Yet-Another GIT DiffTool config problem

[Chris Lincoln]

I am just kicking the GIT tires. So far, so good. But I can't get git diff to work with BC3. So ingrained is BC into my every-day programming life, that I would kick GIT to the curb and just keep using BC before I would use git and kick BC to the curb. As I am a total GIT nube, I probably have something really simple messed up, or I am not even invoking diff correctly.

Symptom: while in bash in a repo folder, running "git difftool" (with or without [--files]), or "git difftool --dir-diff" just returns back to the bash prompt silently. No errors, and no launched BC.

git --version output:
git version 2.5.0.windows.1

My "current" C:\users\<me>\.gitconfig contents:

[gui]
recentrepo = C:/Eng/MyBigProj
recentrepo = C:/99-0000-09
recentrepo = C:/Eng/99-0000-09
[diff]
tool = bc3

[difftool]
prompt = false
[alias]
dt = difftool --dir-diff
[difftool "bc3"]
cmd = \"c:/Program Files (x86)/Beyond

Compare 3/BCompare.exe\" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"

I've tried the recommended setting found in this site's faq, as well as many variants found via googling, all with the same non-result.

[Aaron]

Hello,

I would recommend removing the dt and dir-diff definitions for now, and first focus on getting a single file diff to work as expected. For BC3 for Git for Windows, we recommend using the path (not cmd) definition. I would suggest backing up your current .gitconfig, then delete the [difftool] and [diff] content, then define on the git command following the commands here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...vcs#gitwindows

I would recommend restarting your computer (at least the Git client) to be certain the git client is properly loading and using the new settings. Then how do these (tool and path) definitions work for you?

If you are still having trouble, could you email in your .gitconfig as an attachment? We could then verify the precise syntax. Our email is [email protected] and please include a link back to this forum thread for our reference.

[Chris Lincoln]

Sounds fair.

I've taken the following steps, without a change in result:

1) backed-up then deleted my .gitconfig to get back to the default.
2) rebooted.
Here is my git version output at this point:
$ git config -l
core.symlinks=false
core.autocrlf=false
color.diff=auto
color.status=auto
color.branch=auto
color.interactive=true
pack.packsizelimit=2g
help.format=html
http.sslcainfo=C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
diff.astextplain.textconv=astextplain
rebase.autosquash=true
core.repositoryformatversion=0
core.filemode=false
core.bare=false
core.logallrefupdates=true
core.symlinks=false
core.ignorecase=true
core.hidedotfiles=dotGitOnly
remote.origin.url=n:/99-0000-09/repo.git
remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
branch.master.remote=origin
branch.master.merge=refs/heads/master
gui.wmstate=normal
gui.geometry=887x427+427+136 171 192

3) entered in the suggested commands via bash. Here is git config -l afterward:

$ git config -lcore.symlinks=false
core.autocrlf=false
color.diff=auto
color.status=auto
color.branch=auto
color.interactive=true
pack.packsizelimit=2g
help.format=html
http.sslcainfo=C:/Program Files/Git/mingw64/ssl/certs/ca-bundle.crt
diff.astextplain.textconv=astextplain
rebase.autosquash=true
diff.tool=bc3
difftool.bc3.path=c:/Program Files (x86)/Beyond Compare 3/bcomp.exe
core.repositoryformatversion=0
core.filemode=false
core.bare=false
core.logallrefupdates=true
core.symlinks=false
core.ignorecase=true
core.hidedotfiles=dotGitOnly
remote.origin.url=n:/99-0000-09/repo.git
remote.origin.fetch=+refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*
branch.master.remote=origin
branch.master.merge=refs/heads/master
gui.wmstate=normal
gui.geometry=887x427+427+136 171 192

Before you troubleshoot too much more...What is this "git client" to which you refer? Is it the GIT Gui? If so, how do I run diff from there? I have been dropping into a bash shell window, and even then, I don't really know if I am calling difftool properly.

[Chris Lincoln]

Yikes. It works. User error. I count myself as 50% stupid, but wouldn't argue anyone said I am 100%.

I didn't have any differences between my working repo and the remote. I kind of trained myself to always expect the "Left=Right" view of BC even if there are not differences. Just for kicks I made a trivial change and it worked. (I did need to configure the difftool to call BCompare.exe).

This may be too much of a particular work-flow question, but how do most folks on the Windows platform use BC from git? I hope not using bash. I'll never get git adoption to stick here if that is the case.

[Aaron]

Hello,

First, you'll want to stick with bcomp.exe (not BCompare.exe); bcomp.exe is used for various version control systems and helps when calling multiple diffs at once.

There are various GUIs for Git, like TortoiseGit, which you could configure:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...cs#tortoisegit

Many can link in and use the recommended .gitconfig settings, but some (like GitHub) need their own configuration steps or modified steps:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...#githubwindows