Introduce Unified Diff display mode to Compare editor by tobiasmelcher · Pull Request #2560 · eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform

tobiasmelcher · 2026-03-11T10:10:49Z

Add Unified Diff Display in Text Editor as Alternative to Classic 2-Way Compare

Implements eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3771

Summary

This contribution introduces a new Unified Diff viewing mode for org.eclipse.compare that displays differences in a single editor pane, similar to git diff or GitHub's pull request view. When enabled, it replaces the traditional side-by-side 2-way compare editor for read-only comparisons, providing a more compact and familiar diff experience.

This is a draft implementation to gather early feedback from the Eclipse community on:

API design and public interface shape
Integration approach with existing compare infrastructure
User experience and workflow expectations
Performance and edge case handling

What's Included

1. New Public API (`org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff`)

Added a new public package with the UnifiedDiff class as the main entry point for programmatically opening unified diffs in text editors.

Supported Modes:

REPLACE_MODE: Diffs are directly applied to the editor content. Users can keep or undo individual changes.
OVERLAY_MODE: Source content remains unmodified. Diffs are shown via code mining annotations, and users can selectively apply or cancel individual changes.
OVERLAY_READ_ONLY_MODE: Source content remains unmodified and read-only. Diffs are shown via code mining annotations for viewing only.

API Example:

UnifiedDiff.create(editor, sourceContent, UnifiedDiffMode.OVERLAY_READ_ONLY_MODE)
    .ignoreWhiteSpace(true)
    .open();

2. Preference Page Integration

Added a new checkbox in Preferences > General > Compare/Patch:

"Use Unified Diff instead of 2-way compare when possible"

When enabled, eligible compare operations automatically use the unified diff viewer instead of the traditional side-by-side editor.

3. Automatic Compare Editor Integration

Modified CompareUIPlugin#openCompareEditor() to detect when unified diff should be used:

Only applies to 2-way comparisons (left vs. right, no ancestor)
Only applies to read-only comparisons (no editing capabilities needed)
Automatically extracts content and opens in unified diff mode when preference is enabled

How to Test

Prerequisites

Eclipse workspace with a Java project tracked in a Git repository

Steps

Open Window > Preferences > General > Compare/Patch
Enable the checkbox: "Use Unified Diff instead of 2-way compare when possible"
In the Package Explorer, right-click a Java file
Select Team > Show in History
In the History view, select two different commits
Right-click and choose Compare with Each Other

Expected Result:

Instead of the traditional side-by-side compare editor, a single editor opens showing the unified diff
Added lines appear with green background highlighting
Deleted lines appear as code mining annotations with red background
Character-level changes within modified lines are highlighted with darker shades

Next Steps

Remove reflection calls - Enhance the code mining APIs so that the current reflection calls can be removed
Code cleanup - Polish implementation
Bug fixes - Address issues reported by the Eclipse community
UI/UX improvements - Enhance user experience based on the community feedback

github-actions · 2026-03-11T10:25:24Z

Test Results

54 files ±0 54 suites ±0 36m 18s ⏱️ -12s
4 671 tests ±0 4 649 ✅ ±0 22 💤 ±0 0 ❌ ±0
11 907 runs ±0 11 754 ✅ ±0 153 💤 ±0 0 ❌ ±0

Results for commit 2221516. ± Comparison against base commit 6960419.

♻️ This comment has been updated with latest results.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-03-11T11:42:58Z

vogella · 2026-03-11T14:48:16Z

Looks amazing

HeikoKlare · 2026-03-16T13:45:30Z

I very much like that feature. I would be in favor of integrating a usable state as early as possible and incrementally improve it, so that it becomes easy to test and so that you get feedback soon.

You currently seem to introduce new API with the org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff package. Is it necessary to export that package at all or can it stay internal (for now)? If the feature can be added as configurable opt-in/opt-out without adding any new API, it could even be integrated in a rather experimental state, as it can be disabled and also incrementally improved or, in case of problems, even removed again without having to consider any effects on existing consumers.

vogella · 2026-03-18T10:36:27Z

@tobias-melcher can you finish this one? Would be awesome to have this as option (hopefully the default 1-2 releases later).

laeubi · 2026-03-18T10:41:59Z

that displays differences in a single editor pane, similar to git diff or GitHub's pull request view.

