[Tex/LaTex] Using latexdiff in MiKTeX

latexdiffmiktex

I am trying to use latexdiff to compare two .tex files, producing a .pdf with a markup similar to the "track changes" function in Microsoft Word (see https://www.sharelatex.com/blog/2013/02/16/using-latexdiff-for-marking-changes-to-tex-documents.html).

I have downloaded the latexdiff files from CTAN and I have also downloaded Strawberry Perl. I am using MiKTeX to compile my two tex documents.

In the command line (DOS prompt) I have been trying to instruct latexdiff to compare two very simple .tex files: SAMPLE4.tex and SAMPLE5.tex. I have been following the instructions in the USAGE section of the first URL I list here ("…using latexdiff…"), specifically:

"Usage

To compare two documents simply run latexdiff in the command line like so:

latexdiff draft.tex revision.tex > diff.tex"

However, when I enter the following into the command line: 

C:\Users\Kathryn\latexdiff SAMPLE4.tex SAMPLE5.tex > diff.tex

I get the following error message: 

Input file SAMPLE$.tex does not exist. at 
C:\Program Files\MiKTeX 2.9\scripts\latexdiff\latexdiff line 513, <DATA> line 20026.

I suspect the problem is that the computer cannot find the file SAMPLE4.tex and that I need to make SAMPLE4.tex (and presumably also SAMPLE5.tex) available in a directory that I can accurately specify in DOS.

I tried putting my two .tex files in C:\Program Files\MikTeX 2.9\latexdiff but this did not work.

Can anyone here offer me some advice?

Best Answer

I had no issues with this on first attempt and this is what I did. I use MiKTeX on Windows 8.

  1. I used MiKTeX Package Manager (admin) to install latexdiff.

  2. I downloaded and installed Strawberry Perl.

  3. I searched for "cmd" on start menu/window search and saw perl(command line)

I opened perl(command line) and changed directory to the directory where my oldfile.tex and newfile.tex was (both in same folder).

Then I executed latexdiff oldfile.tex newfile.tex > diff.tex on the shell prompt.

It generated a diff.tex file in the same folder which I compiled using MiKTeX to get the diff.pdf file.

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