CODEWITHSUNDEEP
diff
Buttons840
Buttons840

Reputation: 9637

When diffing folders, how can I detect moved or renamed files?

I am comparing two folders using a diff tool. I have tried a few different diff tools, but right now I'm using WinMerge. There are many files which show as unique to the right or left side, for example:

On the right we have: /bar/some_organized_characters.txt

On the left we have: /foo/some_similar_organized_characters.txt

The text file may have slight variations, but it's mostly similar. I would expect a tool to exist in most merge/diff tools which could tell you that these files are likely the "same" (meaning they have the same base), but the file has been moved, renamed, and slightly modified.

What I'm specifically trying to do is a "vendor merge." We have some customized software, and we want to merge the changes from a recent official release with the changes we have made. Many files have moved in the latest official release, and finding every move/rename by hand is difficult.

Upvotes: 5

Views: 1495

Answers (2)

qwr
qwr

Reputation: 10955

I don't think this is possible with diff (I couldn't find it in the manpage).

However git diff detects this by default and can create patches that are applied with git apply in a similar way to patch. You can use it on arbitrary directories, not just repos, with --no-index (see Diffing between two entire directories/projects in hg or git?).

Upvotes: 1

Adam Dymitruk
Adam Dymitruk

Reputation: 129694

use a version control tool to check for changes. Simply commit the structure as an initial commit. Then overwrite the structure with the new version and commit that. The patch view will show you moved items. I've been able to do this with Git very easily. These tools are made to see how something has changed and will dig into the contents of the file. In fact, in git, you can set the threshold of what percentage of changes in a file constitutes a move and change, vs a delete and create.

Upvotes: 3

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