How can I get External Diff to work in SourceTree?

Question

I have read all the other posts about setting up the External Diff.  For some reason I can't seem to get it to work.  I have version 2.5.5.0 SourceTree and Embedded GIT 2.16.2+git-lfs v2.3.4.  Windows 10.  My "Allow SourceTree to modify your local GIT" is set to TRUE.

I am trying to create a custom External Diff tool by calling a batch file from SourceTree with the Local and Remote tags.  In Tools>Options>Diff I set the Diff tool to custom

My Batch File is :

echo %1
echo %2
pause

My hope is that I can see if the path are relative or absolute.  I would then pass this to another application to open these files for a visual comparison.  The Batch file NEVER opens because I never see the CMD window.  I even pointed this to an EXE that would display the Arguments.  It is never opening the "Custom" Diff tool.

Another point of concern is I was hoping to right click on a file and select External Diff(Ctrl+D) but this is grayed out.  Even if I select "Beyond Compare"  as my diff tool it is always grayed out.  Beyond Compare works fine as a diff tool, except that my files are binary and Beyond Compare can't read them.

Mike Corsaro · Answer

Hello! You're not seeing the command-line prompt open because it's running the bat file as a process without output. You can test that a custom diff is working by making a BAT file that just has "notepad.exe" in it: notepad should open when running the diff.