Using Beyond Compare with Version Control Systems under OSX

Beyond Compare can be configured as the external difference utility in many popular VCS applications.  The following are configuration instructions submitted by our users.  Let us know if you have one to add to the list.

Index:
Cornerstone SVN  Git  IntelliJ IDEA 12  Mercurial 2.4.2  Perforce  SourceTree  Syncovery Mac  Tower (Git) 

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CORNERSTONE SVN

In Cornerstone, you can specify a custom external compare script.

1) Launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools

DIFF

Create an AppleScript wrapper for use by Cornerstone:

-- Cornerstone executes the script as:
-- /path/to/tool <original> <modified>
--
on run argv
    do shell script "/usr/local/bin/bcomp \"" & item 1 of argv & "\" \"" & item 2 of argv & "\""
end run

Set in Preferences | General | External compare tool | Other Script...

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GIT

Git 2.3 and newer

(Note:  Use bc3 on the command line for BC version 4. Caused by git legacy support from Linux.)

Launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools.

Diff

In a terminal:
git config --global diff.tool bc3

To launch a diff using Beyond Compare, use the command "git difftool file.ext".

Merge 

In a terminal:
git config --global merge.tool bc3
git config --global mergetool.bc3 trustExitCode true


To launch a 3-way merge using Beyond Compare, use the command "git mergetool file.ext"

Older versions of Git

1. Launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools.
2. Add the following lines to $HOME/.gitconfig:
   [diff]
  tool = bcomp
[difftool]
  prompt = false
[difftool "bcomp"]
  trustExitCode = true
  cmd = "/usr/local/bin/bcomp" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\"
[merge]
  tool = bcomp
[mergetool]
  prompt = false
[mergetool "bcomp"]
  trustExitCode = true
  cmd = "/usr/local/bin/bcomp" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\" \"$BASE\" \"$MERGED\"

3. To launch a diff in Beyond Compare, use git difftool file.ext.
   To launch a merge in Beyond Compare, use git mergetool file.ext.

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INTELLIJ IDEA 12

(Potentially, also RubyMine, Webstorm, PyCharm, PhpStorm)

The first step is to launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools

In IntelliJ's Settings dialog, under IDE Settings, select the External Diff Tools section:

Compare folders
Path to executable: /usr/local/bin/bcomp

Compare files
Path to executable: /usr/local/bin/bcomp

Merge tool
Path to executable: /usr/local/bin/bcomp
Parameters: %1 %3 %2 %4

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MERCURIAL 2.4.2

[ui]
merge = bcomp

[extensions]
extdiff =

[extdiff]
cmd.bcomp = /usr/local/bin/bcomp
#opts.bcomp = -ro

[merge-tools]
bcomp.executable = /usr/local/bin/bcomp
bcomp.args = $local $other $base $output
bcomp.priority = 1
bcomp.premerge = True
bcomp.gui = True

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PERFORCE

1. Launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools
2. In the Perforce Preferences dialog, go to the Diff section and select Other application.
3. Set Location to /usr/local/bin/bcomp and Arguments to %1 %2

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SOURCETREE

From the Beyond Compare menu, Install Command Line Tools.  Then:

Visual Diff Tool: Other
Diff Command:/usr/local/bin/bcomp
Parameters:-ro $LOCAL $REMOTE
Merge Tool: Other
Merge Command:/usr/local/bin/bcomp
Parameters:$LOCAL $REMOTE $BASE $MERGED

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SUBVERSION

Launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools

Diff

Create a file named /usr/bin/bcdiff.sh and allow execute permissions (chmod +x).  Add the following lines:
/usr/bin/bcomp "$6" "$7" -title1="$3" -title2="$5" -readonly
exit 0

Edit $HOME/.subversion/config and add the line diff-cmd = /usr/bin/bcdiff.sh in [Helpers].

Merge

Create a file named /usr/bin/bcmerge.sh and allow execute permissions (chmod +x).  Add the following line:
/usr/bin/bcomp "$2" "$3" "$1" "$4"

Edit $HOME/.subversion/config and add the line merge-tool-cmd = /usr/bin/bcmerge.sh in [Helpers].

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SYNCOVERY MAC

The first step is to launch Beyond Compare, go to the Beyond Compare menu and run Install Command Line Tools

Then to configure Syncovery:

1. Select menu Syncovery/Preferences...
2. Click the Misc tab
3. In the field Program used to compare files from the Sync Preview, write /usr/local/bin/bcompare (or the pathname given when using BC4's Install Command Line Tools)
4. Click Close

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TOWER (GIT)

(Requires Tower 2.0.5 or newer)

1. Open Tower's preferences dialog on the Git Config Tab.
2. Set the Diff Tool drop-down to Beyond Compare
3. Set the Merge tool drop-down to Beyond Compare