IDM PowerTips
UltraCompare command line options
UltraCompare includes support for command line access, allowing you to automate compares with output information or integrate UltraCompare with your other applications, version control, etc. We will go over all command line parameters for UltraCompare’s different compare modes in the following sections:
Basic command line format rules
The order and format of how these options are used is important. There are a few rules to remember when using UltraCompare’s command line functionality:
- All parameters must be separated by a space.
- “Compare mode selector” switches such as
-t,-3,-p,-x,-d, and-wmust always immediately precede the compared file(s)/folder(s) paths. Any other switches, e.g.-o,-ne,-a,-title1,-ignt,-horz, etc should follow the compared file(s)/folder(s) paths or should precede the mode selector switch. - Logical units can appear in any order on the command line so long as they are paired with their related parameters.
Synopsisuc [COMPARE OPTIONS] [MODE SELECTOR] [COMPARED FILE/FOLDER PATHS] [COMPARE OPTIONS] [OUTPUT FILE PATH]
Correct example:uc -i -lt -B -b -t <filepath1> <filepath2> -a -o <output file path>
Incorrect example:uc -i -lt -o -B -b -t -a <filepath1> <filepath2> <output file path>
Correct example:uc -w -r -dmf <folder1> -title1 "myFolder1" <folder2> -title2 "myFolder2" <folder3> -title3 "myFolder3" -o <output file path>
Incorrect example:uc -w -r -dmf -o -title1 "myFolder1" -title2 "myFolder2" -title3 "myFolder3" <output file path> <folder1> <folder2> <folder3>
Result file output format
As of UltraCompare 2022.2, append a .html file extension to your output file path to generate an HTML based result report. All other extensions will generate a plain-text result report.
File / text mode compare parameters
As of UltraCompare 2022.2, append a .html file extension to your output file path to generate an HTML based result report. All other extensions will generate a plain-text result report.
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-t |
Mode selector | invokes text compare mode |
-3 |
Mode selector | invokes text compare of 3 files |
-qc |
Mode selector | invokes quick diff check (application does not open - see "Quick Difference" power tip) |
-a |
Compare option | enables "Show all" (both differences and similarities are displayed) |
-m |
Compare option | enables "Show matching" (only similar lines are displayed) |
-ne |
Compare option | enables "Show differences" (only different lines are displayed) |
-B |
Compare option | enables "Ignore blank lines" option |
-b |
Compare option | enables "Ignore whitespace" option |
-i |
Compare option | enables "Ignore case" option |
-lt |
Compare option | enables "Ignore line terminators" option |
-ignb "STRING" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore lines that begin with STRING" option |
-ignc "STRING" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore lines that contain STRING" option |
-igne "STRING" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore lines that end with STRING" option |
-ignbtw "STRING1" "STRING2" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore all text between STRING1 and STRING2" option |
-ignfb "#" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore # lines at start of file" option |
-ignte "#" |
Compare option | enables "Ignore # lines at end of file" option |
-rio |
Compare option | resets (clears) ignore options – defaults will be used |
-ofa |
Result file option | creates result file in "All frames" format |
-ofc |
Result file option | creates result file in "Differences in context" format |
-ofo |
Result file option | creates result file in "One frame only" format |
-ofs |
Result file option | creates result file in "Side by side" format |
-rom |
Compare option | enables "read-only" merge mode (original compared files aren't altered, and merged changes are saved into separate third file) |
Examples:
Text compare with output:uc -t "c:\1.txt" "c:\2.txt" -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a text compare of 1.txt and 2.txt (with default options) and automatically saves an output file to c:\output.txt
3-way text compare with output:uc -3 "c:\1.txt" "c:\2.txt" "c:\3.txt" -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a 3-way text compare of 1.txt, 2.txt, and 3.txt and automatically saves an output file to c:\output.txt
Text compare with options and output:uc -t -i -b -B "c:\1.txt" "c:\2.txt" -ne -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a 2-way text compare of 1.txt and 2.txt with “Ignore case”, “Ignore whitespace”, and “Ignore blank lines” set, and will only report differences in output file c:\output.txt
Text compare with advanced ignore options:uc -t "c:\file.c" "c:\file2.c" -ignbtw "/*" "*/"
Invokes a text compare of file.c and file.c, ignoring all text between /* and */ (comments)
Read-only merge:uc -rom "c:\file1.txt" "c:\file2.txt" "c:\result.txt"