For me github shows by default a split view (what often is a bit better than the eclipse one but that's a different story) and one has to explicitly select "unified" - so I don't think one is the "default" over the other but its just two options one can switch between and depends on preference of the user.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-03-18T10:43:49Z

@tobias-melcher can you finish this one? Would be awesome to have this as option (hopefully the default 1-2 releases later).

Sure, I will do my best. I think the most important topic is that we get rid of the reflection calls. I will concentrate on this topic in the next weeks. I understand the request to make this feature available as early as possible and mark it as experimental. I will do this.

list Adds a new public API method `getMinings()` to `AbstractInlinedAnnotation` that provides read-only access to the list of `ICodeMining` instances associated with an inlined annotation. This API is needed to implement the unified diff feature via eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform#2560

tobiasmelcher · 2026-04-06T09:35:31Z

I very much like that feature. I would be in favor of integrating a usable state as early as possible and incrementally improve it, so that it becomes easy to test and so that you get feedback soon.

You currently seem to introduce new API with the org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff package. Is it necessary to export that package at all or can it stay internal (for now)? If the feature can be added as configurable opt-in/opt-out without adding any new API, it could even be integrated in a rather experimental state, as it can be disabled and also incrementally improved or, in case of problems, even removed again without having to consider any effects on existing consumers.

@HeikoKlare I marked the package as "provisional API" and added "EXPERIMENTAL" to the preference label with [900a124]. Would you prefer to add "internal" to package "org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff" or is x-internal sufficient?

list Adds a new public API method `getMinings()` to `AbstractInlinedAnnotation` that provides read-only access to the list of `ICodeMining` instances associated with an inlined annotation. This API is needed to implement the unified diff feature via eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform#2560

danthe1st · 2026-04-06T10:21:01Z

+	private UnifiedDiff() {
+	}
+
+	public static enum UnifiedDiffMode {


Since this is API, I think using an enum here means that adding enum constants is a backwards incompatible change? Should this be updated to allow for adding new values without breaking compatibility?

thanks a lot for the feedback @danthe1st . I have replaced the enum with a type-safe constant class [af1f8ef]. Do you have any further feedback?
I’d also like to better understand the compatibility concern: is adding an additional enum value really considered binary incompatible? If so, could you please point me to the relevant documentation that explains why enums are not allowed in Eclipse APIs?

I don't know about that being anywhere in the Eclipse documentation but imagine this enum:

enum MyEnum { A, B }

We can then use exhaustive switch expressions:

int oneBasedIndex(MyEnum e){ return switch(e) { case A -> 1; case B -> 2; // case null -> 0; // optional }; }

Adding a new enum constant C will result in:

A compilation failure at the index method
method

An Error at runtime when oneBasedIndex is called with MyEnum.C without recompiling/replacing the compilation unit containing MyEnum.C

I think there's also a way to reproduce this in JDKs before switch expressions using definite assignment rules (ensuring a variable is initialized).

Thanks a lot for the clarification. Makes sense to me. You convinced me not to use enums in APIs.

Actually, https://github.com/eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform/blob/master/docs/Evolving-Java-based-APIs-2.md#evolving-api-classes mentions

Add enum constant - Binary compatible (8)

and

(8) Client code can use the values() method to determine the ordinal positions of the enum constants. So although this is a binary compatible change, it may break contractual compatibility.

But I guess there's an argument to be made against that for the reasons I mentioned above.

list Adds a new public API method `getMinings()` to `AbstractInlinedAnnotation` that provides read-only access to the list of `ICodeMining` instances associated with an inlined annotation. This API is needed to implement the unified diff feature via eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform#2560

HeikoKlare · 2026-04-09T15:59:14Z

I marked the package as "provisional API" and added "EXPERIMENTAL" to the preference label with [https://github.com/eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform/commit/900a1249ad58a3086b2f2bd116ec918adfea2849]. Would you prefer to add "internal" to package "org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff" or is x-internal sufficient?

I think marking the package as x-internal is sufficient. It's just important that OSGi will by default not allow you to access any content of that package. If I am not mistaken, we also have other packages that are marked into without having "internal" in their name (though it probably used to be common practice to have internal packages named like that some time ago).

vogella · 2026-04-09T16:15:14Z

The old conversation was: use internal in package name if you do not plan to release it as API . Use x-internal if you plan to release it as API at some point in time but you are not yet ready for that

vogella · 2026-04-17T03:43:54Z

@tobiasmelcher can I help with moving this forward?

tobiasmelcher · 2026-04-17T07:22:13Z

@tobiasmelcher can I help with moving this forward?

