Essential CVS

Name

diff — Synonyms: di, dif

Synopsis

cvs [cvs-options] diff [format-options] [-lR] [-D date] [-D date2] [-f file] 
[-k mode] [-r revision] [-r revision2] [files...]

Displays the differences between two revisions of a file or files. By default, diff checks the sandbox copy against the revision in the repository that the sandbox copy was last synchronized with. If the files argument is a directory, all files under that directory are compared and files in subdirectories are also compared recursively.

See also rdiff.

Standard options

Options described in this section determine which files and revisions are compared by cvs diff. These options are the same as the standard options for most CVS commands. The -k option may be used to slightly modify the data sent to diff.

-D date

Display the differences between the current sandbox copy of a file and the latest revision on or before the date or time specified by date.

If two -D options are used, display the differences between the latest revision before the first date and the latest revision before the second date.

-k mode

Run diff with the designated keyword-expansion mode. This option overrides the default mode and any sticky modes for each file.

The keyword-expansion modes are listed in Section 11.6 of Chapter 11.

-l

Run diff on the files in the local directory only. (Do not recurse down subdirectories.)

See also -R.

-r revision

Display the differences between the current sandbox copy and the specified revision.

If two -r options are used, display ...