--- /dev/null
+package Algorithm::Diff;
+# Skip to first "=head" line for documentation.
+use strict;
+
+use integer; # see below in _replaceNextLargerWith() for mod to make
+ # if you don't use this
+use vars qw( $VERSION @EXPORT_OK );
+$VERSION = 1.19_01;
+# ^ ^^ ^^-- Incremented at will
+# | \+----- Incremented for non-trivial changes to features
+# \-------- Incremented for fundamental changes
+require Exporter;
+*import = \&Exporter::import;
+@EXPORT_OK = qw(
+ prepare LCS LCDidx LCS_length
+ diff sdiff compact_diff
+ traverse_sequences traverse_balanced
+);
+
+# McIlroy-Hunt diff algorithm
+# Adapted from the Smalltalk code of Mario I. Wolczko, <mario@wolczko.com>
+# by Ned Konz, perl@bike-nomad.com
+# Updates by Tye McQueen, http://perlmonks.org/?node=tye
+
+# Create a hash that maps each element of $aCollection to the set of
+# positions it occupies in $aCollection, restricted to the elements
+# within the range of indexes specified by $start and $end.
+# The fourth parameter is a subroutine reference that will be called to
+# generate a string to use as a key.
+# Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to this subroutine.
+#
+# my $hashRef = _withPositionsOfInInterval( \@array, $start, $end, $keyGen );
+
+sub _withPositionsOfInInterval
+{
+ my $aCollection = shift; # array ref
+ my $start = shift;
+ my $end = shift;
+ my $keyGen = shift;
+ my %d;
+ my $index;
+ for ( $index = $start ; $index <= $end ; $index++ )
+ {
+ my $element = $aCollection->[$index];
+ my $key = &$keyGen( $element, @_ );
+ if ( exists( $d{$key} ) )
+ {
+ unshift ( @{ $d{$key} }, $index );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ $d{$key} = [$index];
+ }
+ }
+ return wantarray ? %d : \%d;
+}
+
+# Find the place at which aValue would normally be inserted into the
+# array. If that place is already occupied by aValue, do nothing, and
+# return undef. If the place does not exist (i.e., it is off the end of
+# the array), add it to the end, otherwise replace the element at that
+# point with aValue. It is assumed that the array's values are numeric.
+# This is where the bulk (75%) of the time is spent in this module, so
+# try to make it fast!
+
+sub _replaceNextLargerWith
+{
+ my ( $array, $aValue, $high ) = @_;
+ $high ||= $#$array;
+
+ # off the end?
+ if ( $high == -1 || $aValue > $array->[-1] )
+ {
+ push ( @$array, $aValue );
+ return $high + 1;
+ }
+
+ # binary search for insertion point...
+ my $low = 0;
+ my $index;
+ my $found;
+ while ( $low <= $high )
+ {
+ $index = ( $high + $low ) / 2;
+
+ # $index = int(( $high + $low ) / 2); # without 'use integer'
+ $found = $array->[$index];
+
+ if ( $aValue == $found )
+ {
+ return undef;
+ }
+ elsif ( $aValue > $found )
+ {
+ $low = $index + 1;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ $high = $index - 1;
+ }
+ }
+
+ # now insertion point is in $low.
+ $array->[$low] = $aValue; # overwrite next larger
+ return $low;
+}
+
+# This method computes the longest common subsequence in $a and $b.
+
+# Result is array or ref, whose contents is such that
+# $a->[ $i ] == $b->[ $result[ $i ] ]
+# foreach $i in ( 0 .. $#result ) if $result[ $i ] is defined.
+
+# An additional argument may be passed; this is a hash or key generating
+# function that should return a string that uniquely identifies the given
+# element. It should be the case that if the key is the same, the elements
+# will compare the same. If this parameter is undef or missing, the key
+# will be the element as a string.
+
+# By default, comparisons will use "eq" and elements will be turned into keys
+# using the default stringizing operator '""'.
+
+# Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to the key generation
+# routine.
+
+sub _longestCommonSubsequence
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref or hash ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref or hash ref
+ my $counting = shift; # scalar
+ my $keyGen = shift; # code ref
+ my $compare; # code ref
+
+ if ( ref($a) eq 'HASH' )
+ { # prepared hash must be in $b
+ my $tmp = $b;
+ $b = $a;
+ $a = $tmp;
+ }
+
+ # Check for bogus (non-ref) argument values
+ if ( !ref($a) || !ref($b) )
+ {
+ my @callerInfo = caller(1);
+ die 'error: must pass array or hash references to ' . $callerInfo[3];
+ }
+
+ # set up code refs
+ # Note that these are optimized.
