git/list[1] front-page[2] threads[3] people[4] search[5] about
 

[PATCH 1/3] Implement the patience diff algorithm

From
Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date
Jan 1, 2009, 16:38 UTC
Message-ID
<alpine.DEB.1.00.0901011738240.30769@pacific.mpi-cbg.de>
In-Reply-To
<alpine.DEB.1.00.0901011730190.30769@pacific.mpi-cbg.de>

The patience diff algorithm produces slightly more intuitive output than the classic Myers algorithm, as it does not try to minimize the number of +/- lines first, but tries to preserve the lines that are unique.

To this end, it first determines lines that are unique in both files, then the maximal sequence which preserves the order (relative to both files) is extracted.

Starting from this initial set of common lines, the rest of the lines is handled recursively, with Myers' algorithm as a fallback when the patience algorithm fails (due to no common unique lines).

Signed-off-by: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
---
 xdiff/xdiff.h     |    1 +
 xdiff/xdiffi.c    |    3 +
 xdiff/xdiffi.h    |    2 +
 xdiff/xpatience.c |  374 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 4 files changed, 380 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 xdiff/xpatience.c
diff --git a/xdiff/xdiff.h b/xdiff/xdiff.h
index 361f802..4da052a 100644
--- a/xdiff/xdiff.h
+++ b/xdiff/xdiff.h
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #define XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE (1 << 2)
 #define XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE_CHANGE (1 << 3)
 #define XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE_AT_EOL (1 << 4)
+#define XDF_PATIENCE_DIFF (1 << 5)
 #define XDF_WHITESPACE_FLAGS (XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE | XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE_CHANGE | XDF_IGNORE_WHITESPACE_AT_EOL)
 
 #define XDL_PATCH_NORMAL '-'
diff --git a/xdiff/xdiffi.c b/xdiff/xdiffi.c
index 9d0324a..3e97462 100644
--- a/xdiff/xdiffi.c
+++ b/xdiff/xdiffi.c
@@ -329,6 +329,9 @@ int xdl_do_diff(mmfile_t *mf1, mmfile_t *mf2, xpparam_t const *xpp,
 	xdalgoenv_t xenv;
 	diffdata_t dd1, dd2;
 
+	if (xpp->flags & XDF_PATIENCE_DIFF)
+		return xdl_do_patience_diff(mf1, mf2, xpp, xe);
+
 	if (xdl_prepare_env(mf1, mf2, xpp, xe) < 0) {
 
 		return -1;
diff --git a/xdiff/xdiffi.h b/xdiff/xdiffi.h
index 3e099dc..ad033a8 100644
--- a/xdiff/xdiffi.h
+++ b/xdiff/xdiffi.h
@@ -55,5 +55,7 @@ int xdl_build_script(xdfenv_t *xe, xdchange_t **xscr);
 void xdl_free_script(xdchange_t *xscr);
 int xdl_emit_diff(xdfenv_t *xe, xdchange_t *xscr, xdemitcb_t *ecb,
 		  xdemitconf_t const *xecfg);
+int xdl_do_patience_diff(mmfile_t *mf1, mmfile_t *mf2, xpparam_t const *xpp,
+		xdfenv_t *env);
 
