Where can I download Filemerge - the app for comparing two tools and merging them?

Solution 1:

FileMerge is part of Xcode 4.x by Apple which you can download from the Mac App Store.

The following is taken from the description:

Xcode is now distributed as an application, rather than as an installer. This change enables Xcode to be updated directly from the Mac App Store.

• Includes SDKs for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iOS 5
• New code signing workflow supports signing OS X apps with Developer ID
• Adds installation of command-line tools to the Downloads preference pane
• Open Developer Tool menu launches Instruments, FileMerge, and other tools
• ARC migration tool converts both retain/release and garbage collected code
• Additional bug fixes and stability improvements

But FileMerge.app is now embedded inside the Xcode.app package and is not easily accessible as a standalone tool... Unless you do this:

1. Browse to /Applications/Xcode.app
2. Right-click -> Show package contents
3. Contents -> Applications
4. Right-click FileMerge.app -> Make Alias -> Enter password
5. Copy the Alias to somewhere, like /Applications
6. Delete the original Alias

Now you can use as a standalone tool, as before!

Solution 2:

Alternatively, if you don't need the entire Xcode distribution, DiffMerge is also very similar and free.

Solution 3:

Install XCode and start FileMerge by using the command line tool opendiff.

Example:

opendiff file1.txt file2.txt

See also the man page for opendiff.

Solution 4:

I made a one-liner to install FileMerge and the other developer tools from Xcode 3.2.6 without installing Xcode itself. Tested on 10.12 and FileMerge still works (although some of the other apps don't). It is easily uninstallable too, just delete /Developer or ~/Developer.

The total install size is 0.3GB, rather than 10GB+ of Xcode.

https://github.com/szhu/install-standalone-xcode-tools