Refining ediff's idea of a difference?

Refining ediff's idea of a difference?

[Doug Lewan]

Using ediff I find that very often one difference one difference seems inappropriately large and might obscure a small difference.

In the example at hand I have the two following diffs:

    <<<< A
     -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-01-29 15:28:47
    >>>> B
     -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-01-29 15:27:28
    -fid server_info_reply_que  -val 
    -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val 
    -fid server_info_tran_id  -val 
    -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val 
    -fid server_info_seq_id  -val 
    ...

The lines following diff A are these
    <<<< A
    -fid server_info_reply_que  -val 
    -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val 
    -fid server_info_tran_id  -val 
    -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val 
    -fid server_info_seq_id  -val 
which look, to my eye, identical to those flagged as different in diff B.

I'd rather those lines are recognized as identical, so the diff is minimal. Is there a conventional way to do that?

I haven't found anything obvious in ediff customization. Browsing the code didn't reveal much more than the fact that ediff seems to use diff with no options. It clearly does more with that information.

Thanks in advance.

-- 
,Doug
Douglas Lewan
Shubert Ticketing
(201) 489-8600 ext 224 or ext 4335

The human brain is the most complex thing known to man, according to the human brain.

Re: Refining ediff's idea of a difference?

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Doug Lewan <dougl@shubertticketing.com>
> Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 23:11:41 +0000
> 
> Using ediff I find that very often one difference one difference seems inappropriately large and might obscure a small difference.
> 
> In the example at hand I have the two following diffs:
> 
>     <<<< A
>      -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-01-29 15:28:47
>     >>>> B
>      -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-01-29 15:27:28
>     -fid server_info_reply_que  -val 
>     -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val 
>     -fid server_info_tran_id  -val 
>     -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val 
>     -fid server_info_seq_id  -val 
>     ...
> 
> The lines following diff A are these
>     <<<< A
>     -fid server_info_reply_que  -val 
>     -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val 
>     -fid server_info_tran_id  -val 
>     -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val 
>     -fid server_info_seq_id  -val 
> which look, to my eye, identical to those flagged as different in diff B.
> 
> I'd rather those lines are recognized as identical, so the diff is minimal. Is there a conventional way to do that?

Ediff just obeys here what the Diff utility outputs.  So try playing
with Diff switches, like -d, -b, -B, -w, --horizon-lines.

> I haven't found anything obvious in ediff customization. Browsing the code didn't reveal much more than the fact that ediff seems to use diff with no options. It clearly does more with that information.

The relevant defcustom is ediff-diff-options.

RE: Refining ediff's idea of a difference?

[Doug Lewan]

ELi,

You wrote:
> The relevant defcustom is ediff-diff-options.

I'll play with different values and see what happens.

Thanks.
-- 
,Doug
Douglas Lewan
Shubert Ticketing
(201) 489-8600 ext 224 or ext 4335

The human brain is the most complex thing known to man, according to the human brain.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: dougl=shubertticketing.com
> On Behalf Of Eli Zaretskii
> Subject: Re: Refining ediff's idea of a difference?
> 
> > From: Doug Lewan
> > Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 23:11:41 +0000
> >
> > Using ediff I find that very often one difference one difference
> seems inappropriately large and might obscure a small difference.
> >
> > In the example at hand I have the two following diffs:
> >
> >     <<<< A
> >      -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-
> 01-29 15:28:47
> >     >>>> B
> >      -clrobj server_info_blk -fid server_info_begin_time  -val 2015-
> 01-29 15:27:28
> >     -fid server_info_reply_que  -val
> >     -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val
> >     -fid server_info_tran_id  -val
> >     -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val
> >     -fid server_info_seq_id  -val
> >     ...
> >
> > The lines following diff A are these
> >     <<<< A
> >     -fid server_info_reply_que  -val
> >     -fid server_info_tran_msg_type  -val
> >     -fid server_info_tran_id  -val
> >     -fid server_info_seq_msg_type  -val
> >     -fid server_info_seq_id  -val
> > which look, to my eye, identical to those flagged as different in
> diff B.
> >
> > I'd rather those lines are recognized as identical, so the diff is
> minimal. Is there a conventional way to do that?
> 
> Ediff just obeys here what the Diff utility outputs.  So try playing
> with Diff switches, like -d, -b, -B, -w, --horizon-lines.
> 
> > I haven't found anything obvious in ediff customization. Browsing the
> code didn't reveal much more than the fact that ediff seems to use diff
> with no options. It clearly does more with that information.
> 
> The relevant defcustom is ediff-diff-options.