@vogella thanks a lot for asking and for offering to help. Sorry for the slow progress on my side. I haven’t had as much time as I expected over the last few weeks, so I wasn’t able to move this forward properly. I really appreciate your patience and support.
Could you please help me with a review of eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3868? Do you think I should add a unit test to 3868 to better document the intended behavior?
PR #3868 is required so that this unified diff pull request will build properly. I’m aware that the current state is still quite early and that there’s a lot more work to do. However, this would allow us to merge an initial version and then continue working on the unified diff feature in parallel.

vogella · 2026-04-17T11:23:22Z

@tobiasmelcher can I help with moving this forward?

@vogella thanks a lot for asking and for offering to help. Sorry for the slow progress on my side. I haven’t had as much time as I expected over the last few weeks, so I wasn’t able to move this forward properly. I really appreciate your patience and support. Could you please help me with a review of eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3868? Do you think I should add a unit test to 3868 to better document the intended behavior? PR #3868 is required so that this unified diff pull request will build properly. I’m aware that the current state is still quite early and that there’s a lot more work to do. However, this would allow us to merge an initial version and then continue working on the unified diff feature in parallel.

Just as a remark, as Eclipse committer you can ask for a free pro Copilot license in your user profile, afterwards the Copilot CLI allows you to use Claude Opus 4.7 (or 4.6 in case the roll-out of 4.7 has not yet reached you) via the /model setting. Highly recommended in case you need assistance.

vogella · 2026-04-17T11:59:50Z

Could you please help me with a review of eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3868?

Review is posted

tobiasmelcher · 2026-04-17T18:53:17Z

Could you please help me with a review of eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3868?

Review is posted

Thanks a lot.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-05-02T19:42:58Z

Hi @vogella ,
could you please help me in setting the dark theme colors for the new marker annotations defined in the plugin.xml: org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.addition
org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.deletion
org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.detailedAddition
org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.detailedDeletion

I added a dark.css file and registered it in the plugin.xml:

<extension point="org.eclipse.e4.ui.css.swt.theme">
  <stylesheet uri="resources/css/dark.css">
     <themeid refid="org.eclipse.e4.ui.css.theme.e4_dark"></themeid>
  </stylesheet>
</extension>

The content in the dark.css seems not to be correct:

IEclipsePreferences#org-eclipse-ui-editors:org-eclipse-ui-themes {
	preferences:
		'inlineDiffColor=27,40,30'
		'detailedInlineDiffColor=24,50,27'
		'deletionInlineDiffColor=52,27,30'
		'detailedDeletionInlineDiffColor=74,24,27'
}

Unfortunately, the light colors are used in the dark theme and not the registered ones in dark.css:

Do you know how to fix this?

Thanks a lot,
Tobias

vogella · 2026-05-02T22:30:52Z

Looks like the css is not in the build.properties?

vogella · 2026-05-03T15:08:23Z

This is is incorrect:

IEclipsePreferences#org-eclipse-ui-editors:org-eclipse-ui-themes {

The Pseudo class (:org-eclipse-ui-themes) is supposed to be the plug-in which contributes this, would be the ID of the bundle you have this in (the compare one), otherwise it gets overridden by the exsting org-eclipse-ui-editors:org-eclipse-ui-themes node or overrides it.

I implemented this pseudo functionality to allow multiple plug-ins to contribute preference values for ui-editor preference node.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-05-03T16:02:22Z

This is is incorrect:
IEclipsePreferences#org-eclipse-ui-editors:org-eclipse-ui-themes {
The Pseudo class (:org-eclipse-ui-themes) is supposed to be the plug-in which contributes this, would be the ID of the bundle you have this in (the compare one), otherwise it gets overridden by the exsting org-eclipse-ui-editors:org-eclipse-ui-themes node or overrides it.

I implemented this pseudo functionality to allow multiple plug-ins to contribute preference values for ui-editor preference node.

Thanks a lot for the very fast response. Colors for the editor annotations are now taken from dark.css, great.

vogella · 2026-05-03T16:51:08Z

Nice. So from your side this change is ready?

tobiasmelcher · 2026-05-03T17:17:46Z

Nice. So from your side this change is ready?

