Compare two files

F8 compares the content of two files, line by line. One file in each panel — otherwise Meneaufile asks.

The file with the same name first. When the other panel shows a file with the same name, that is the one F8 — or “Compare by content”, on right-click — compares the file with, wherever its cursor is. Without a namesake, it is the file designated opposite: old.txt against new.txt.

The two views

• Side by side: the two versions face to face, the blocks aligned.
• Unified view: a single text, additions and removals mixed together — the one you read when differences are rare.

The counter tells the extent: +12 −3. “Next difference” and “Previous difference” jump from block to block without searching by eye.

Copying text

Text is selected with the mouse and copied with Ctrl+C. Side by side, each half has its own selection: you copy the lines of one file only, and Ctrl+A takes them all. Line numbers stay out of the copy, and each line keeps its line break.

Code keeps its colours

A .php, a .dart, a .json are read here with the colours of the viewer — the same palette, not a second one: a file does not change appearance depending on whether you read it or compare it. A commit’s diff carries them too.

What the file name does not announce stays as text: a .txt where // is not a comment, a log, a file with no extension.

Line by line, and not on the whole file. A comparer shows lines from two versions, mixed in reading order: chaining them to colour them as one block would open a comment on a removed line and close it on an added line. A visible consequence — a multi-line /* */ is tinted only on its first line.

Carrying a block over

Edit mode adds two actions on each block: “Send this block to the left” and “Send this block to the right”. This is how you repair one file with the other, block by block, without leaving the comparison.

Nothing is written until you save: “Save left”, “Save right”, or “Save both”.

What it says rather than staying silent

• Both versions are identical line for line — the comparison did take place.
• Nothing to compare line by line: the file is not text, or could not be read.
• One of the two files has changed on disk — “Reload” resumes the comparison on what is there now.

Two tables can be compared too

In a database, F8 on two tables compares their structures: there are no bytes, but there are fields, their types and their indexes. The menu says so — the entry is then called “Compare the structures”.

Meneaufile manual, in English.