misleading output from difflib unified_diff · Issue #84868 · python/cpython · GitHub

BPO	40691
Nosy	@DahlitzFlorian, @cdanis
Files	a.txt: a.txt b.txt: b.txt

Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = None
created_at = <Date 2020-05-19.20:57:46.596>
labels = ['3.7', 'library']
title = 'misleading output from difflib unified_diff'
updated_at = <Date 2020-05-21.08:34:07.226>
user = 'https://github.com/cdanis'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2020-05-21.08:34:07.226>
actor = 'DahlitzFlorian'
assignee = 'none'
closed = False
closed_date = None
closer = None
components = ['Library (Lib)']
creation = <Date 2020-05-19.20:57:46.596>
creator = 'cdanis'
dependencies = []
files = ['49171', '49172']
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 40691
keywords = []
message_count = 1.0
messages = ['369390']
nosy_count = 2.0
nosy_names = ['DahlitzFlorian', 'cdanis']
pr_nums = []
priority = 'normal'
resolution = None
stage = None
status = 'open'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue40691'
versions = ['Python 3.7']

When difflib.unified_diff is asked to produce a diff of inputs a.txt and b.txt (attached), with 10 context lines, it produces the following:

--- codfw/groupLoadsBySection live
+++ codfw/groupLoadsBySection generated
@@ -90,37 +90,31 @@
     },
     "s4": {
         "api": {
             "db2106": 300,
             "db2110": 100
         },
         "contributions": {
             "db2084:3314": 100,
             "db2091:3314": 100
         },
-        "dump": {
-            "db2073": 100
-        },
-        "logpager": {
-            "db2084:3314": 100,
-            "db2091:3314": 100
-        },
-        "recentchanges": {
-            "db2084:3314": 100,
-            "db2091:3314": 100
-        },
-        "recentchangeslinked": {
-            "db2084:3314": 100,
-            "db2091:3314": 100
-        },
-        "vslow": {
-            "db2073": 100
+        "logpager": {
+            "db2084:3314": 100,
+            "db2091:3314": 100
+        },
+        "recentchanges": {
+            "db2084:3314": 100,
+            "db2091:3314": 100
+        },
+        "recentchangeslinked": {
+            "db2084:3314": 100,
+            "db2091:3314": 100
         },
         "watchlist": {
             "db2084:3314": 100,
             "db2091:3314": 100
         }
     },
     "s5": {
         "api": {
             "db2075": 300,
             "db2128": 100

However, this could simply and much more readably be rendered as:

@@ -90,38 +90,32 @@
   },
   "s4": {
     "api": {
       "db2106": 3,
       "db2110": 1
     },
     "contributions": {
       "db2084:3314": 1,
       "db2091:3314": 1
     },
-    "dump": {
-      "db2073": 1
-    },
     "logpager": {
       "db2084:3314": 1,
       "db2091:3314": 1
     },
     "recentchanges": {
       "db2084:3314": 1,
       "db2091:3314": 1
     },
     "recentchangeslinked": {
       "db2084:3314": 1,
       "db2091:3314": 1
     },
-    "vslow": {
-      "db2073": 1
-    },
     "watchlist": {
       "db2084:3314": 1,
       "db2091:3314": 1
     }
   },
   "s5": {
     "api": {
       "db2059": 1,
       "db2066": 1
     },

(This is what diff -u10 produces.)

Hi @ezio-melotti @DahlitzFlorian, @cdanis, I have encountered the same problem when using the function. Is this solved ? Thank you

The fix is simple, disable autojunk:

cpython/Lib/difflib.py

Line 1138 in 0a208d5

for group in SequenceMatcher(None,a,b).get_grouped_opcodes(n):

-    for group in SequenceMatcher(None,a,b).get_grouped_opcodes(n):
+    for group in SequenceMatcher(None,a,b,False).get_grouped_opcodes(n):

In #118150, the docs were rewritten to mention autojunk and its trade-offs more prominently.
I don't think there's more to do for this issue, short of adding a better algorithm and/or changing defaults (which would bring backwards compatibility issues).

force unified_diff to accept autojunk=False

misleading output from difflib unified_diff · Issue #84868 · python/cpython · GitHub

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misleading output from difflib unified_diff · Issue #84868 · python/cpython · GitHub

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misleading output from difflib unified_diff #84868

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cdanis commented on May 19, 2020

WeiHao97 commented on Jun 2, 2022

noscript commented on Nov 16, 2022

encukou commented on Sep 7, 2026

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