The DiffManager consists of

  • Recents: files you’ve opened recently
  • Favorites: files you open often
  • Browse: files you’re looking for
  • DiffList: files you’re working with right now

DiffManager overview

Open a viewer or differ

Double-clicking a file will open it using the default viewer and config.

Clicking one file, then holding [Ctrl] while double-clicking a second file will open a diff between the two using the default differ and config.

Right-clicking a file or group of files will open a pop-up menu of all the various operations which can be performed.

Right-click menu

Manipulating FileLists

Recents, Favorites, and the DiffList are all special kinds of FileList. Every viewer and differ has a FileList at the top. Some FileLists allow you to put files into them and remove files from them (such as the DiffList and Favorites), but all FileLists all you to copy and open files from them.

You can drag and drop files between FileLists. You can also drag files from your desktop to a FileList.

If a file or group of files is selected in a FileList and you press [Ctrl C], the paths to these files will be copied as text to the clipboard. Similarly, if you copy a text path to the clipboard and click a FileList so that it has focus, then press [Ctrl V], you can paste the files represented by that path onto the FileList. Dragging and dropping between a text editor and DiffPlug’s FileLists will also trigger this same behavior.

DiffManager drag and drop with text

Using the Browse bar

The Browse bar is useful for browsing and searching your various filesystems.

At the far left is the filesystem selector. If you click it, you will see the filesystems that DiffPlug currently supports.

Browse bar filesystems

Once you have selected a filesystem, you can type into the text field. As you type, DiffPlug will search for files and folders whose names contain the sequence of characters that you have typed. You can use the [Up Arrow] and [Down Arrow] keys to scroll through the suggestions, and [Enter] to select one.

Browse bar suggestions

Once you have found the file or folder you’re looking for, press [Enter] again to pop-up a menu of the operations for the selected file.

Browse bar actions

As the path changes, the indicator at the far right will toggle between check and X. check means that the file has been found, and X means that it hasn’t.

When the indicator is check, you can click it to open a menu of the available actions. You can also drag the check mark onto a FileList (such as the DiffList or Favorites). Conversely, you can drag a file from a FileList onto the Browse bar to set the Browse bar’s path. The text-based behavior of the FileLists is also enabled for the Browse bar as well.