How do I create a readable diff of two spreadsheets using git diff?

Question

We have a lot of spreadsheets (xls) in our source code repository. These are usually edited with gnumeric or openoffice.org, and are mostly used to populate databases for u

Answer 1

I have found xdocdiff WinMerge Plugin. It is a plugin for WinMerge (both OpenSource and Freeware, you doesn't need to write a VBA nor save an excel to csv or xml). It works just for the celd's contains.

This plugin supports also:

• .rtf Rich Text
• .docx/.docm Microsoft WORD 2007(OOXML)
• .xlsx/.xlsm Microsoft Excel 2007(OOXML)
• .pptx/.pptm Microsoft PowerPoint 2007(OOXML)
• .doc Microsoft WORD ver5.0/95/97/2000/XP/2003
• .xls Microsoft Excel ver5.0/95/97/2000/XP/2003
• .ppt Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP/2003
• .sxw/.sxc/.sxi/.sxd OpenOffice.org
• .odt/.ods/.odp/.odg Open Document
• .wj2/wj3/wk3/wk4/123 Lotus 123
• .wri Windows3.1 Write
• .pdf Adobe PDF
• .mht Web Archive
• .eml Exported files from OutlookExpress

Regard, Andres

Answer 2

There is a library daff (short for data diff) which helps in comparing tables, producing a summary of their diffs, and using such a summary as a patch file.

It is written in Haxe, so it can be compiled in major languages.

I have made an Excel Diff Tool in Javascript with help of this library. It works well with numbers & small strings but the output is not ideal for long strings (e.g. a long sentence with with minor character change).

Answer 3

Quick and easy with no external tools, works well as long as the two sheets you are comparing are similar:

• Create a third spreadsheet
• Type =if(Sheet1!A1 <> Sheet2!A1, "X", "") in the top left cell (or equivalent: click on the actual cells to automatically have the references inserted into the formula)
• Ctrl+C (copy), Ctrl+A (select all), Ctrl+V (paste) to fill the sheet.

If the sheets are similar, this spreadsheet will be empty except for a few cells with X in them, highlighting the differences. Unzoom to 40% to quickly see what is different.