 #endif /* #if !defined(XDIFFI_H) */
diff --git a/xdiff/xpatience.c b/xdiff/xpatience.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6687940
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xdiff/xpatience.c
@@ -0,0 +1,374 @@
+/*
+ *  LibXDiff by Davide Libenzi ( File Differential Library )
+ *  Copyright (C) 2003-2009 Davide Libenzi, Johannes E. Schindelin
+ *
+ *  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ *  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ *  License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ *  version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ *  Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ *  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ *
+ *  Davide Libenzi <davidel@xmailserver.org>
+ *
+ */
+#include "xinclude.h"
+#include "xtypes.h"
+#include "xdiff.h"
+
+/*
+ * The basic idea of patience diff is to find lines that are unique in
+ * both files.  These are intuitively the ones that we want to see as
+ * common lines.
+ *
+ * The maximal ordered sequence of such line pairs (where ordered means
+ * that the order in the sequence agrees with the order of the lines in
+ * both files) naturally defines an initial set of common lines.
+ *
+ * Now, the algorithm tries to extend the set of common lines by growing
+ * the line ranges where the files have identical lines.
+ *
+ * Between those common lines, the patience diff algorithm is applied
+ * recursively, until no unique line pairs can be found; these line ranges
+ * are handled by the well-known Myers algorithm.
+ */
+
+#define NON_UNIQUE ULONG_MAX
+
+/*
+ * This is a hash mapping from line hash to line numbers in the first and
+ * second file.
+ */
+struct hashmap {
+	int nr, alloc;
+	struct entry {
+		unsigned long hash;
+		/*
+		 * 0 = unused entry, 1 = first line, 2 = second, etc.
+		 * line2 is NON_UNIQUE if the line is not unique
+		 * in either the first or the second file.
+		 */
+		unsigned long line1, line2;
+		/*
+		 * "next" & "previous" are used for the longest common
+		 * sequence;
+		 * initially, "next" reflects only the order in file1.
+		 */
+		struct entry *next, *previous;
+	} *entries, *first, *last;
+	/* were common records found? */
+	unsigned long has_matches;
+	mmfile_t *file1, *file2;
+	xdfenv_t *env;
+	xpparam_t const *xpp;
+};
+
+/* The argument "pass" is 1 for the first file, 2 for the second. */
+static void insert_record(int line, struct hashmap *map, int pass)
+{
+	xrecord_t **records = pass == 1 ?
+		map->env->xdf1.recs : map->env->xdf2.recs;
+	xrecord_t *record = records[line - 1], *other;
+	/*
+	 * After xdl_prepare_env() (or more precisely, due to
+	 * xdl_classify_record()), the "ha" member of the records (AKA lines)
+	 * is _not_ the hash anymore, but a linearized version of it.  In
+	 * other words, the "ha" member is guaranteed to start with 0 and
+	 * the second record's ha can only be 0 or 1, etc.
+	 *
+	 * So we multiply ha by 2 in the hope that the hashing was
+	 * "unique enough".
+	 */
+	int index = (int)((record->ha << 1) % map->alloc);
+
+	while (map->entries[index].line1) {
+		other = map->env->xdf1.recs[map->entries[index].line1 - 1];
+		if (map->entries[index].hash != record->ha ||
+				!xdl_recmatch(record->ptr, record->size,
+					other->ptr, other->size,
+					map->xpp->flags)) {
+			if (++index >= map->alloc)
+				index = 0;
+			continue;
+		}
+		if (pass == 2)
+			map->has_matches = 1;
+		if (pass == 1 || map->entries[index].line2)
+			map->entries[index].line2 = NON_UNIQUE;
+		else
+			map->entries[index].line2 = line;
+		return;
+	}
+	if (pass == 2)
+		return;
+	map->entries[index].line1 = line;