Invokes a read-only merge of file1.txt and file2.txt – the differences are merged into “result.txt” and the original 2 files are not modified in any way
Text compare with horizontal layout:uc -t "c:\1.txt" "c:\2.txt" -horz
Invokes a text compare of 1.txt and 2.txt and displays the compare frames horizontally in the GUI
Binary mode compare parameters
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-p |
Mode selector | invokes fast binary (hex) compare of files |
-x |
Mode selector | invokes smart binary (hex) compare of files |
Example:
Binary compare with output:uc -p "c:\info1.dmp" "c:\info2.dmp" -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a fast binary file compare of info1.dmp and info2.dmp and automatically saves an output file to c:\output.txt
Folder mode compare parameters
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-d |
Mode selector | invokes folder mode compare |
-w |
Mode selector | invokes 3-way folder mode compare |
-dmb |
Compare option | sets folder compare type to "Basic" (only file sizes and timestamps are compared) |
-dmf |
Compare option | sets folder compare type to "Full" (files are compared byte-by-byte) |
-dms |
Compare option | sets folder compare type to "Smart" (file contents are compared based upon text mode settings and ignore options) |
-r |
Compare option | enables recursive mode (all subfolders and files are included in compare) |
-fb |
Compare option | forces a binary comparison of all files in a folder compare (only to be used when invoking a "Smart" folder compare) |
-ft |
Compare option | forces a text comparison of all files in a folder compare (only to be used when invoking a "Smart" folder compare) |
-ignt |
Compare option | enables "Ignore timestamp differences" option |
-a |
Compare option | enables "Show all" (both differences and similarities are displayed) |
-m |
Compare option | enables "Show matching" (only similar lines are displayed) |
-ne |
Compare option | enables "Show differences" (only different lines are displayed) |
Examples
Basic folder compare with output:uc -d -dmb "c:\dir1" "c:\dir2" -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a basic folder compare of dir1 and dir2 and automatically saves an output file to c:\output.txt
Smart, recursive, 3-way folder compare with output:uc -w -dms -r "c:\dir1" "c:\dir2" "c:\dir3" -o "c:\output.txt"
Invokes a smart recursive folder compare of dir1, dir2, and dir3 and automatically saves an output file to c:\output.txt
Smart, recursive folder compare with aliases:uc -d -dms -r "c:\dir1" "c:\dir2" -title1 "myFolder1" -title2 "myFolder2"
Invokes a smart recursive folder compare of dir1 and dir2, and displays the directories in the GUI as “myFolder1” and “myFolder2”, respectively
Table/Excel mode compare parameters
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-tb |
Mode selector | invokes table mode compare |
-mc |
Compare option | sets "Show matching columns" display option |
-mr |
Compare option | sets "Show matching rows" display option |
-nec |
Compare option | sets "Show different columns" display option |
-ner |
Compare option | sets "Show different rows" display option |
Examples
Table compare with differing columns:uc -tb "c:\temp\file1.xls" "c:\temp\file2.xls" -nec
Invokes an Excel compare with only different columns displayed
Git compare / merge parameters
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-gitdt |
Mode selector | invokes Git diff mode |
-gitm |
Mode selector | invokes Git merge mode |
Examples:
Git diff (used for “difftool” in .gitconfig):uc -gitdt "$REMOTE" "$LOCAL" "$MERGED"-title1 "REMOTE" -title2 "LOCAL"
Invokes a diff of local changes against repository version using aliases “REMOTE” and “LOCAL”
Git merge (used for “mergetool” in .gitconfig):uc -gitm "$REMOTE" "$LOCAL" "$BASE" "$MERGED"-title1 "REMOTE" -title2 "LOCAL"
Invokes a merge / conflict resolution in a special “Git merge” mode using aliases “REMOTE” and “LOCAL”
Other / miscellaneous compare parameters
| Parameter | Type | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
-prf "SessionName" |
Compare option | runs saved compare session named SessionName |
-o |
Output file option | creates output file |
-op |
Output file option | appends output of compare to specified (existing) output file |
-esc |
Display option | sets UltraCompare to be dismissed when ESC key is pressed |
-horz |
Display option | sets view of compare frames to horizontal layout |
-vert |
Display option | sets view of compare frames to vertical layout |
-title1 / -title2 / -title3 |
Display option | sets alias or title name for the first / second / third file or folder |
Note: If an output file is specified, the UltraCompare GUI will open, the output file will be created, and the GUI will then close automatically (usually this happens very quickly). If an output file is not specified, the UltraCompare GUI will open and wait for user interaction.