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<html><head><title>Chapter 5. Questions and Answers</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="help:/common/kde-default.css" type="text/css"><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.67.2"><meta name="keywords" content="KDE, kdeextragear, kdiff3, diff, merge, CVS, triplediff, compare, files, directories, version control, three-way-merge, in-line-differences, synchronise, kpart, kio, networktransparent, editor, white space, comments"><link rel="start" href="index.html" title="The KDiff3 Handbook"><link rel="up" href="index.html" title="The KDiff3 Handbook"><link rel="prev" href="kpart.html" title="Using KDiff3 as a KPart"><link rel="next" href="credits.html" title="Chapter 6. Credits and License"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><meta name="GENERATOR" content="KDE XSL Stylesheet V1.13 using libxslt"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div style="background-image: url(help:/common/top-middle.png); width: 100%; height: 131px;"><div style="position: absolute; right: 0px;"><img src="help:/common/top-right-konqueror.png" style="margin: 0px" alt=""></div><div style="position: absolute; top: 25px; right: 100px; text-align: right; font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold; text-shadow: #fff 0px 0px 5px; color: #444">Questions and Answers</div></div><div style="margin-top: 20px; background-color: #white; color: black; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;"><div style="position: absolute; left: 20px;"><a accesskey="p" href="kpart.html">Prev</a></div><div style="position: absolute; right: 20px;"><a accesskey="n" href="credits.html">Next</a></div><div class="navCenter"> </div></div><div class="chapter" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title"><a name="faq"></a>Chapter 5. Questions and Answers</h2></div></div></div><p>This document may have been updated since your installation.
You can find the latest version at <a href="http://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-utils/" target="_top">http://docs.kde.org/development/en/extragear-utils/</a>.</p><div class="qandaset"><dl><dt>5.1. <a href="faq.html#id2570336">
Why is it called "KDiff3"?
</a></dt><dt>5.2. <a href="faq.html#id2569721">
Why did I release it under GPL?
</a></dt><dt>5.3. <a href="faq.html#id2569735">
Some buttons and functions are missing. What's wrong?
</a></dt><dt>5.4. <a href="faq.html#id2569763">
Often lines that are similar but not identical appear next to each other
but sometimes not. Why?
</a></dt><dt>5.5. <a href="faq.html#id2569787">
Why must all conflicts be solved before the merge result can be saved?
</a></dt><dt>5.6. <a href="faq.html#id2569806">
How can I synchronise the diff and merge views, so that all views show the same text position?
</a></dt><dt>5.7. <a href="faq.html#id2569826">
Why does the editor in the merge result window not have an "undo"-function?
</a></dt><dt>5.8. <a href="faq.html#id2569841">
When I removed some text, then suddenly "<No src line>" appeared
and cannot be deleted. What does that mean and how can one remove this?
</a></dt><dt>5.9. <a href="faq.html#id2569879">
Why doesn't KDiff3 support syntax-highlighting?
</a></dt><dt>5.10. <a href="faq.html#id2569900">
Can I use KDiff3 to compare OpenOffice.Org, Word, Excel, PDF-, etc. files?
</a></dt><dt>5.11. <a href="faq.html#id2569967">
Where has the the directory option "List only deltas" gone?
</a></dt><dt>5.12. <a href="faq.html#id2569988">
How can I make a big selection in the diff input window
because scrolling takes so long?
</a></dt><dt>5.13. <a href="faq.html#id2570009">
There is so much information here, but your question is still not answered?
</a></dt></dl><table border="0" summary="Q and A Set"><col align="left" width="1%"><tbody><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2570336"></a><a name="id2570338"></a><b>5.1.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Why is it called "<span class="application">KDiff3</span>"?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Tools named "KDiff" and "KDiff2" (now called "Kompare") already exist. Also "KDiff3" should suggest
that it can merge like the "diff3"-tool in the Diff-Tool collection.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569721"></a><a name="id2569723"></a><b>5.2.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Why did I release it under GPL?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
I'm using GPL programs for a very long time now and learned very much
by having a look at many of the sources. Hence this is my "Thank You"
to all programmers that also did so or will do the same.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569735"></a><a name="id2569748"></a><b>5.3.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Some buttons and functions are missing. What's wrong?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
You compiled from source but you probably didn't specify the correct KDE-prefix
with configure. By default configure wants to install in /usr/local but then KDE can't
find the user-interface ressource file (i.e. kdiff3ui.rc). The README-file contains
more information about the correct prefix.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569763"></a><a name="id2569764"></a><b>5.4.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Often lines that are similar but not identical appear next to each other
but sometimes not. Why?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Lines where only the amount of white space characters is different
are treated as "equal" at first, while just one different non-white character
causes the lines to be "different". If similar lines appear next to each
other, this actually is coincidence but this fortunately is often the case.
See also <a href="interpretinginformation.html#manualdiffhelp" title="Manually Aligning Lines">Manual Diff Help</a>.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569787"></a><a name="id2569789"></a><b>5.5.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Why must all conflicts be solved before the merge result can be saved?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
For each equal or different section the editor in the merge result
window remembers where it begins or ends. This is needed so that conflicts
can be solved manually by simply selecting the source button (A, B or C).