+	map->entries[index].hash = record->ha;
+	if (!map->first)
+		map->first = map->entries + index;
+	if (map->last) {
+		map->last->next = map->entries + index;
+		map->entries[index].previous = map->last;
+	}
+	map->last = map->entries + index;
+	map->nr++;
+}
+
+/*
+ * This function has to be called for each recursion into the inter-hunk
+ * parts, as previously non-unique lines can become unique when being
+ * restricted to a smaller part of the files.
+ *
+ * It is assumed that env has been prepared using xdl_prepare().
+ */
+static int fill_hashmap(mmfile_t *file1, mmfile_t *file2,
+		xpparam_t const *xpp, xdfenv_t *env,
+		struct hashmap *result,
+		int line1, int count1, int line2, int count2)
+{
+	result->file1 = file1;
+	result->file2 = file2;
+	result->xpp = xpp;
+	result->env = env;
+
+	/* We know exactly how large we want the hash map */
+	result->alloc = count1 * 2;
+	result->entries = (struct entry *)
+		xdl_malloc(result->alloc * sizeof(struct entry));
+	if (!result->entries)
+		return -1;
+	memset(result->entries, 0, result->alloc * sizeof(struct entry));
+
+	/* First, fill with entries from the first file */
+	while (count1--)
+		insert_record(line1++, result, 1);
+
+	/* Then search for matches in the second file */
+	while (count2--)
+		insert_record(line2++, result, 2);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Find the longest sequence with a smaller last element (meaning a smaller
+ * line2, as we construct the sequence with entries ordered by line1).
+ */
+static int binary_search(struct entry **sequence, int longest,
+		struct entry *entry)
+{
+	int left = -1, right = longest;
+
+	while (left + 1 < right) {
+		int middle = (left + right) / 2;
+		/* by construction, no two entries can be equal */
+		if (sequence[middle]->line2 > entry->line2)
+			right = middle;
+		else
+			left = middle;
+	}
+	/* return the index in "sequence", _not_ the sequence length */
+	return left;
+}
+
+/*
+ * The idea is to start with the list of common unique lines sorted by
+ * the order in file1.  For each of these pairs, the longest (partial)
+ * sequence whose last element's line2 is smaller is determined.
+ *
+ * For efficiency, the sequences are kept in a list containing exactly one
+ * item per sequence length: the sequence with the smallest last
+ * element (in terms of line2).
+ */
+static struct entry *find_longest_common_sequence(struct hashmap *map)
+{
+	struct entry **sequence = xdl_malloc(map->nr * sizeof(struct entry *));
+	int longest = 0, i;
+	struct entry *entry;
+
+	for (entry = map->first; entry; entry = entry->next) {
+		if (!entry->line2 || entry->line2 == NON_UNIQUE)
+			continue;
+		i = binary_search(sequence, longest, entry);
+		entry->previous = i < 0 ? NULL : sequence[i];
+		sequence[++i] = entry;
+		if (i == longest)
+			longest++;
+	}
+
+	/* No common unique lines were found */
+	if (!longest)
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* Iterate starting at the last element, adjusting the "next" members */
+	entry = sequence[longest - 1];
+	entry->next = NULL;
+	while (entry->previous) {
+		entry->previous->next = entry;
+		entry = entry->previous;
+	}
+	return entry;
+}
+
+static int match(struct hashmap *map, int line1, int line2)
+{
+	xrecord_t *record1 = map->env->xdf1.recs[line1 - 1];
+	xrecord_t *record2 = map->env->xdf2.recs[line2 - 1];
+	return xdl_recmatch(record1->ptr, record1->size,
+		record2->ptr, record2->size, map->xpp->flags);
+}
+
+static int patience_diff(mmfile_t *file1, mmfile_t *file2,
+		xpparam_t const *xpp, xdfenv_t *env,
+		int line1, int count1, int line2, int count2);
+
+static int walk_common_sequence(struct hashmap *map, struct entry *first,
