TextDiffing helps you create an AttributedString / NSAttributedString to visualize differences between texts.
- Compare two strings and generate AttributedString / NSAttributedString highlighting differences
- Customize appearance of changes
- Supports word- and character-level diffing
- Lightweight and easy to integrate
TextDiffing is distributed using Swift Package Manager. Install TextDiffing in a project by adding it as a dependency in your Package.swift manifest or through “Package Dependencies” in project settings.
let package = Package(
dependencies: [
.package(url: "git@github.com:simonbs/textdiffing.git", from: "1.0.2")
]
)The documentation is available on Swift Package Index.
Use the TextDiffer to compare two strings.
let result = TextDiffer.diff(text, and: otherText)The returned TextDiffResult has two properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
attributedString |
The formatted AttributedString representing the differences. |
changeCount |
The number of changes (insertions or removals) between the texts. |
let attributedString = result.attributedString
let changeCount = result.changeCountThe TextDiffer.diff(_:and:) method also takes the following options.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
strikethroughRemovedText |
Adds a strikethrough to removed text. |
tokenizeByCharacter |
Tokenizes the input by individual characters. |
tokenizeByWord |
Tokenizes the input by words (default). |
By default, text is tokenized by word. You can combine multiple options to customize behavior.
let result = TextDiffer.diff(text, and: otherText, options: [.tokenizeByCharacter, .strikethroughRemovedText])You can customize the appearance of inserted and removed text by providing your own TextDiffStyle. This lets you control the background color used for visual highlighting.
let style = TextDiffStyle(
insertedBackground: UIColor.systemGreen.withAlphaComponent(0.3),
removedBackground: UIColor.systemRed.withAlphaComponent(0.3)
)
let result = TextDiffer.diff(text, and: otherText, style: style)You may also use the extensions on NSAttributedString and AttributedString.
let attributedString = AttributedString(diffing: text, and: otherText)
let attributedString = NSAttributedString(diffing: text, and: otherText)The initializers provided by the extensions also optionally take a style and options.
let attributedString = AttributedString(diffing: text, and: otherText, style: style, options: options)
let attributedString = NSAttributedString(diffing: text, and: otherText, style: style, options: options)