This information is lost while saving as text and it is too much effort to
create a special file format that supports saving and restoring all necessary
information.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569806"></a><a name="id2569807"></a><b>5.6.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
How can I synchronise the diff and merge views, so that all views show the same text position?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Click into the summary column left of the text. (<a href="merging.html#synchronise_views" title="Setting The Current Group And Synchronising Merge And Diff View Position">See also here.</a>)
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569826"></a><a name="id2569827"></a><b>5.7.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Why does the editor in the merge result window not have an "undo"-function?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
This was too much effort until now. You can always
restore a version from one source (A, B or C) by clicking the respective
button. For big editing the use of another editor is recommended anyway.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569841"></a><a name="id2569843"></a><b>5.8.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
When I removed some text, then suddenly "<No src line>" appeared
and cannot be deleted. What does that mean and how can one remove this?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
For each equal or different section the editor in the merge result
window remembers where it begins or ends. "<No src line>" means
that there is nothing left in a section, not even a new line character.
This can happen either while merging automatically or by editing. This is
no problem, since this hint won't appear in the saved file. If you want
the orignal source back just select the section (click on the left summary
column) and then click the source button with the needed contents (A/B or
C).
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569879"></a><a name="id2569881"></a><b>5.9.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Why doesn't <span class="application">KDiff3</span> support syntax-highlighting?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
<span class="application">KDiff3</span> already uses many colors for difference highlighting. More
highlighting would be confusing. Use another editor for this.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569900"></a><a name="id2569901"></a><b>5.10.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Can I use <span class="application">KDiff3</span> to compare OpenOffice.Org, Word, Excel, PDF-, <span class="abbrev">etc.</span> files?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Although <span class="application">KDiff3</span> will analyse any kind of file the result will probably
not be very satisfactory for you.
</p><p>
<span class="application">KDiff3</span> was made to compare pure text files. OpenOffice, Word, Excel etc.
store much more information in the files (about fonts, pictures, pages,
colors etc.) which <span class="application">KDiff3</span> doesn't know about. So <span class="application">KDiff3</span> will
show you the contents of the file interpreted as pure text, but
this might be unreadable or at least it will look very odd.
</p><p>
Since most programs nowadays store their contents in XML-format, you might
be able to read it as pure text. So if the change was only small,
<span class="application">KDiff3</span> still might help you.
</p><p>
The best solution if you only want to compare the text (without embedded
objects like pictures) is to use "Select All" and "Copy" in your program
to copy the interesting text to the clipoard and then in <span class="application">KDiff3</span> paste the
text into either diff input window.
(See also <a href="selections.html" title="Select, Copy And Paste">Select, Copy And Paste</a>.)
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569967"></a><a name="id2569969"></a><b>5.11.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Where has the the directory option "List only deltas" gone?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
There are now several <a href="dirmergevisible.html#selectingvisiblefiles" title="Selecting Listed Files">"Show"-options</a> in the directory menu.
Disabling "Show identical files" will achieve what enabling "List only deltas" used to do.
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2569988"></a><a name="id2569989"></a><b>5.12.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
How can I make a big selection in the diff input window
because scrolling takes so long?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Start the selection as usual (click and hold the left mouse button).
Then use the navigation keys (e.g. page up, page down) while holding the left mouse button down.
(See also <a href="selections.html" title="Select, Copy And Paste">Select, Copy And Paste</a>.)
</p></td></tr><tr class="question"><td align="left" valign="top"><a name="id2570009"></a><a name="id2570011"></a><b>5.13.</b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
There is so much information here, but your question is still not answered?
</p></td></tr><tr class="answer"><td align="left" valign="top"><b></b></td><td align="left" valign="top"><p>
Please send me your question. I appreciate every comment.
</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div><div style="background-color: #white; color: black; margin-top: 20px; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;"><div style="position: absolute; left: 20px;"><a accesskey="p" href="kpart.html">Prev</a></div><div style="position: absolute; right: 20px;"><a accesskey="n" href="credits.html">Next</a></div><div align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></div></div><div style="background-color: #white; color: black; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px;"><div class="navLeft">Using <span class="application">KDiff3</span> as a KPart </div><div class="navRight"> Credits and License</div><div class="navCenter"><a accesskey="u" href="index.html">Up</a></div></div><br><br><div class="bannerBottom" style="background-image: url(help:/common/bottom-middle.png); background-repeat: x-repeat; width: 100%; height: 100px; bottom:0px;"><div class="BannerBottomRight"><img src="help:/common/bottom-right.png" style="margin: 0px" alt=""></div><div class="bannerBottomLeft"><img src="help:/common/bottom-left.png" style="margin: 0px;" alt=""></div><div id="comments" style="position:relative; top: 5px; left: 1em; height:85px; width: 50%; color: #cfe1f6"><p>Would you like to make a comment or contribute an update to this page?<br>
Send feedback to the <a href="mailto:kde-docs@kdemail.net" style="background:transparent; color:#cfe1f6; text-decoration: underline;">KDE Docs Team</a></p></div></div></body></html>
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