Eclipse (3.5) how to compare files horizontally?

Question

Normally Eclipse 'File Compare' compares files in vertical panels like:

Is there a way I can compare them horizontally like:

Compare using Horizontal Panel http://www.sqlservertool.com/images/ad_hex_diff_small.gif

Its too tiring to scroll everytime to see what was changed!!

Thx

Answer 1

Looking at the code of org.eclipse.comparator.internal.CompareEditor (which is the name of the class of the editor illustrated in your question), I do not see any indication of a different "orientation" (horizontal layout vs. vertical layout)

So, no. I do not think the current implementation allows you to compare files with a different layout.

Answer 2

I'm afraid VonC is right that the current implementation doesn't support changing the layout, but there is a bug open for it so you can either provide a patch or ping guys from Eclipse Workspace Team (including me :) and ask them to fix it for you ;)

Answer 3

I guess Robert was referring to Select Next/Previous Change/Difference buttons (see section Toolbar in Eclipse Help).

Answer 4

If your problem is scrolling, use the toolbar buttons to navigate between changes.

Answer 5

One way to overcome your problem is to Maximize editor window during file compare, and then Restore it after compares are done. I wish Eclipse did it by default.

As to the question of orientation. I think it's more readable when you compare revisions side-by-side. That's probably why Eclipse authors did not give us an option of horizontal layout. What they could have given us were a line diff at the current cursor position.