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(diff.info)Context

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Showing Differences in Their Context
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   Usually, when you are looking at the differences between files, you
will also want to see the parts of the files near the lines that
differ, to help you understand exactly what has changed.  These nearby
parts of the files are called the "context".

   GNU `diff' provides two output formats that show context around the
differing lines: "context format" and "unified format".  It can
optionally show in which function or section of the file the differing
lines are found.

   If you are distributing new versions of files to other people in the
form of `diff' output, you should use one of the output formats that
show context so that they can apply the diffs even if they have made
small changes of their own to the files.  `patch' can apply the diffs
in this case by searching in the files for the lines of context around
the differing lines; if those lines are actually a few lines away from
where the diff says they are, `patch' can adjust the line numbers
accordingly and still apply the diff correctly.  Note: Imperfect, for
more information on using `patch' to apply imperfect diffs.

Context Format

An output format that shows surrounding lines.

Unified Format

A more compact output format that shows context.

Sections

Showing which sections of the files differences are in.

Alternate Names

Showing alternate file names in context headers.