comparing a possibly altered file with the original

[Bill Hernandez]

On Feb 18, 2009, at 2:31 PM, David Epstein wrote:

>
> I have done a very small amount of editing of some configuration  
> files in
> /opt/local, and I suddenly realize that I should have been keeping a  
> record,
> because upgrading the port will delete my customizations. A specific  
> file I
> have changed is texmf.cnf in the teTex package, but I probably only  
> deleted
> one or two comment characters.
>
> What is the simplest way to compare the version of the file that I  
> now have
> in /opt/local with the version of the file that  I originally  
> downloaded on
> installation? I want a method that is safe, with no danger of  
> overwriting my
> current setup.

Take a look at BBEdit it makes backups of every change you make to  
text files, also look at Time Machine

Sample of BBEdit AUTOMATIC backups (I only show the content of one  
day's worth). You don't have to anything BBEdit does it all  
automatically.

Each of the backup directories at the bottom has similar contents :

2008-11-05
	add (2008-11-05 21-55-41-116).php
	bh_class_pagination_demo (2008-11-05 21-29-58-065).php
	bh_class_pdo_demo (2008-11-05 21-30-17-282).php
	date_test_page (2008-11-05 21-38-44-232).php
	dir_index (2008-11-05 21-47-36-814).php
	dir_index (2008-11-05 21-47-53-914).php
	error (2008-11-05 21-30-10-209).php
	finish (2008-11-05 21-29-53-090).php
	generator (2008-11-05 22-16-11-751).php
	generator (2008-11-05 22-16-24-839).php
	generator (2008-11-05 22-18-39-419).php
	generator (2008-11-05 22-18-55-251).php
	heredoc_images (2008-11-05 21-53-55-977).php
	heredoc_sample (2008-11-05 21-53-29-429).php
	heredoc_sample_00 (2008-11-05 21-54-24-175).php
	heredoc_sample_01 (2008-11-05 21-54-37-754).php
	heredoc_sample_02 (2008-11-05 21-54-50-915).php
	heredoc_sample_03 (2008-11-05 21-55-01-179).php
	highlight_code (2008-11-05 21-51-38-988).php
	highlight_code (2008-11-05 21-52-38-814).php
	index (2008-11-05 21-29-47-601).php
	index (2008-11-05 22-01-13-156).php
	insert (2008-11-05 21-55-59-661).php
	insert (2008-11-05 21-59-54-025).php
	insert (2008-11-05 22-01-25-078).php
	insert (2008-11-05 22-11-21-878).php
	math_round_up (2008-11-05 21-48-12-295).php
	mysql_test (2008-11-05 21-37-56-645).php
	read_dir (2008-11-05 21-32-48-476).php
	read_dir (2008-11-05 21-33-26-950).php
	read_dir (2008-11-05 21-35-19-395).php
	read_directory (2008-11-05 21-35-08-288).php
	recursive_dir (2008-11-05 21-48-41-480).php
	recursive_dir (2008-11-05 21-50-55-762).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-39-57-473).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-40-43-666).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-41-50-131).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-43-15-133).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-45-49-724).php
	serialize_test_page (2008-11-05 21-46-36-540).php
	setup (2008-11-05 22-04-33-729).php
	show_table (2008-11-05 21-35-37-073).php
	show_table (2008-11-05 21-36-10-220).php
	stack_and_queue_demo (2008-11-05 21-37-00-603).php
	test_page (2008-11-05 21-47-07-202).php

2008-11-19
2008-11-06
2008-11-07
2008-11-08
2008-11-09
2008-11-10
2008-11-11
2008-11-12
2008-11-13
2008-11-14
2008-11-15
2008-11-16
2008-11-17
2008-11-18