Diff is used to get a file of all differences between two source files/trees (sometimes called a patch). The diff tool isn't needed for building Wireshark, but it's needed if you are going to commit your changes back to the Wireshark community.
![[Note]](wsdg_graphics/note.png) | Note! |
|---|---|
The recommended way to build patches is using the Subversion client, see Section 4.11, “Subversion (SVN) client (optional)” for details. |
You will find more instructions in Section 3.9.2.3, “Using the diff tool” on how to use the diff tool.
Diff is available for most of the UNIX-like platforms and as the diffutils package from the Cygwin setup.
If GNU diff isn't already installed or available as a package for your platform, you can get it at: http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/diffutils.html.
After correct installation, typing at the bash command line prompt:
$
diff --version
should result in something like:
diff (GNU diffutils) 2.8.7
Written by Paul Eggert, Mike Haertel, David Hayes,
Richard Stallman, and Len Tower.
Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is NO
warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
However, the version string may vary.
A native Win32 diff package can be obtained from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/. The installation should be straightforward.
The Subversion client TortoiseSVN has a built-in diff feature, see Section 4.12.2, “Win32 native: TortoiseSVN”. It is currently unknown if this tool can be used to create diff files in the required format, so other persons can use them.