Thursday, June 18, 2009

Productivity Tool on Windows (For the GNU/Linux minded) -- Third


Today, I want to recommend a graphical diff tool on Windows.
I think most developers will always have their favorite diff
tool. But if you need to develop on 3 or more platforms, for
example, Mac OS X, Linux and Windows, having one favorite is
not that easy. If you are also using multiple revision
control systems on all these platforms. It will be even
harder. I am a Vim user. Whenever possible I use Vim, even
diff with Vim. Vim can run on all the above OSs. The only
problem I found is using Vim diff mode with different
revision control systems. I need to write script to let Vim
integrate with different revision control system. I am a
lazy person. Even though I like Vim, I don't like this
inconvenience.

So I heard about Tkdiff. Tkdiff is written in Tcl/Tk toolkit. You may
have a little despisement in your heart, right? Well, as the Chinese
saying goes: A man can not be judged by his appearance. Tkdiff is, in
my opinion, powerful, yet simple. The features I found useful are as
following:

1. Understand multiple revision control tools. Can diff different
versions of the file (work with revision control tools).
Currently tkdiff can work with cvs, subversion, perforce out of
the box. But with some patch, it can work with bazaar and mercurial.
2. Easy navigation. Can navigate to differnt diff region easily with
single key press, like 'N', 'P', 'C', etc.
3. Can integrate with external editor, such as gvim to edit the file.
4. Easy refreshing the diff. Just one key press 'R'
5. Run on multiple platform. As long as there is Tcl for that platform.

In a word. TkDiff is a marvelous tool, with humble appearance and name.

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