Sourcetree external diff changed (for the worse)

Question

It used to be that when I did an external diff (using BBEdit), the local file was actually used as one side of the comparison, so I could edit right there in the external diff application (BBEdit).

Now, unfortunately, both sides are temporary copies in /private/var/folders. I regard this as a bug, because it removes an important piece of functionality. Or is there a secret setting for returning to the old behavior?

mattneub · Answer

I think I can say a bit more about this! It looks to me like the problem arises only when I do an external diff right after committing, so that there is nothing in the index. The current file is then represented by a copy in /private/var/folders.

The workaround is then to insert some trivial change into the file and do an external diff between the uncommitted changes entry and some past commit. Now the current file is represented by itself in the external diff.

What I'm saying, then, is that the original file (if that's what I'm comparing to) should _always_ be represented by itself, so that I can edit it in the external diff application (BBEdit) as I'm looking at the diff.

Manju · Answer

AFAIK, this is not something managed or controlled by Sourcetree. Sourcetree hands off the control to the external diff tool by executing the designated command. However, I will try to find out if we can do something about it. It would be helpful if you can kindly file a ticket on http://jira.atlassian.com/projects/SRCTREE/

Thanks!