What are the alternatives for meld (graphical diff tool) on OSX

Question

I mostly develop on Linux and meld is indispensable for me. However, when I'm on the road I use a MacBook (leopard) and I want to use the same set of tools as on my main development box, meld being one of them.

Although you shoud be able to install meld, I could not succeed with it. So... are there any alternatives that are as good (or better) as meld?

One thing to point out, I use subversion and I just love the 'meld .' command that diffs my working directory to the BASE revision...

Johan

Possible duplicate: http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/10099/what-file-comparison-tool-can-i-use-under-os-x — 0 _, Jul 29 '13 at 23:28

score 40 · Answer 1 · edited May 20 '15 at 07:01

40

There's FileMerge.app, which comes with XCode.

It can be run as a separate standalone application :

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edited May 20 '15 at 07:01

Renaud

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answered Oct 23 '08 at 10:06

Menkboy

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To open it from the terminal, run `opendiff`. – Dean Jun 19 '13 at 03:56
usage: opendiff file1 file2 [-ancestor ancestorFile] [-merge mergeFile] – olore Mar 02 '14 at 16:25
If you are used to the direct editing feature of `meld`, you will miss this at FileMerge – Lukas Aug 22 '15 at 20:31
It seems a bit overkill that you need to install XCode for such a tool. – Edenshaw May 04 '21 at 01:15
is there any app that lets you compare blank/unsaved files? – Shravya Boggarapu Aug 21 '23 at 01:45

score 16 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 23 '08 at 10:12

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Apple's FileMerge (which is included in their Developer Tools download) looks similar to Meld, though I confess to not having used either..

answered Oct 23 '08 at 10:12

Andrew

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Note that FileMerge can be invoked from the command line as `opendiff`. – j3h Jan 17 '12 at 22:40

score 11 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 24 '08 at 21:36

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Sourcegear DiffMerge is free and completely cross-platform (Windows, Mac and Linux). I've only used the Windows version, and it lacks some more advanced features (like syntax highlighting and opening .diff files) but I'm very happy with it.

answered Oct 24 '08 at 21:36

alastairs

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FYI, DiffMerge lacks line wrapping. – Jess Riedel Sep 28 '17 at 13:11

score 8 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 23 '08 at 17:13

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Fink has a meld package.

answered Oct 23 '08 at 17:13

dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten

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Fink took a long time to build and installed about 50 packages, but eventually ran. Darwin ports did not. – scotts Sep 20 '11 at 00:12

score 7 · Answer 5 · answered Feb 04 '09 at 18:38

7

KDiff is cross platform, open source, and has an OSX binary available.

http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

answered Feb 04 '09 at 18:38

Brad Parks

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score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Oct 23 '08 at 17:46

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Take a look at Changes.app. Yes, it is for pay, but it's very capable, fast, easy on the eyes. It also has a command line tool. Take a look at the wiki for tips and tricks, especially with getting it to integrate with version control systems. I love Changes.app.

answered Oct 23 '08 at 17:46

danimal

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Since writing this I would now recommend [Kaleidoscope](http://www.kaleidoscopeapp.com) from Black Pixel. It can do text, directories, and images. I use it every day. It's one of the first things I install on a new dev Mac. – danimal Jan 30 '16 at 00:49

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 23 '08 at 10:18

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BBEdit has a good diff viewer in it.

answered Oct 23 '08 at 10:18

Ben Gottlieb

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score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Nov 09 '11 at 12:38

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Not a Mac user myself - but I stumbled across this post, and simultaneously found out about tkdiff, whose screenshot seems to be taken on a Mac; so maybe it helps.. Cheers!

answered Nov 09 '11 at 12:38

sdaau

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What are the alternatives for meld (graphical diff tool) on OSX

8 Answers8