ndifftool

ndifftool is a graphical diff and merge tool for comparing text files. It is inspired by tools such as meld and diffuse, with a modal workflow closer to diffuse: normal navigation and block-level merging happen in Line mode, while direct text editing happens in Edit mode.

The application is built with Neutralinojs and CodeMirror 5. It runs as a lightweight desktop app and opens files passed on the command line.

Features

• Compare two text files side by side.
• Work with three panes for merge-style workflows.
• Open four or more files in a synchronized multi-pane layout.
• Use modal Line and Edit modes.
• Select and move whole lines between adjacent panes.
• Save the currently active pane back to its source file.
• Use synchronized scrolling and visual diff highlighting.

Modes

ndifftool has two interaction modes:

• Line mode is the default. Selections are expanded to whole lines, and the Left and Right buttons move selected lines between adjacent panes.
• Edit mode allows normal text editing within the active pane.

Press Enter to switch from Line mode to Edit mode. Press Escape to return to Line mode.

Usage

Run with two files for a side-by-side comparison:

ndifftool left.txt right.txt

Run with three files for a three-pane merge workflow:

ndifftool left.txt merged.txt right.txt

Run with four or more files for a custom multi-pane comparison:

ndifftool file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt file4.txt file5.txt

The active pane is highlighted. Click a pane to make it active, select lines in Line mode, then use the Left or Right buttons to copy the selected line range to the adjacent pane.

Saving

Use the Save button to write the active pane back to its original file path. On exit, ndifftool prompts for any modified files that have not been saved.

Installation

Using Homebrew

Install from the tap repository:

brew install openrightorg/tap/ndifftool

Or add the tap first:

brew tap openrightorg/tap
brew install ndifftool

From Source

make bootstrap
make build
sudo make install

By default, the wrapper executable is installed to /usr/local/bin/ndifftool and the runtime binary and resources.neu package are installed to /usr/local/libexec/ndifftool/. You can specify a custom installation prefix:

make install PREFIX=$HOME/.local

Building

Install the Neutralino CLI:

npm install -g @neutralinojs/neu

Download the Neutralino runtime assets:

make bootstrap

Build standalone release artifacts:

make build

Run in development mode:

make run

Build a macOS app bundle:

make app

Project Layout

• resources/index.html: application shell
• resources/styles.css: layout and diff styling
• resources/js/main.js: application logic
• resources/js/diff_match_patch.js: diff engine
• neutralino.config.json: Neutralino application configuration
• Makefile: common build and run targets

License

MIT