Newbie question re ediff

Newbie question re ediff

[mkeller]

Hi all,

This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my head...
thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person when
replying :).

I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on Windows
XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but cannot
figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get this:

"No such file or directory, diff"

After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder: C:\Program
Files\GnuWin32.

Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs file
"appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change the
_emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so, how
do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?

Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,

Matt
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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[B. T. Raven]

"mkeller" <mckellercran@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.4256.1171057558.2155.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org...
>
> Hi all,
>
> This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
> several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my
head...
> thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person
when
> replying :).
>
> I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on
Windows
> XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but
cannot
> figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get
this:
>
> "No such file or directory, diff"
>
> After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
> diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder:
C:\Program
> Files\GnuWin32.
>
> Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs
file
> "appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change
the
> _emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so,
how
> do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?
>
> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,
>
> Matt
> --
> View this message in context:
http://www.nabble.com/Newbie-question-re-ediff-tf3202866.html#a8893751
> Sent from the Emacs - Help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
>
>

It looks to me like you are typing in "diff" as a file or buffer name.  In
my w32 build (21.3 on msw98) the menu shows Tools > Compare(Ediff) > Two
files, two buffers, etc in a drop down list. In two buffers, if I accept
the default, it compares *scratch* with itself and generates 2 buffers, A
and B, in an Ediff frame, showing no differences. I don't think you needed
diffutils. I don't find anything named that under my emacs subdirectory,
only under cygwin, which I don't use to run emacs. Ediff is like dired and
probably many other parts of emacs: the code for it is loaded when you
invoke the command.
The .emacs (or _emacs) will be found in your HOME directory. If you don't
have one then add
set HOME ..\emacs (or wherever; it doesn't have to be with /bin, /lisp,
and the rest of the emacs files so it could be anywhere in a non networked
machine, even the root directory (the default in w32 if you don't set it
up somewhere else). Just C-xC-f .emacs, write something in it like:
(+ 1 1) and then write to wherever your home directory is with C-xC-w.
Emacs will suggest ~/ if it thinks it knows where your home directory is.
To put something more useful into .emacs, save a few Custom settings for
future sessions (under Options > Customize Emacs > Specific Option >
Customize variable > [Tab]).

Ed

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[mkeller]

Hi Ed and all,

*Thank you* for your help. However, this hasn't solved my problem. When I go
through the menu and choose Tools -> Compare (Ediff) the minibuffer says
"loading ediff..." and then "Searching for program: no such file or
directory, diff". I'm sure this is not that tough, but after spending a few
hours on google today trying to figure it out, I hoped that maybe this forum
would yiedl better results. Thanks,

Matt



It looks to me like you are typing in "diff" as a file or buffer name.  In
my w32 build (21.3 on msw98) the menu shows Tools > Compare(Ediff) > Two
files, two buffers, etc in a drop down list. In two buffers, if I accept
the default, it compares *scratch* with itself and generates 2 buffers, A
and B, in an Ediff frame, showing no differences. I don't think you needed
diffutils. I don't find anything named that under my emacs subdirectory,
only under cygwin, which I don't use to run emacs. Ediff is like dired and
probably many other parts of emacs: the code for it is loaded when you
invoke the command.
The .emacs (or _emacs) will be found in your HOME directory. If you don't
have one then add
set HOME ..\emacs (or wherever; it doesn't have to be with /bin, /lisp,
and the rest of the emacs files so it could be anywhere in a non networked
machine, even the root directory (the default in w32 if you don't set it
up somewhere else). Just C-xC-f .emacs, write something in it like:
(+ 1 1) and then write to wherever your home directory is with C-xC-w.
Emacs will suggest ~/ if it thinks it knows where your home directory is.
To put something more useful into .emacs, save a few Custom settings for
future sessions (under Options > Customize Emacs > Specific Option >
Customize variable > [Tab]).

Ed

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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Kevin Rodgers]

mkeller wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
> several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my head...
> thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person when
> replying :).
> 
> I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on Windows
> XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but cannot
> figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get this:
> 
> "No such file or directory, diff"
> 
> After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
> diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder: C:\Program
> Files\GnuWin32.
> 
> Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs file
> "appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change the
> _emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so, how
> do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?

Is C:\Program Files\GnuWin32 in your PATH environment variable?  The
simplest thing would be to add it, so that you can run diff (and any
other GnuWin32 programs you install) via M-! and M-|.  Your other option
is to set the Emacs ediff-diff-program variable to the absolute path
to the diff executable.

> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,

No need to apologize -- this is gnu.emacs.help!

-- 
Kevin Rodgers
Denver, Colorado, USA

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Wilmar Igl]

Hi, Matt!

As far as I know, Emacs is supposed to be integrated  in a UNIX/LINUX 
environment and calls certain commands which are supposed to be 
available under those OS, e.g. ispell or diff.

I had the same problem like you and solved it by installing the 
(suprise, suprise) free "Windows Services for Unix" (SFU) which is 
available from

http://www.microsoft.com/germany/windowsserver2003/technologien/sfu/default.mspx

Installing another Unix emulation, like Cygwin, will do the same job, 
but is more difficult to install. I only tested the ediff functions with 
SFU with two buffers, but it worked fine.

