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DiffFork is a diff tool for Mac OS X. DiffFork can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual format.
Major Text Diff features include:
Block Guide and Scrolling in Sync.
DiffFork supports Scrolling in Sync and Block Guide to help you identify the
differences in the counterpart text files. Block Guide is the linking lines
between the blocks.
Differences with Background Colors.
Differences are marked with background colors according to their “Types”:
red for removed, yellow for modified and green for added.
Differences have “Levels” to help you understand them more easily and
nested differences are marked with darker background colors.
Visual Feedback.
A thin blue border will be displayed around the text of the selected difference block.
For the “insertion”, a “Ribbon” (red or green, depending on the context) will be
displayed to the left side of the text, in the place where the insertion is supposed to occur (or occurred).
Edit in Place.
You can “input wherever you have output”. Differences will be updated according to your
changes.
Version Control System integration
DiffFork command-line utility supports OPTION “-w –wait”, which can be used to help work with Git, Mercurial, Subversion, etc.
Encoding Detection.
When you drag and drop text files on to the Diff window, DiffFork attempts to
determine the encoding of the files, so they can be read and displayed correctly.
Major Folder Diff features include:
“Shadow diff” and ”Binary diff”.
The folder diff involves two steps: the first “Shadow diff” and the second
“Binary diff”. In the first step “shadow diff”, DiffFork scans folders and
do a fast inaccurate compare to find out the initial different items (files
and folders). And then, in the second step “binary diff”, items marked as SAME
in the previous step are compared again byte for byte for accurate results.
Instant results display.
When DiffFork scans folders and does the diffing, the results will be displayed
as soon as possible. You don’t have to wait until the whole process is completed.
Exclude rules.
DiffFork uses a config file to control its behavior when it scans for files that
it is to exclude. Excluded files will not be diffed and displayed.
The config file consists of a list of patterns, with one pattern a line.
The # character is treated as a comment character.
Two types of pattern syntax can be used: glob and regular expression.
Benefits:
DiffFork’s customized text editor presents differences in a nice visual format,
providing a pretty good option for quick work.
System Requirements:
Mac OS X 10.5 and later, Intel only.
Product Link:
http://www.dotfork.com/difffork/
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September 5th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I am always interested in tools to compare different versions of documents (I own DeltaWalker and Araxis Merge, for example) but it seems DiffFork does not support .doc or .docx files and that is a huge disatvantage for my needs. Also I had the impression that the comparing process is quite slow. However, I like the clear UI.
September 6th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Thank you for the feedback, TomEck!
DiffFork was original designed to diff source code. But I think it’s possible to add some kind of filter support (convert to plaintext first and then diff) on demand for other formats.
And sorry for the performance issue. I am always trying to improve it.
It would be helpful to send me some sample files for testing if they are not sensitive (email: diff, followed by the at symbol, followed by dotfork.com).
Thanks again for trying the app and sharing the thoughts.
—
Xia
DiffFork Developer
September 6th, 2010 at 4:06 am
If your registration info doesn’t work, for example, in some cases that “Registered Name” contains characters with accent, or other non-ascii characters, please email me and I will get back to you.
No such reports yet, just in case.
September 6th, 2010 at 5:03 am
Thank you for your reply, Xia.
Unfortunately, the tested files are sensitive and I am not able to send them to you.
However, they are simple text files of 80 pages or so in MS WORD format with some layout formats (headings, footnotes etc.). You should be able to reproduce such files easily.
Does your upgrade policy apply to licenses bought via macZOT today? Would be quite fair and I would consider to support the development of the mentioned filters by buying a license today.
From their website:
“Upgrade Policy. Minor upgrades are free. Major upgrades are free within three years of purchase, and you are entitled to at least one major upgrade for free. That is to say, you will get free major upgrades(e.g., from 1.x to 2.x) for three years since your purchase. If there are no such major upgrades for three years since your purchase, you can still get a free major upgrade, whenever it is released.”
September 6th, 2010 at 5:33 am
Oh Yes. The upgrade policy applies to macZOT today. Sorry didn’t mention
it in the first place.
September 6th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
I’ve had my eye on this app for some time now. I’ve tried the trial a couple of times and checked out the developer’s web site, and now that it’s come to macZot at such an attractive price, I’ve bought a license.
Thanks to the dev for creating this useful application!
September 6th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
I tried using this as the svn diff command, and it just hangs. I have to use “force quit” on it. I used the script provided on the difffork web site (changing the DIFF to point to /Users/stephen/bin/difffork)
I would have assumed that svn would have been one of the larger use cases for a tool like this, and had it worked I would probably have bought it. But alas. :-(
Stephen
September 6th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Hi Stephen,
Please try check out the help on svn integration.
http://www.dotfork.com/difffork/tutorial/#version-control-system-integration
If it still doesn’t work, please email me. Thanks.
September 6th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Sorry, you used the script. Please email me with a little bit more info and
I will get back to you.