How to merge files(differentiate) in visual studio code - visual-studio-code

I am using Visual studio code for angular2 application. The requirement is to merge files, so, I want to differentiate changes in two files as it happens in Netbeans IDE. Is there, any extensions available to achieve the task in visual studio code.
For e.g - Merging Two files by differentiating changes like below:-
Please suggest some solution.
abc.component.ts (located in project1)
abc <-- text for understanding purpose
def
abc.component.ts ( located in project2)
abc
I want to differentiate two component files and push changes in another like it happens in Netbeans IDE? Is there, any solution available for Visual studio code?

First using vscode natively with the git toolset
(Make sure to look on the second title as it's a better native way!)
This way may be available on older version of vscode too! Still a good thing to know! (even we should always run on the latest version! And vscode is always keeping getting better and better).
A native powerful and cool way is to use the git toolset within vscode! It still not the most fluid way! But if you are in a setup where you don't have anything else or time or resources to use anything else! Also as a requirement you need to have a git repo initiated! Here we go:
First we will use the change and diffing capability of the git tool set. And the steps go as bellow:
Commit all the current changes
once done: copy past the other file to diff on the place of the current one. And save.
Cool now in the git pallet you can see the file in changes list! Click on it and the diffing editor will show!
Bingo this is it! You can compare and make direct changment! The diffing will keep happening in real time. Note the current state is in the right. And you make changement there.
Here an illustration of direct modification for instance the part in the left is missing from the current file
And here another illustration (current have in plus)
Well to sum up! Git tool and diffing in vscode is so powerful! And all that one need! The only problem is the extra step of committing and cleaning after if desired!
Here some tips! If you want to have the commit history cleaner! Or not have a merge separate! You can remove the last commits from history as much as you need: Without hard reset and commit again a cleaner one!
git reset --soft HEAD~1
You can check
How to cancel a local git commit
Otherwise it can be ok with atomic commit and merge mention!
Also if what you need is to be able to keep a lot from the current file! You can copy the current elsewhere! past the other file to compare! commit ! and then past again the old one! You'll have the old in the right and as current (Not as described on the above) In such a scenario this work well! (Hacky a bit but you may need it).
Native way (direct open of the compare editor)
(May require the newer version of vscode)
open a file that you gonna compare
open the command pallet
CTRL + SHIFT + P
type file: compare
You can see the different possible ways! For a file we can choose compare active file with.
Then you choose the file! The file need to be within the project directory.
And then you choose a file and the compare editor will open
The above was tested on my brother computer on a new vscode installation. I wasn't sure at first if it was part of the core! And i just confirmed that it is. That too remove the need to the method above involving git! And it's the best native way to go with.
Vscode extensions
Here two extensions i suggest the first:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jinsihou.diff-tool
Easy and simple! It add two elements to the right click menu:
In current file right click -> Select as first file for diff, select one again to view the diff results
select to compare and compare with select no more simple then that !
Another extension to check:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=fabiospampinato.vscode-diff
I prefer the first! As this one compare a lot to the native way. And having the control in the contextual menu is just great.
Out of vscode! Using other tools
A quick google search and you'll find a lot of tools!
https://meldmerge.org/
meld merge is cross platform and open source and nice!
in linux and debian:
sudo apt install meld
Otherwise you can check the long list here:
https://www.jotform.com/blog/25-useful-document-and-file-comparison-tools/
https://stackify.com/code-merge-tools/
There is too winMerge to mention (an open source project for windows)
https://winmerge.org/

Related

Recent Locations in vscode (Like in IntelliJ)