I want to implement some unit tests, remove the test commands (TestUnidiffCommand, ...) and run some AI reviews.
There are performance issues with SAPs ABAP Editor which I have not faced with the Java editor (the syntax coloring implementation for ABAP is much more complex and expensive compared to the Java implementation).

Ready is a big word; I would say we have a very first experimental version which could be used by interested users.

When is the next dev close? Can we merge the first version in the beginning of the next release cycle?

HeikoKlare · 2026-05-04T14:27:04Z

When is the next dev close? Can we merge the first version in the beginning of the next release cycle?

For the Eclipse Platform, M3 is next next Friday. RC2 is two weeks later (29th May) and usually the master branch will be opened for development of the next release shortly after. So beginning of June would be a good time for merging this. If I am not mistaken, the current proposal is a completely internal implementation with an opt-in feature, which in my opinion is perfect for merging in a rather early, experimental state and then improving incrementally while already having interested people testing it.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-06-05T13:17:53Z

Hi everyone,

I have just rebased this PR onto the latest master, so it is now up to date and ready for review.

Please note that the Unified Diff feature introduced here is an early experimental version. The intention of merging it at this stage is to gather initial feedback from the community so users can try it out, report issues, and help guide its further development.
The feature is opt in via a preference, which means the existing 2 way compare remains the default and is unaffected.
I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and share your feedback or concerns. In particular, are there any objections to merging this initial experimental version?
If there are no objections, I plan to proceed with merging next week.

Thanks a lot,
Tobias

HeikoKlare

+1 for merging this to allow easy testing of the new diff UI. Since the feature is marked experimental in the UI and technically internal, I do not see any risk in integrating it as is.
Note that I did not do a review of the code, but just found a typo by accident when look for how the feature is presented in the UI, which is why I have a single review comment.

Thank you again for working on this, @tobiasmelcher! Looking forward to having this available in the IDE and testing it.

HeikoKlare · 2026-06-05T15:02:52Z

 	public static final String ADDED_LINES_REGEX= PREFIX + "AddedLinesRegex"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 	public static final String REMOVED_LINES_REGEX= PREFIX + "RemovedLinesRegex"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 	public static final String SWAPPED = PREFIX + "Swapped"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	public static final String UNIFIED_DIFF = PREFIX + "UnitifedDiff"; //$NON-NLS-1$


Suggested change

public static final String UNIFIED_DIFF = PREFIX + "UnitifedDiff"; //$NON-NLS-1$

public static final String UNIFIED_DIFF = PREFIX + "UnifiedDiff"; //$NON-NLS-1$

thanks a lot Heiko, typo should be fixed with [95145e2]. I can remember that I fixed this typo some time ago, but somehow got lost then.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR introduces an experimental “Unified Diff” viewing mode for org.eclipse.compare, integrating a single-pane diff presentation (via annotations + code minings) into the text editor workflow and adding a preference to use it automatically for eligible 2‑way, read-only comparisons.

Changes:

