff [options] OLD [NEW]
git latexdiff [options] OLD --
git latexdiff [options] -- OLD
Call latexdiff on two Git revisions of a file.
OLD and NEW are Git revision identifiers. NEW defaults to HEAD.
If "--" is used for NEW, then diff against the working directory.
Options:
--help this help message
--help-examples show examples of usage
--main <file> name of the main LaTeX, R Sweave,
or Emacs Org mode file.
The search for the only file containing 'documentclass'
will be attempted, if not specified.
For non-LaTeX files, a reasonable `prepare` command
will be used unless explicitly provided
--no-view don't display the resulting PDF file
--latex run latex instead of pdflatex
--xelatex run xelatex instead of pdflatex
--lualatex run lualatex instead of pdflatex
--tectonic run tectonic instead of pdflatex
--bibtex, --bbl display changes in the bibliography
(runs bibtex to generate *.bbl files and
include them in the source file using
latexpand --expand-bbl before computing
the diff)
--biber like --bibtex, but runs biber instead.
--run-bibtex, -b run bibtex as well as latex to generate the PDF file
(pdflatex,bibtex,pdflatex,pdflatex)
NOTE: --bibtex usually works better
--run-biber run BibLaTex-Biber as well as latex to generate the PDF file
(pdflatex,biber,pdflatex,pdflatex)
NOTE: --biber usually works better
--view view the resulting PDF file
(default if -o is not used)
--pdf-viewer <cmd> use <cmd> to view the PDF file (default: $PDFVIEWER)
--no-cleanup don't cleanup temp dir after running
--no-flatten don't call latexpand to flatten the document
--cleanup MODE Cleanup temporary files according to MODE:
- keeppdf (default): keep only the
generated PDF file
- none: keep all temporary files
(may eat your diskspace)
- all: erase all generated files.
Problematic with --view when the
viewer is e.g. evince, and doesn't
like when the file being viewed is
deleted.
--latexmk use latexmk
--build-dir use pdfs from specific build directory
--latexopt pass additional options to latex (e.g. -shell-escape)
-o <file>, --output <file>
copy resulting PDF into <file> (usually ending with .pdf)
Implies "--cleanup all"
--tmpdirprefix where temporary directory will be created (default: /tmp).
Relative path will use repository root as a base
--verbose, -v give more verbose output
--quiet redirect output from subprocesses to log files
--prepare <cmd> run <cmd> before latexdiff (e.g. run make to generate
included files)
--filter <cmd> run <cmd> after latexdiff and before compilation
(e.g. to fix up latexdiff output)
--ln-untracked symlink uncommited files from the working directory
--version show git-latexdiff version.
--subtree checkout the tree at and below the main file
(enabled by default, disable with --whole-tree)
--whole-tree checkout the whole tree (contrast with --subtree)
--ignore-latex-errors keep on going even if latex gives errors, so long as
a PDF file is produced
--ignore-makefile ignore the Makefile, build as though it doesn't exist
-* other options are passed directly to latexdiff
--latexpand OPT pass option OPT to latexpand. Use multiple times like
--latexpand OPT1 --latexpand OPT2 to pass multiple options.
--latexdiff-flatten use --flatten from latexdiff instead of latexpand
Unrecognized options are passed unmodified to latexdiff.