+ if ( !defined($keyGen) ) # optimize for strings
+ {
+ $keyGen = sub { $_[0] };
+ $compare = sub { my ( $a, $b ) = @_; $a eq $b };
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ $compare = sub {
+ my $a = shift;
+ my $b = shift;
+ &$keyGen( $a, @_ ) eq &$keyGen( $b, @_ );
+ };
+ }
+
+ my ( $aStart, $aFinish, $matchVector ) = ( 0, $#$a, [] );
+ my ( $prunedCount, $bMatches ) = ( 0, {} );
+
+ if ( ref($b) eq 'HASH' ) # was $bMatches prepared for us?
+ {
+ $bMatches = $b;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ my ( $bStart, $bFinish ) = ( 0, $#$b );
+
+ # First we prune off any common elements at the beginning
+ while ( $aStart <= $aFinish
+ and $bStart <= $bFinish
+ and &$compare( $a->[$aStart], $b->[$bStart], @_ ) )
+ {
+ $matchVector->[ $aStart++ ] = $bStart++;
+ $prunedCount++;
+ }
+
+ # now the end
+ while ( $aStart <= $aFinish
+ and $bStart <= $bFinish
+ and &$compare( $a->[$aFinish], $b->[$bFinish], @_ ) )
+ {
+ $matchVector->[ $aFinish-- ] = $bFinish--;
+ $prunedCount++;
+ }
+
+ # Now compute the equivalence classes of positions of elements
+ $bMatches =
+ _withPositionsOfInInterval( $b, $bStart, $bFinish, $keyGen, @_ );
+ }
+ my $thresh = [];
+ my $links = [];
+
+ my ( $i, $ai, $j, $k );
+ for ( $i = $aStart ; $i <= $aFinish ; $i++ )
+ {
+ $ai = &$keyGen( $a->[$i], @_ );
+ if ( exists( $bMatches->{$ai} ) )
+ {
+ $k = 0;
+ for $j ( @{ $bMatches->{$ai} } )
+ {
+
+ # optimization: most of the time this will be true
+ if ( $k and $thresh->[$k] > $j and $thresh->[ $k - 1 ] < $j )
+ {
+ $thresh->[$k] = $j;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ $k = _replaceNextLargerWith( $thresh, $j, $k );
+ }
+
+ # oddly, it's faster to always test this (CPU cache?).
+ if ( defined($k) )
+ {
+ $links->[$k] =
+ [ ( $k ? $links->[ $k - 1 ] : undef ), $i, $j ];
+ }
+ }
+ }
+ }
+
+ if (@$thresh)
+ {
+ return $prunedCount + @$thresh if $counting;
+ for ( my $link = $links->[$#$thresh] ; $link ; $link = $link->[0] )
+ {
+ $matchVector->[ $link->[1] ] = $link->[2];
+ }
+ }
+ elsif ($counting)
+ {
+ return $prunedCount;
+ }
+
+ return wantarray ? @$matchVector : $matchVector;
+}
+
+sub traverse_sequences
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref
+ my $callbacks = shift || {};
+ my $keyGen = shift;
+ my $matchCallback = $callbacks->{'MATCH'} || sub { };
+ my $discardACallback = $callbacks->{'DISCARD_A'} || sub { };
+ my $finishedACallback = $callbacks->{'A_FINISHED'};
+ my $discardBCallback = $callbacks->{'DISCARD_B'} || sub { };
+ my $finishedBCallback = $callbacks->{'B_FINISHED'};
+ my $matchVector = _longestCommonSubsequence( $a, $b, 0, $keyGen, @_ );
+
+ # Process all the lines in @$matchVector
+ my $lastA = $#$a;
+ my $lastB = $#$b;
+ my $bi = 0;
+ my $ai;
+
+ for ( $ai = 0 ; $ai <= $#$matchVector ; $ai++ )
+ {
+ my $bLine = $matchVector->[$ai];
+ if ( defined($bLine) ) # matched
+ {
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ ) while $bi < $bLine;
+ &$matchCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai, $bi, @_ );
+ }
+ }
+
+ # The last entry (if any) processed was a match.