Added a new unified diff API surface (org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff) plus internal implementation for diff computation, annotations, toolbars, and code mining rendering.
Integrated unified diff opening into CompareUIPlugin#openCompareEditor() behind a new Compare/Patch preference.
Added styling/resources (dark theme preference overrides, toolbar icons) and UI tests to validate annotation production + paint behavior.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 24 out of 26 changed files in this pull request and generated 9 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
team/tests/org.eclipse.team.tests.core/src/org/eclipse/team/tests/ui/UnifiedDiffManagerTest.java	Adds UI-level regression tests ensuring unified diff annotations are produced and can paint without logged errors.
team/tests/org.eclipse.team.tests.core/src/org/eclipse/team/tests/core/AllTeamUITests.java	Registers the new unified diff UI test in the UI test suite.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/resources/css/dark.css	Defines dark-theme preference overrides for unified diff colors.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/plugin.xml	Registers code mining provider + annotation types/specifications and dark-theme stylesheet.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/plugin.properties	Adds label text for the new “Unified Diff” preference.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF	Exports the new unified diff package (currently marked internal).
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/icons/full/elcl16/undo.svg	Adds toolbar icon for revert/undo-all behavior in unified diff.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/icons/full/elcl16/remove_highlighting.svg	Adds toolbar icon for hiding diffs.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/UnifiedDiffMode.java	Introduces unified diff display mode constants.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/UnifiedDiff.java	Adds the public entry point/builder for opening unified diffs in editors.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/UnifiedDiffManager.java	Core unified diff engine: computes diffs, manages annotations, listeners, toolbars, and repaint coordination.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/UnifiedDiffCodeMiningProvider.java	Renders unified diff deletions/additions via line header/footer code minings and token-level highlighting.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/UndoAllRunnable.java	Implements “Undo All” action for replace-mode flows.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/PreviousRunnable.java	Implements previous-diff navigation action.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/NextRunnable.java	Implements next-diff navigation action.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/KeepAllRunnable.java	Implements “Keep All” for replace-mode flows.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/HideAllDiffsRunnable.java	Implements “Hide All Diffs” action and unified diff cleanup.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/unifieddiff/internal/AcceptAllRunnable.java	Implements “Accept/Revert All” action and applies changes into the document.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/merge/DocumentMerger.java	Exposes merger input to support unified diff token/whitespace contributors.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/ICompareUIConstants.java	Adds icon constant for the “open 2‑way compare” action.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/CompareUIPlugin.java	Adds unified diff preference handling and automatic unified diff opening in compare editor workflow.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/ComparePreferencePage.java	Adds preference key/default and UI checkbox for unified diff mode.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/CompareMessages.properties	Adds unified diff toolbar/action strings and error text.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/internal/CompareMessages.java	Exposes the new message keys as fields.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/compare/org/eclipse/compare/contentmergeviewer/TextMergeViewer.java	Adds adapter for `IDocumentMergerInput` and makes dispose path more null-safe.
team/bundles/org.eclipse.compare/build.properties	Ensures the new `resources/` directory is included in the build.

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+		} catch (CoreException | IOException e) {
+			CompareUIPlugin.log(e);
+		}
+		return null;
+	}


+			var invisibleParent = new Shell();
+			try {
+				invisibleParent.setVisible(false);
+				var viewer = input.findContentViewer(new NullViewer(getShell()), compareInput, invisibleParent);
+				if (viewer instanceof IAdaptable adaptable) {


+			try {
+				IWorkbenchPage wpage = page != null ? page : getActivePage();
+				if (unifiedDiffInput.left instanceof IFileEditorInput) {
+					IEditorPart leftEditor = wpage.openEditor(unifiedDiffInput.left,
+							getEditorId(unifiedDiffInput.left, unifiedDiffInput.leftElement));
+					if (leftEditor instanceof MultiPageEditorPart mpe) {


   org.eclipse.ui.services,
-   org.eclipse.ui.texteditor"
+   org.eclipse.ui.texteditor",
+ org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff;x-internal:=true


+<extension point="org.eclipse.ui.editors.annotationTypes">
+<type
+  name="org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.addition"
+  markerType="org.eclipse.core.resources.problemmarker"
+  markerSeverity="0">
+</type>
+<type
+  name="org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff.internal.deletion"
+  markerType="org.eclipse.core.resources.problemmarker"
+  markerSeverity="0">
+</type>
+</extension>


+		// call validateEdit before modifying the leftDocument
+		IFile file = editor.getEditorInput().getAdapter(IFile.class);
+		if (file != null && !validateEdit(file)) {
+			return Status.CANCEL_STATUS;
+		}


+			RGB color;
+			if (mode.equals(UnifiedDiffMode.OVERLAY_MODE) || mode.equals(UnifiedDiffMode.OVERLAY_READ_ONLY_MODE)) {
+				color = JFaceResources.getColorRegistry().getRGB("DELETION_COLOR"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			} else {
+				color = JFaceResources.getColorRegistry().getRGB("ADDITION_COLOR"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+			}
+			RGB background = UnifiedDiffCodeMiningProvider.getBackground();
+			RGB interpolated = UnifiedDiffCodeMiningProvider.interpolate(color, background, 0.9);
+			this.additionBackgroundColor = new Color(interpolated);


+		int tabWidth = getTabWidth(viewer);
+		return CompletableFuture.supplyAsync(() -> {
+			List<ICodeMining> minings = new ArrayList<>();
+			createLineHeaderCodeMinings(diffs, minings, viewer, tabWidth);
+			return minings;
+		});


