#109 Command line save output to file

[bryian]

version 2.15.2. Is it possible to include the functionality to save the output from the command line? For instance WinMergeU /o c:\temp\out.winmerge c:\temp\a.txt c:\temp\b.txt , save the output to c:\temp\out.winmerge

[Takashi Sawanaka]

Do you mean that you want to output a patch or a report from the command line?

Although it is not yet written in the manual, you can output the report from the command line as follows. Currently, to output a patch from the command line is not supported.

File comparison report

"c:\program files\winmerge\WinMergeU.exe" path_to_left_file path_to_right_file -minimize -noninteractive -u -or path_to_report_file

Folder Comparison Report

"c:\program files\winmerge\WinMergeU.exe" path_to_left_folder path_to_right_folder -minimize -noninteractive -noprefs -cfg Settings/DirViewExpandSubdirs=1 -cfg ReportFiles/ReportType=2 -cfg ReportFiles/IncludeFileCmpReport=1 -r -u -or path_to_report_file

• -minimize: starts WinMerge as a minimized window.
• -noninteractive: Exit WinMerge after compare / report generation
• -noprefs: Do not read / write setting information from registry (use default value)
• -cfg Settings/DirViewExpandSubdirs=1: Expand folder tree after comparison 0: do not expand foler tree
• -cfg ReportFiles/ReportType=2: Generate HTML-format report
• -cfg ReportFiles/IncludeFileCmpReport=1: Include file comparison report in folder comparison report 0: do not include
• -or report file path

[Joshua Morrison]

Hello, I tried using the "File comparison report" code above and the report is not generated for me. When I remove the -minimize and -noninteractive I can see the results are populated, but I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong.

"C:\Program Files (x86)\WinMerge\WinMergeU.exe" C:\Workspace\Imports\pilot.csv C:\Workspace\Imports\prod.csv -minimize -noninteractive -u -or C:\Workspace\Imports\Results\results.html

[Takashi Sawanaka]

I could not reproduce it.

Have you checked whether the report file was created immediately after executing the above command?

Because WinMerge is a GUI program, it returns control to the caller before the WinMerge process exits.

Therefore, if you wait for a while, the report file may be created.

[Joshua Morrison]

The report file is never generated. I have tried running through both a .cmd file and in the command prompt interface. The command finishes instantly and simply does not seem to make the file. Is there any error logs by winmerge that I could check or do you have any ideas on what do do differently? Thank you for taking the time!

[Takashi Sawanaka]

Unfortunately, there is no winmerge log file.
It is not user-friendly not to output error messages or logs. We need to improve it.
By the way, does the C:\Workspace\Imports\ folder exist? If it does not exist, the report file is not created.

[bryian]

Thanks. Is there an option to generate a summary/project file? Like out.WinMerge?

[Takashi Sawanaka]

Unfortunately, there is no such option.　

[bryian]

this command WinMergeu c:\temp\log c:\temp\log2 -minimize -noninteractive -noprefs -cfg Settings/DirViewExpandSubdirs=1 -cfg ReportFiles/ReportType=2 -cfg ReportFiles/IncludeFileCmpReport=0 -or c:\temp\outfolder.html will produce a summary file. But is there a way to exclude the identical result from the file?

[Takashi Sawanaka]

Please add -cfg Settings/ShowIdentical=0 option

[tats]

Thank you for this feature.

[Siva Kumar Kapu]

I have some very big text files to compare.
So in the command line mode for File Comparison is there any way to generate the comparison report showing only the differences ? Also i don't need the html format is there any way to change the html report to txt report with just differences ?

[Takashi Sawanaka]

So in the command line mode for File Comparison is there any way to generate the comparison report showing only the differences ?

Please Add -cfg Settings/DiffContextV2=0 to command line.

Also i don't need the html format is there any way to change the html report to txt report with just differences ?

Unfortunately, currently, there is no way to create text report..

[Siva Kumar Kapu]

Works like a charm.. Thank you so much for the quick response

[oussema slaimi]

Hello,

I'm trying to do the same here.
using folowwing commande, the report file is not created.

winmergeU path_to_file_A path_to_file_A -minimize -noninteractive -noprefs -cfg Settings/DirViewExpandSubdirs=1 -cfg Settings/ShowIdentical=0 -cfg ReportFiles/ReportType=2 -cfg ReportFiles/IncludeFileCmpReport=1 -r -u -or path_to_html_report_file

any idea why it's not working ?

Thanks

[RYAN PETRAIN]

I am encountering the same thing. I tried running the script as adminsitrator and that did not help either. If I open Winmerge and compare the same two files and go to options and genereate a report with the same filename in the same location, it works.

[Takashi Sawanaka]

Could you see the result when deleting -minimize -noninteractive option from above command line?

If you specified an incorrect path, Current version of WinMerge may exit without displaying an error.

[Eric A Kohn]

First of, winmerge is an amazing tool which I use probably everyday. thanks for the amazing support!

Follow up to this issue:

I tried it with removing the -minimize -noninteractive parameters and it does not work.

it seems like with the -noninteractive parameter, the application will just exit and do nothing. leaving it out, causes the comparison to run, but a report is still not being generated automatically.

Any updates will be appreciated.

[Rambabu Garikapati]

Hello,
Is there any way to generate patch from command line in WinMerge.?(Like the way we are generating from GUI tools->Generate Patch and providing the file names)
Any help would be appreciated.