Compares two files, then shows you the differences, if any.
Note If you want to show differences among projects, select a project in the project pane of VSS Explorer, then click Show Differences.
You must have the Read access right to use this command. You should have a working folder set before using this command.
Most commonly, the Show Differences command is used before checking in a file to compare your copy of the file to the master copy in VSS. This gives you a list of the changes you have made, which can be helpful for generating your comment.
When you use the Show Differences command on an ASCII text file, VSS displays a color-coded list of line differences between the respective files.
For binary files, VSS identifies differences, however, it cannot display the differences.
Note It is also possible to compare two earlier versions of a file to each other or to compare an earlier version to the current version. To do so, select the two versions in the History of File dialog box, and then click Diff.
Note Enable the display of the Show Differences dialog box on the Tools menu, SourceSafe Options dialog box, Command Dialogs tab.
By default VSS uses the Visual Difference dialog box. If you specify a UNIX display, VSS uses the VSS display options for Ignore Case and Ignore White Space. The VSS display option has line widths calculated to fit on your screen, and no context lines.
If you are performing a routine file difference, by default the Compare field will contain the file in VSS and the To field will contain its counterpart in the working folder. You can edit the Compare field, or you can click the Browse button to specify your selection. Using the Browse buttons, you can also compare two files in VSS (in the same project or other projects), two local files (in the same directory or different directories), or a file in VSS and a local file.
Shows the entire file, with annotations for the changes.
Shows a simple list of lines that were added, deleted, and changed, optimized for readability.
Shows differences in the format used by the UNIX Diff utility.
Shows differences without regard for spacing characters, such as tabs.
Shows differences without regard for upper- and lowercase.
If this box is checked, the Show Differences dialog will only be displayed if you hold down the Shift key while executing the Show Differences command.
Executes the Show Differences command.
Cancels the Show Differences command.
Sends a report to the clipboard, a text file, or to a printer.
Specifies that VSS ignore operating system line-break character differences. This is useful if you are comparing files across a network where one computer is a Macintosh, for example, and the other is operating using Microsoft Windows NT.
Includes the specified number of context lines in the difference display. Context lines are the lines in your file surrounding the line identified as different by VSS. For example, setting Show Context Lines to three means you'll see three context lines above and three context lines below the difference line.
Note This option will be ignored if you're using Visual Difference.
Saves your selected settings for future use.