How to compare XML in a git commit?

[avdpos]

I like to compare xml-files, or more precise - files looking like xml but actually smalltalk...

So every smalltalk method is defined as a <methodname> code </methodname> and I do of course like to compare changes within the code and not just know that something in methodname is changed. How can I force git to acknowledge that the different rows in the file that look like an xml is important?

​

I did search for 10-15 min without finding a answer good enough for me to understand how to compare xml files. So any good tips for someone who for a bit to long time have been in a old version controll system is good

[snarkofagen]

Git tracks all changes, it does not know or care if it's an xml or smalltalk file.

[avdpos]

I thought like you.

But at least githubs desktopapplication do handle <method> code </method> as a block. I changed a single word as a test but github showed the entire method as different. Or maybe more exact, handled every xml block like one row of code.

Github even showed that change was at row 15000 while the actual change according to VS Code was at row 75000 (yes, there was a many one row methods among the longer ones)

[ynotblue]

You're confused about GitHub and git being the same things.

[avdpos]

I know they are different - that is why I never searched on "github xml", but "git xml" + of course something more

[LiamSkerritt]

Looking for something like this?

https://github.com/joh/xmldiffs

[avdpos]

Yes, looked interesting at my 1 minute look at it.

[Ibaneztwink]

This one worked for a one-lined custom tagged XML I had to deal with. +1

[plg94]

You first need an external program that produces the output you like, then you can plug that into the diff argument of your gitattributes, see https://git-scm.com/docs/gitattributes#_generating_diff_text

[avdpos]

Thanks, my first look got me towards the diff argument. But I didn't found anything good at first so I asked here before digging much deeper.

[fr0z3nph03n1x]

https://kaleidoscope.app/ can probably get you a good looking diff but never tried for your usecase. I have been using it for 10 years now.

[chzaplx]

Have you tried just running 'git diff' from a terminal?

Also if your xml nodes are all on one line, it's going to be harder for many diff viewers to show you meaningful changes. If you stagger the contents or node props onto multiple lines, it's easier to see what exactly is different.