I like the feature Recent Locations of IntelliJ.
For other reasons I will use vscode (for golang).
Is there a similar feature in vscode?
I want to see a list of the my recent locations (optional filtered, so that only the locaions are visible, which where recently changed).
After a break (like lunch), this feature is really handy. It helps you to connect to your work before the break.
Especially the "show changed only" is very helpful.
If you use git, you get most of what you request here. Vscode has a git extension in the sidebar that shows you what files you have changed, as in unstaged and staged changes.
You can also jump between location, with alt+left/right arrow. This is independent from git. It just remembers your last cursor positions.
If you are willing to use an extension, there is one that seems to do what you are asking for, judging by its name: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=percygrunwald.vscode-intellij-recent-files
#guettli They are different editors, so it will be hard to always find the exact same feature. I think there is nothing like recent locations in vsCode, at least when i'm writing this. Will there be something like that in the future? Probably.
Ctrl-P will display a list of recently opened files, and by selecting one of the files it will go to the last location when editing the file. To see the changes in a file(w/ git) you can right-click it and select the "view timeline" or view the changes with the git button. Not exactly what you asked for but may be useful.
This function is called "navigate Back", you find it also in the Key Bindings for Visual Studio Code and more accessible within vscode from the keybindings UI.
Ctrl+P will display a list of recently opened files in Vscode
You can use Timeline option at the right-bottom corner of the vscode for comparing previous file and current changes of the file that is in currently opened
You can even compare the files with options on right clicking the file
You can get more about code navigations in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuQmMsIpI04

How do I save a file using the Eclipse compare editor

I can't seem to find a way to save the changes I make to project files using the two-way compare of two local project file folders. I can step through the differences and copy changes from left to right, but there's no way, as far as I can tell, to save those changes. I looked at the files outside of Eclipse after I copy changes left to right and they are not being updated.
Here's a help site explaining what I'm doing http://help.eclipse.org/helios/index.jsp?topic=%2Forg.eclipse.platform.doc.user%2Freference%2Fref-25.htm it sayz 'You can save changes to resources that are made in the comparison editor.' but doesn't say how...
I can just copy and paste the contents of the merged file into a new editor window but this seems like a silly way to go about this. I guess I could also create a diff patch and apply it to my project as well...
It seems that using *nix command diff is a piece of cake:
diff -rupN original/ new/ > original.patch
as stated in the "The Ten Minute Guide to diff and patch"

Finding previously deleted code in RTC later?

Conventional wisdom says to delete code once you don't need it -- as opposed to leaving it in the codebase as a comment -- because you can always find it later in the repository.
Let's say I need a line of code from the past which I remember to contain a very memorable substring ("XYZ", for discussion's sake).
What are my options for finding the previously deleted code using the Visual Studio 2010 Rational Team Concert (3.x) client? Can I search only the revisions of a single file (I might not know what file it was in)? Can I search quickly/easily across many files (w/o pulling those files out of the repository)?
I am not sure there is an easy way to get back the exact file with that missing string.
You can select show the history on a component of a Stream, in order to "Show the History files" for a given change set.
From there, you can do some "compare with Local File".
However, the Visual Studio integration might be less complete than the eclipse one, as this thread shows (where the "Show History" shows only the history of Deliver's).
Even though the following article uses the Eclipse GUI, have also a look at "Practicing source control archaeology with Rational Team Concert", which has other ideas for you to try.

Are there any apps that save backup versions of a file with one click (save, commit, etc) live while editing?

Just something that will save changes automatically, while i'm editing say in gedit, or notepad plus plus, or even windows text editor, etc.
I can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for and svn, bzr, and Git are too complicated. One should be able to start a new project, start writing code, and that's it!
So... I'm going to create a whole new version control system that will be more amazing and simple than all the rest! Unless something already exists? Whether it be online, or a local install, whatevs.
EDIT: Ok, the above paragraph was a bit absurd now that I read it much later. I use Git now, and Git is awesome.
Many text editors will create a backup copy of the prior version when you do a save.
Of course, this is pitiful compared to an actual version control system. You should know that many VCS integrate with editors so commits are very simple quick commands.
The minor time it takes to create a repository is insignificant compared to the time it will save you during the project.
Frankly, this sounds like an argument from ignorance.
I found this nice little Gedit plugin: http://nerdblog.pl/2009/06/01/save-and-commit-to-git-plugin-for-gedit-2-26ave/