If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Wilmar from Wuerzburg

PS: I'd rather use a more uptodate version of EmacsW32 (with Win32 
adaptations included) which is available from 
<http://ourcomments.org/Emacs/EmacsW32.html>.


mkeller schrieb:
> Hi all,
> 
> This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
> several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my head...
> thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person when
> replying :).
> 
> I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on Windows
> XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but cannot
> figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get this:
> 
> "No such file or directory, diff"
> 
> After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
> diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder: C:\Program
> Files\GnuWin32.
> 
> Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs file
> "appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change the
> _emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so, how
> do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?
> 
> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,
> 
> Matt

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[mkeller]

Hi Kevin and others,

Kevin Rodgers-2 wrote:

> Is C:\Program Files\GnuWin32 in your PATH environment variable?  The
> simplest thing would be to add it, so that you can run diff (and any
> other GnuWin32 programs you install) via M-! and M-|.  Your other option
> is to set the Emacs ediff-diff-program variable to the absolute path
> to the diff executable.

Kevin - thanks for the advice, but still over my head. How precisely do I
set my PATH environment variable?
Is this done in the _emacs file? If so, what syntax do I use? (I tried
several, all wrong).
Is it done under Windows' System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables?
(Tried this too, also not working).

I'm close to giving up on using diff. If I can't get the PATH thing to work,
I'll download the UNIX tools as suggested above. If still no go, I give up.
But, wow, emacs can be frustrating! I do appreciate the help though.



> 
>> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,
> 
> No need to apologize -- this is gnu.emacs.help!
> 
> -- 
> Kevin Rodgers
> Denver, Colorado, USA
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> help-gnu-emacs mailing list
> help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-emacs
> 
> 
Quoted from: 
http://www.nabble.com/Newbie-question-re-ediff-tf3202866.html#a8898931








Kevin Rodgers-2 wrote:
> 
> mkeller wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
>> several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my head...
>> thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person
>> when
>> replying :).
>> 
>> I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on
>> Windows
>> XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but cannot
>> figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get this:
>> 
>> "No such file or directory, diff"
>> 
>> After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
>> diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder:
>> C:\Program
>> Files\GnuWin32.
>> 
>> Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs
>> file
>> "appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change
>> the
>> _emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so,
>> how
>> do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?
> 
> Is C:\Program Files\GnuWin32 in your PATH environment variable?  The
> simplest thing would be to add it, so that you can run diff (and any
> other GnuWin32 programs you install) via M-! and M-|.  Your other option
> is to set the Emacs ediff-diff-program variable to the absolute path
> to the diff executable.
> 
>> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,
> 
> No need to apologize -- this is gnu.emacs.help!
> 
> -- 
> Kevin Rodgers
> Denver, Colorado, USA
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> help-gnu-emacs mailing list
> help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-emacs
> 
> 

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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Matthew Flaschen]

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mkeller wrote:
> Is it done under Windows' System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables?
> (Tried this too, also not working).

Yes.  Please post the current PATH variable you have, along with where
diff is installed.

Matthew Flaschen


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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Hadron]

Matthew Flaschen <matthew.flaschen@gatech.edu> writes:

> mkeller wrote:
>> Is it done under Windows' System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables?
>> (Tried this too, also not working).
>
> Yes.  Please post the current PATH variable you have, along with where
> diff is installed.
>
> Matthew Flaschen
>


a) A better way is to advise how to find his PATH
b) The location of his diff is immaterial to telling how to set his
pointer to that very same. If his diff is in /usr/bin or /planet/mars it
should make no difference to any davice you wish to give him on how he
points emacs to it!

If you get my meaning :)


-- 

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2007 08:26:45 -0800 (PST)
> From: mkeller <mckellercran@gmail.com>
> Cc: 
> 
> > Is C:\Program Files\GnuWin32 in your PATH environment variable?  The
> > simplest thing would be to add it, so that you can run diff (and any
> > other GnuWin32 programs you install) via M-! and M-|.  Your other option
> > is to set the Emacs ediff-diff-program variable to the absolute path
> > to the diff executable.
> 
> Kevin - thanks for the advice, but still over my head. How precisely do I
> set my PATH environment variable?

Well, if you don't know even such simple things about Windows, please
be sure to tell in advance.

> Is this done in the _emacs file? If so, what syntax do I use? (I tried
> several, all wrong).
> Is it done under Windows' System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables?

It's best to do this from System -> Advanced.

> (Tried this too, also not working).

Did you restart Emacs after changing Path?  If not, you need to.

If that doesn't help, open a CMD window (type "cmd" into Start->Run
dialog, then hit [Enter]), type "set Path" there, and show us what it
produces.

> I'm close to giving up on using diff. If I can't get the PATH thing to work,
> I'll download the UNIX tools as suggested above. If still no go, I give up.

Don't give up, it must be something simple.

> But, wow, emacs can be frustrating! I do appreciate the help though.

