Diff two tabs in Vim

Question

Scenario: I have opened Vim and pasted some text. I open a second tab with :tabe and paste some other text in there.

Goal: I would like a third tab with a output equivalent to writing both texts to files and opening them with vimdiff.

The closest I can find is "diff the current buffer against a file", but not diffing two open but unsaved buffers.

@hhafez - open a new buffer in a new tab – Rook Jul 08 '09 at 01:40 — Rook, Jul 08 '09 at 01:40
It's short for :tabedit, aka :tabnew. – TSomKes Jul 08 '09 at 01:56 — TSomKes, Jul 08 '09 at 01:56

score 193 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 28 '12 at 21:30

193

I suggest opening the second file in the same tab instead of a new one.

Here's what I usually do:

:edit file1
:diffthis
:vnew
:edit file2
:diffthis

The :vnew command splits the current view vertically so you can open the second file there. The :diffthis (or short: :difft) command is then applied to each view.

edited Dec 28 '12 at 21:30

Aaron Thoma

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answered Jul 08 '09 at 14:39

Jan

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Fwiw, MacVim doesn't seem to have this by default, but I think you should be able to go to the terminal and type `vimdiff file1.txt file2.txt` and knock yourself out. – ruffin Mar 23 '12 at 14:55
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This is awesometastic. The `edit fileN` parts can be replaced with just pasting from the buffer, which lets you diff two chunks of text without pasting each into a tmp file (something that meld lets you do, but visual diff tools on the Mac are lacking in). It worked in MacVim for me out of the box. – yshavit Nov 15 '13 at 16:23

score 38 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 08 '09 at 01:54

38

I would suggest trying :diffthis or :diffsplit

answered Jul 08 '09 at 01:54

joeslice

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`:vert diffsplit` makes for a more traditional diff-view than without `:vert` – ephemient Jul 08 '09 at 20:18
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You can :set diffopt+=vertical to make :vert the default. – graywh Oct 30 '09 at 22:05
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Also, to scroll two windows simultaneously: `:set scrollbind` in both. – Dmytro Sirenko Dec 28 '12 at 23:08
Does not work if I have to tabs, like asked in the question. If I do `:diffsplit` I get two connected buffers. – erik Apr 28 '15 at 13:29

score 27 · Answer 3 · answered May 24 '13 at 20:08

27

When you have two files opened in vertical splitt, run

:windo diffthis

answered May 24 '13 at 20:08

A B

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use ```:diffoff``` to turn off diff mode – A B May 24 '13 at 20:10
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But how do I change from two tabs to a vertical split? – erik Apr 28 '15 at 13:30

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 01 '18 at 11:01

The content of all tabs are inside the buffers. Look at the buffers:

:buffers

Find the right number for the content which should be diffed with your current tab content.

Open the buffer inside your current tab (f.e. buffer number 4)

:sb 4

Or do for vertical view:

:vertical sb 4

Then you can simple diff the content with

:windo diffthis

If you finished diff analysis you can input:

:windo diffoff

Diff two tabs in Vim

4 Answers4