TFS 2008, remove file from source control but leave it in the project

We are using Scott Hansleman's suggestion for multiple web.configs from his post here. The problem we have is that we have to check out the Web.Config. If we remove it from the project, when we publish, no web.config is pushed. So we need to remove the source control bindings just from the web.config, but leave it in the project, and have the rest of the project still held under source control.
The issue is that source control makes the file read only until you check it out. We need to be able ot overwrite it with the prebuild events, preferably without having to check it out. Is there a way to remove the bindings from that file only, and still leave it as part of the project?
Thanks.
By adding a new file to solution explorer, you will get the little plus sign indicating it is due to be added to source control. Then, right-click and choose "undo pending changes". This will cancel the add but leave the file in your project.
If that doesn't work I suggest one of the following methods:
Use the Attrib task from the MSBuild
Community Tasks project to remove
the read only flag.
Use the Exec
task in MSBuild to invoke
tf.exe and checkout the file.
You should leave the file in source control. Otherwise you'll run into several issues:
changes won't be versioned. 'nuf said.
it can't be branched or merged, even though web.config is one of the files that's most likely to vary between parallel dev/test/production environments
changes you make locally won't propagate to coworkers without manual workarounds
developers setting up an environment for the first time won't get the file at all
Team Builds won't contain the file, so neither will your deployments. (surely you're not deploying directly from the desktop?!)
Note that the state of individual files is stored entirely on the TFS server. ('tf properties' dumps this metadata if you're curious) Only projects & solutions have bindings actually written into the file. And even those are dummy entries that tell VS "don't worry about me, just ask TFSProvider, it'll know who I am and where I'm supposed to be." While there are many other quirks in the VS project system that give me endless headaches, in this case it's your friend. Don't circumvent it.
Best options:
Edit your build script to toggle the read-only attribute before/after modification. If you're using the "copyifnewer.bat" script from the linked blog post, it should literally be one extra line. Even if you want to keep things entirely declarative within the MSBuild makefile, it's barely any work with the help of 3rd party tasks.
Use the File -> Source Control -> Exclude feature. After applying this setting, the file remains under source control, but will no longer be subject to automatic checkouts/checkins by the active solution. In other words, you can edit the file locally to your heart's content without affecting anyone else, but if you want to commit (or shelve) your changes you'll need to do it from Source Control Explorer or the command line.
Option #1 has the advantage of being a very quick fix for your existing setup. The downside comes from maintaining several copies of web.config.* Same reason why copy/pasting code is bad: if you change one, you have to go change all the others -- or worse, forget and let them drift out of sync until strange bugs force you to revisit the issue. This could be improved by changing the process so that there's only 1 "master" web.config and the additional copies only contain differences (via a textual diff engine, XSLT transforms, programmatic manipulation in Powershell, etc). Of course, that's more work.
Option #2 avoids #1's problems with very little overhead. (the engineering process itself is unchanged; only difference is how the Visual Studio UI behaves) This advantage is critical if you make changes to web.config at all frequently. Downside is that there is no built-in way to track variations on the "master" file. If the only diffs are dirt simple, eg a connection string or two, you may find it easiest to stick with just one "master" and let people make ad hoc changes on their dev machines. There are even tools to do this for you, such as Web Deployment Projects (easy) and the IIS Deployment Tool (complex). In any case your actual deployment should be automated and source-controlled, of course! If heavier customizations are required than these tools are capable of, then you'll probably want the hybrid master + transform approach described earlier.
I recently ran into the issue and could not find a good solution. With a little trial and error I was able to figure this out myself.
This works on Visual Studio 2015. I tried to follow the answer above, but 2015 does not have an "Exclude From Source Control Option" I could find. It does have source control / project integration where if you delete the file from source control or the project, it will automatically be removed from both places. This integration is enforced when you have the solution containing the project open.
The problem is when using a web.template.config, web.config is really a build output and should not be in source control. However deleting the file entirely and removing it from the project causes problems because then the file is not part of the Build / Publish steps.
So the work around turns out to be simple:
Close the solution. File --> Close Solution.
In the Source Control Explorer Window, Delete the file.
Check in the Change.
Open your solution and you will see that the Config file remains in the project.
You may see the Triangle / Exclamation Mark Icon warning showing the the config file is not found.
Rebuild the project and click on the file.
The file should now show without the warning.
It should not have the padlock icon next to it. This indicates that it is not under version control.
I did some more checking and found the "Exclude From source Control" feature. The key is that you need to select the item in the Solution Explorer window before selecting the menu item:
Select the Web.config file in the "Solution Explorer".
In the menus select File -> source control -> advanced -> Exclude Web.config from Source Control.
You will now get a Red Circle / White Line icon.
This works if the file is NOT ALREADY in source control.
If the file IS ALREADY in source control you need to do the procedure above to remove it from source control without also deleting it from the project.