This has nothing to do with Emacs, it's about how to install programs
on Windows and let other programs use them.

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[mkeller]

Hi all, and thanks for sticking with such novice level questions. But I'm
sure there are other emacs/windows challenged folks out there who can learn
from my mistakes. 

After reading these posts, and knowing that the problem was with the PATH
variable under Environment variables, I fiddled with it enough, and NOW IT
WORKS! YEAH!

For other newbies who are using a Windows version of Emacs (I'm using emacs
21.3) and want to utilize the diff tools, here's how you do it:

1) have emacs installed 

2) find a diff utils that you want to use. I downloaded mine from
http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages.html (clikc on the link
"DiffUtils")

3) install these in some folder (I did mine at C:\Program Files\GnuWin32,
such that the actual programs are at C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin)

4) Now you need to let emacs know where to find the diff.exe tool. To do
this in Windows XP, go to your Control Panel -> Performance & Maintenance ->
System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables

5) Now hit "New" for "User variables". Type "PATH" in "Variable name" and
type where your diff tool is under "Variable value". E.g., for me, in
"Variable value" I typed "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin"

6) click all the OKs to get out.

7) diff tools should now be available in emacs. 

Thanks again for all your help






mattflaschen wrote:
> 
> mkeller wrote:
>> Is it done under Windows' System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables?
>> (Tried this too, also not working).
> 
> Yes.  Please post the current PATH variable you have, along with where
> diff is installed.
> 
> Matthew Flaschen
> 
> 
>  
> _______________________________________________
> help-gnu-emacs mailing list
> help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
> http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnu-emacs
> 
> 

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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[rgb]

On Feb 9, 3:18 pm, mkeller <mckellerc...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> This comes from a emacs novice. I've searched the old posts and found
> several querries related to mine, but all the answers are over my head...
> thus, please answer like you're talking to a "emacs challenged" person when
> replying :).
>
> I use emacs version 21-3 for programming in R (ESS). I'm running on Windows
> XP. I would really like to use the "ediff" or "diff" functions but cannot
> figure out how to do this. If I simply go to Tools -> Compare I get this:
>
> "No such file or directory, diff"
>
> After reading previous querries & responses on this forum, I installed
> diffutils-2.8.7-1.exe and placed those utilities in the folder: C:\Program
> Files\GnuWin32.
>
> Now someone on a previous response said you need to change your _emacs file
> "appropriately," but I have no idea how to do that. Do I need to change the
> _emacs file so that emacs knows where to find the diff program? If so, how
> do I do that? If not, what do I need to do to use diff within emacs?
>
> Appologies for the level of this question, and thanks in advance,
>

I just put diff and diff3 in my emacs\bin directory so I wouldn't need
to
deal with how to add a new directory to whatever list it needs to be
on.

Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Matthew Flaschen]

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mkeller wrote:
> 5) Now hit "New" for "User variables". Type "PATH" in "Variable name" and
> type where your diff tool is under "Variable value". E.g., for me, in
> "Variable value" I typed "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin"

There should already be a PATH variable under System variables.  You can
add it there (if you're an administrator).  Then, it will be available
to all users.

Just put a semi-colon after the last entry, then add the new one:

E.g. if it has

"C:\WINDOWS; C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32"

Change to:

"C:\WINDOWS; C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32; C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin"

Matthew Flaschen


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Re: Newbie question re ediff

[Lennart Borgman (gmail)]

mkeller wrote:
> 
> Hi all, and thanks for sticking with such novice level questions. But I'm
> sure there are other emacs/windows challenged folks out there who can learn
> from my mistakes. 
> 
> After reading these posts, and knowing that the problem was with the PATH
> variable under Environment variables, I fiddled with it enough, and NOW IT
> WORKS! YEAH!
> 
> For other newbies who are using a Windows version of Emacs (I'm using emacs
> 21.3) and want to utilize the diff tools, here's how you do it:
> 
> 1) have emacs installed 
> 
> 2) find a diff utils that you want to use. I downloaded mine from
> http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages.html (clikc on the link
> "DiffUtils")
> 
> 3) install these in some folder (I did mine at C:\Program Files\GnuWin32,
> such that the actual programs are at C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin)
> 
> 4) Now you need to let emacs know where to find the diff.exe tool. To do
> this in Windows XP, go to your Control Panel -> Performance & Maintenance ->
> System -> Advanced -> Environment Variables
> 
> 5) Now hit "New" for "User variables". Type "PATH" in "Variable name" and
> type where your diff tool is under "Variable value". E.g., for me, in
> "Variable value" I typed "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin"
> 
> 6) click all the OKs to get out.
> 
> 7) diff tools should now be available in emacs. 
> 
> Thanks again for all your help



Eh, I am a bit hesitating, but I think that EmacsW32 ought to be 
mentioned here too for the summary. One of the main purposes of EmacsW32 
is to make things like this simple on MS Windows. (I realize that this 
was not what you personally wanted, mkeller.)

If you download and install Emacs+EmacsW32 then the diff tools works 
right out of the box (since diff, diff3 etc are packaged together with 
EmacsW32).

See http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/EmacsW32