+		if (Display.getCurrent() != null && (this.deletionBackgroundColor == null || isOverlay != lastIsOverlay)) {
+			// check class ColorPalette
+			RGB background = getBackground();
+			String colorName;
+			if (isOverlay) {
+				colorName = "ADDITION_COLOR"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+			} else {
+				colorName = "DELETION_COLOR"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+			}
+			RGB deletionColor = JFaceResources.getColorRegistry().getRGB(colorName);
+			this.detailedDiffColor = new Color(interpolate(deletionColor, background, 0.9));
+			this.deletionBackgroundColor = new Color(interpolate(deletionColor, background, 0.8));
+			lastIsOverlay = isOverlay;
+		}


Compare This contribution introduces a new Unified Diff viewing mode for org.eclipse.compare that displays differences in a single editor pane, similar to git diff or GitHub's pull request view. When enabled, it replaces the traditional side-by-side 2-way compare editor for read-only comparisons, providing a more compact and familiar diff experience.

tobiasmelcher · 2026-06-05T19:05:00Z

Copilot findings fixed with [2221516]

tobiasmelcher · 2026-06-08T11:57:17Z

I just discovered a "Show Unified Diff" context menu entry in the Git History view.

How does this existing functionality relate to the feature proposed in this pull request? The unified diff in this PR is rendered inside the text editor using code minings and text editor annotations, whereas the existing feature opens the unified diff in a separate editor.

What do you think? Can both features coexist?

iloveeclipse · 2026-06-08T12:22:20Z

What do you think? Can both features coexist?

They has to. Egit releases support older Eclipse platforms.

tomaswolf · 2026-06-08T12:30:52Z

Can both features coexist?

Of course they can; this is not a CompareEditor. EGit also shows a diff, not a single file comparison, with hunk headers.

It would be nice if the new feature used the same colors as the EGit feature. EGit defines the dark mode colors at https://github.com/eclipse-egit/egit/blob/master/org.eclipse.egit.ui/css/e4-dark_egit_prefstyle.css , the default values (used in light mode) are at https://github.com/eclipse-egit/egit/blob/6f540c80c3b992787e6f7cb67d92d586385b6985/org.eclipse.egit.ui/plugin.xml#L880 and following.

tobiasmelcher mentioned this pull request Mar 11, 2026

Enhancement Proposal: Unified Diff Visualization for Eclipse Text Editor eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3771

Open

tobiasmelcher mentioned this pull request Apr 6, 2026

Introduce AbstractInlinedAnnotation#getMinings() to expose ICodeMining list eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3867

Merged

tobiasmelcher force-pushed the unified_diff branch from 2f247d4 to d2dd3df Compare April 6, 2026 09:21

danthe1st reviewed Apr 6, 2026

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tobiasmelcher mentioned this pull request Apr 6, 2026

Add SourceViewer#computeStyleRanges() to highlight external documents eclipse-platform/eclipse.platform.ui#3868

Merged

kaluchi mentioned this pull request May 16, 2026

jdt open: support opening arbitrary files (XML, properties, JSON, ...) kaluchi/jdtbridge#145

Closed

tobiasmelcher force-pushed the unified_diff branch 3 times, most recently from 8d25e19 to 7007282 Compare May 29, 2026 14:54

tobiasmelcher force-pushed the unified_diff branch 2 times, most recently from be20078 to e87f770 Compare June 5, 2026 12:55

tobiasmelcher marked this pull request as ready for review June 5, 2026 13:13

HeikoKlare reviewed Jun 5, 2026

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tobiasmelcher force-pushed the unified_diff branch from e87f770 to 95145e2 Compare June 5, 2026 15:12

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Copilot AI reviewed Jun 5, 2026

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tobiasmelcher force-pushed the unified_diff branch from 95145e2 to 2221516 Compare June 5, 2026 19:03

	public static final String UNIFIED_DIFF = PREFIX + "UnitifedDiff"; //$NON-NLS-1$
	public static final String UNIFIED_DIFF = PREFIX + "UnifiedDiff"; //$NON-NLS-1$

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tobiasmelcher commented Mar 11, 2026

Add Unified Diff Display in Text Editor as Alternative to Classic 2-Way Compare

Summary

What's Included

1. New Public API (org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff)

2. Preference Page Integration

3. Automatic Compare Editor Integration

How to Test

Prerequisites

Steps

Next Steps

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1. New Public API (`org.eclipse.compare.unifieddiff`)

github-actions Bot commented Mar 11, 2026 •

edited

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danthe1st Apr 6, 2026 •

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danthe1st Apr 7, 2026 •

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