BC4 as difftool not working for git version 2.12.0.windows.1

[Simon Hooper]

I'm using BC4 4.2.9 x64.

I can confirm that the following git commands do not launch beyond compare but print the diff in the terminal.

git difftool
git difftool filename.ext

this command will launch the diff in bc

git difftool head filename.ext

KUDOS @roelandsch for his post. This saved me a from a 45min headache


*My settings*

$ git --version
git version 2.21.0.windows.1

$git config --list

...
diff.tool=bc
merge.tool=bc
...

[Aaron]

Hello,

Which terminal are you using to launch the command? Windows Command Prompt, Git Bash, Visual Studio Code (and if so, which sub-terminal)?
I've retested with that version of Git and it is currently working from the Windows Command Prompt.

Also, the gitconfig should define both the tool and the path:
[diff]
tool = bc
[difftool "bc"]
trustExitCode=true
path = c:/Program Files/Beyond Compare 4/bcomp.exe
[merge]
tool = bc
[mergetool "bc"]
path = c:/Program Files/Beyond Compare 4/BComp.exe

Please note the number of different entries we have for defining a difftool for different variations of Git, here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/support.php?zz=kb_vcs
Git can be a little picky, and also varies depending on exactly which flavor (and version) of Git you are running.

From BC4's perspective, you can call our application from the command line with two parameters and we'll launch the diff view. Configuring Git to call to a difftool can be tricky. One tip I have from frequent Git troubleshooting is to occasionally insert an incorrect path into the definition in order to generate an intentional error, just to verify if the current git difftool commands are pulling from the expected or a different .gitconfig file or a cached version of the file.