+		int line1, int count1, int line2, int count2)
+{
+	int end1 = line1 + count1, end2 = line2 + count2;
+	int next1, next2;
+
+	for (;;) {
+		/* Try to grow the line ranges of common lines */
+		if (first) {
+			next1 = first->line1;
+			next2 = first->line2;
+			while (next1 > line1 && next2 > line2 &&
+					match(map, next1 - 1, next2 - 1)) {
+				next1--;
+				next2--;
+			}
+		} else {
+			next1 = end1;
+			next2 = end2;
+		}
+		while (line1 < next1 && line2 < next2 &&
+				match(map, line1, line2)) {
+			line1++;
+			line2++;
+		}
+
+		/* Recurse */
+		if (next1 > line1 || next2 > line2) {
+			struct hashmap submap;
+
+			memset(&submap, 0, sizeof(submap));
+			if (patience_diff(map->file1, map->file2,
+					map->xpp, map->env,
+					line1, next1 - line1,
+					line2, next2 - line2))
+				return -1;
+		}
+
+		if (!first)
+			return 0;
+
+		while (first->next &&
+				first->next->line1 == first->line1 + 1 &&
+				first->next->line2 == first->line2 + 1)
+			first = first->next;
+
+		line1 = first->line1 + 1;
+		line2 = first->line2 + 1;
+
+		first = first->next;
+	}
+}
+
+static int fall_back_to_classic_diff(struct hashmap *map,
+		int line1, int count1, int line2, int count2)
+{
+	/*
+	 * This probably does not work outside Git, since
+	 * we have a very simple mmfile structure.
+	 *
+	 * Note: ideally, we would reuse the prepared environment, but
+	 * the libxdiff interface does not (yet) allow for diffing only
+	 * ranges of lines instead of the whole files.
+	 */
+	mmfile_t subfile1, subfile2;
+	xpparam_t xpp;
+	xdfenv_t env;
+
+	subfile1.ptr = (char *)map->env->xdf1.recs[line1 - 1]->ptr;
+	subfile1.size = map->env->xdf1.recs[line1 + count1 - 2]->ptr +
+		map->env->xdf1.recs[line1 + count1 - 2]->size - subfile1.ptr;
+	subfile2.ptr = (char *)map->env->xdf2.recs[line2 - 1]->ptr;
+	subfile2.size = map->env->xdf2.recs[line2 + count2 - 2]->ptr +
+		map->env->xdf2.recs[line2 + count2 - 2]->size - subfile2.ptr;
+	xpp.flags = map->xpp->flags & ~XDF_PATIENCE_DIFF;
+	if (xdl_do_diff(&subfile1, &subfile2, &xpp, &env) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	memcpy(map->env->xdf1.rchg + line1 - 1, env.xdf1.rchg, count1);
+	memcpy(map->env->xdf2.rchg + line2 - 1, env.xdf2.rchg, count2);
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Recursively find the longest common sequence of unique lines,
+ * and if none was found, ask xdl_do_diff() to do the job.
+ *
+ * This function assumes that env was prepared with xdl_prepare_env().
+ */
+static int patience_diff(mmfile_t *file1, mmfile_t *file2,
+		xpparam_t const *xpp, xdfenv_t *env,
+		int line1, int count1, int line2, int count2)
+{
+	struct hashmap map;
+	struct entry *first;
+	int result = 0;
+
+	/* trivial case: one side is empty */
+	if (!count1) {
+		while(count2--)
+			env->xdf2.rchg[line2++ - 1] = 1;
+		return 0;
+	} else if (!count2) {
+		while(count1--)
+			env->xdf1.rchg[line1++ - 1] = 1;
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	memset(&map, 0, sizeof(map));
+	if (fill_hashmap(file1, file2, xpp, env, &map,
+			line1, count1, line2, count2))
+		return -1;
+
+	/* are there any matching lines at all? */
+	if (!map.has_matches) {
+		while(count1--)
+			env->xdf1.rchg[line1++ - 1] = 1;
+		while(count2--)
+			env->xdf2.rchg[line2++ - 1] = 1;
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	first = find_longest_common_sequence(&map);
+	if (first)
+		result = walk_common_sequence(&map, first,
+			line1, count1, line2, count2);
+	else
+		result = fall_back_to_classic_diff(&map,
+			line1, count1, line2, count2);
+
+	return result;
+}
+
+int xdl_do_patience_diff(mmfile_t *file1, mmfile_t *file2,
+		xpparam_t const *xpp, xdfenv_t *env)
