diffant

diffant uses the structure of configuration files to do a more helpful comparison than standard diff.

diffant allows you to compare:

• ini
• json
• yaml
• xml

For example, for the purpose of comparing configuration, these two files are the same. There should be no diff:

file_01.ini	file_02.ini
[info]	[info]
email=bob@example.com	phone=212-555-1212
phone=212-555-1212	email = bob@example.com

diffant can meaningfully compare a heavily commented original configuration file with many lines to a minimized comment-less configuration file and find how the defaults have changed.

You are not limited to comparing 2 files, diffant can compare many files.

SAMPLE OUTPUT

fruit:  apple
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json

        cherry
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json

        /*MISSING*/
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

grain:  rice
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json

        /*MISSING*/
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json
          tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

inspiration:art:  Pablo Picasso
                    tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
                    tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json

                  Frida Kahlo
                    tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json

                  /*MISSING*/
                    tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

inspiration:music:  Dead Kennedys
                      tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
                      tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json
                      tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json

                    /*MISSING*/
                      tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

inspiration:tools:0:  hammer
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json

                      /*MISSING*/
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

inspiration:tools:1:  rack
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json

                      /*MISSING*/
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json
                        tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

vegetable:  spinach
              tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file03.json

            /*MISSING*/
              tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file01.json
              tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file02.json
              tests/sample_input.dirs/simple/file04.json

SAMPLE INPUT

file01.json

{
"grain": "rice",
"color": "red",
 "fruit": "apple",
 "inspiration": {"art":"Pablo Picasso","music":"Dead Kennedys"}
}

file02.json

  {
   "color": "red",
   "fruit": "cherry",
   "inspiration": {"art":"Frida Kahlo","music":"Dead Kennedys","tools":["hammer","rack"]}
  }

file03.json

 {
   "vegetable": "spinach",
   "color": "red",
   "fruit": "apple",
   "inspiration": {"art":"Pablo Picasso","music":"Dead Kennedys"}
  }

file04.json

{
   "color": "red"
  }

REQUIREMENTS

• pip
• python >= 3.8

LICENSE

GNU General Public License v3.0

SETUP

pip3 install diffant

USAGE

diffant  <directory with files of same type>

BUGS

1. The files you are comparing need to be at the top level of a directory that you supply as a positional argument to diffant
2. The files need to have an extension that reflects their contents (ini,json.yml)
3. You can't compare files of different types or have files of different types in your input directory.

SUPPORT

dan@omacneil.org

CONTRIBUTORS

• @morgan: Helpful tweak to README.md
• cpat-gpt: about 50% of the code