+{
+	if (xdl_prepare_env(file1, file2, xpp, env) < 0)
+		return -1;
+
+	/* environment is cleaned up in xdl_diff() */
+	return patience_diff(file1, file2, xpp, env,
+			1, env->xdf1.nrec, 1, env->xdf2.nrec);
+}
-- 
1.6.1.rc3.412.ga72b
Previous: Johannes SchindelinNext: Johannes Schindelin
Message 11 of 67 in “libxdiff and patience diff”
  1. Pierre HabouzitNov 4, 2008
  2. Davide LibenziNov 4, 2008
  3. Pierre HabouzitNov 4, 2008
  4. Johannes SchindelinNov 4, 2008
  5. Pierre HabouzitNov 4, 2008
  6. Johannes SchindelinNov 4, 2008
  7. Pierre HabouzitNov 4, 2008
  8. Johannes SchindelinNov 4, 2008
  9. Pierre HabouzitNov 4, 2008
  10. 0/3 Teach Git about the patience diff algorithmJohannes Schindelin, Jan 1, 2009
  11. 1/3 Implement the patience diff algorithmJohannes Schindelin, Jan 1, 2009
  12. 2/3 Introduce the diff option '--patience'Johannes Schindelin, Jan 1, 2009
  13. 3/3 bash completions: Add the --patience optionJohannes Schindelin, Jan 1, 2009
  14. Linus TorvaldsJan 1, 2009
  15. Linus TorvaldsJan 1, 2009
  16. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  17. Linus TorvaldsJan 2, 2009
  18. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  19. Jeff KingJan 2, 2009
  20. 1/3 Implement the patience diff algorithmJohannes Schindelin, Jan 2, 2009
  21. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  22. Adeodato SimóJan 1, 2009
  23. Linus TorvaldsJan 2, 2009
  24. Clemens BuchacherJan 2, 2009
  25. Clemens BuchacherJan 2, 2009
  26. Linus TorvaldsJan 2, 2009
  27. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  28. Linus TorvaldsJan 2, 2009
  29. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  30. Jeff KingJan 2, 2009
  31. Jeff KingJan 2, 2009
  32. Jeff KingJan 2, 2009
  33. Linus TorvaldsJan 2, 2009
  34. Bazaar's patience diff as GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFFAdeodato Simó, Jan 3, 2009
  35. Johannes SchindelinJan 2, 2009
  36. Junio C HamanoJan 2, 2009
  37. Adeodato SimóJan 2, 2009
  38. Pierre HabouzitJan 6, 2009
  39. Pierre HabouzitJan 6, 2009
  40. Johannes SchindelinJan 6, 2009
  41. Pierre HabouzitJan 7, 2009
  42. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  43. 1/3 Implement the patience diff algorithmJohannes Schindelin, Jan 7, 2009
  44. Davide LibenziJan 7, 2009
  45. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  46. Davide LibenziJan 7, 2009
  47. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  48. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  49. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  50. Davide LibenziJan 7, 2009
  51. Sam VilainJan 7, 2009
  52. Linus TorvaldsJan 7, 2009
  53. Sam VilainJan 8, 2009
  54. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  55. Junio C HamanoJan 7, 2009
  56. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  57. Pierre HabouzitJan 7, 2009
  58. Johannes SchindelinJan 7, 2009
  59. Adeodato SimóJan 8, 2009
  60. Adeodato SimóJan 8, 2009
  61. Junio C HamanoJan 9, 2009
  62. Johannes SchindelinJan 9, 2009
  63. Adeodato SimóJan 9, 2009
  64. Linus TorvaldsJan 9, 2009
  65. Linus TorvaldsJan 9, 2009
  66. Junio C HamanoJan 9, 2009
  67. Johannes SchindelinJan 10, 2009

Read the whole thread, see it on lore, or plain text.

$ cat FOOTERMessages come from the public archive at lore.kernel.org/git, fetched every hour. The front page is chosen and written each morning by an AI editor and can be wrong; the threads themselves are the record. About and API. For agents: an MCP server at https://gitlist.dev/mcp, and any thread, story or person page as Markdown by adding .md to its URL (or sending Accept: text/markdown). Details in /llms.txt.