+ # $ai and $bi point just past the last matching lines in their sequences.
+
+ while ( $ai <= $lastA or $bi <= $lastB )
+ {
+
+ # last A?
+ if ( $ai == $lastA + 1 and $bi <= $lastB )
+ {
+ if ( defined($finishedACallback) )
+ {
+ &$finishedACallback( $lastA, @_ );
+ $finishedACallback = undef;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ ) while $bi <= $lastB;
+ }
+ }
+
+ # last B?
+ if ( $bi == $lastB + 1 and $ai <= $lastA )
+ {
+ if ( defined($finishedBCallback) )
+ {
+ &$finishedBCallback( $lastB, @_ );
+ $finishedBCallback = undef;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ ) while $ai <= $lastA;
+ }
+ }
+
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ ) if $ai <= $lastA;
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ ) if $bi <= $lastB;
+ }
+
+ return 1;
+}
+
+sub traverse_balanced
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref
+ my $callbacks = shift || {};
+ my $keyGen = shift;
+ my $matchCallback = $callbacks->{'MATCH'} || sub { };
+ my $discardACallback = $callbacks->{'DISCARD_A'} || sub { };
+ my $discardBCallback = $callbacks->{'DISCARD_B'} || sub { };
+ my $changeCallback = $callbacks->{'CHANGE'};
+ my $matchVector = _longestCommonSubsequence( $a, $b, 0, $keyGen, @_ );
+
+ # Process all the lines in match vector
+ my $lastA = $#$a;
+ my $lastB = $#$b;
+ my $bi = 0;
+ my $ai = 0;
+ my $ma = -1;
+ my $mb;
+
+ while (1)
+ {
+
+ # Find next match indices $ma and $mb
+ do {
+ $ma++;
+ } while(
+ $ma <= $#$matchVector
+ && !defined $matchVector->[$ma]
+ );
+
+ last if $ma > $#$matchVector; # end of matchVector?
+ $mb = $matchVector->[$ma];
+
+ # Proceed with discard a/b or change events until
+ # next match
+ while ( $ai < $ma || $bi < $mb )
+ {
+
+ if ( $ai < $ma && $bi < $mb )
+ {
+
+ # Change
+ if ( defined $changeCallback )
+ {
+ &$changeCallback( $ai++, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ );
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ }
+ elsif ( $ai < $ma )
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+
+ # $bi < $mb
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ }
+
+ # Match
+ &$matchCallback( $ai++, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+
+ while ( $ai <= $lastA || $bi <= $lastB )
+ {
+ if ( $ai <= $lastA && $bi <= $lastB )
+ {
+
+ # Change
+ if ( defined $changeCallback )
+ {
+ &$changeCallback( $ai++, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ );
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ }
+ elsif ( $ai <= $lastA )
+ {
+ &$discardACallback( $ai++, $bi, @_ );
+ }
+ else
+ {
+
+ # $bi <= $lastB
+ &$discardBCallback( $ai, $bi++, @_ );
+ }
+ }
+
+ return 1;
+}
+
+sub prepare
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $keyGen = shift; # code ref
+
+ # set up code ref
+ $keyGen = sub { $_[0] } unless defined($keyGen);
+
+ return scalar _withPositionsOfInInterval( $a, 0, $#$a, $keyGen, @_ );
+}
+
+sub LCS
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref or hash ref
+ my $matchVector = _longestCommonSubsequence( $a, $b, 0, @_ );
+ my @retval;
+ my $i;
+ for ( $i = 0 ; $i <= $#$matchVector ; $i++ )
+ {
+ if ( defined( $matchVector->[$i] ) )
+ {
+ push ( @retval, $a->[$i] );
+ }
+ }
+ return wantarray ? @retval : \@retval;
+}
+
+sub LCS_length
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref or hash ref
+ return _longestCommonSubsequence( $a, $b, 1, @_ );
+}
+
+sub LCSidx
+{
+ my $a= shift @_;
+ my $b= shift @_;
+ my $match= _longestCommonSubsequence( $a, $b, 0, @_ );
+ my @am= grep defined $match->[$_], 0..$#$match;
+ my @bm= @{$match}[@am];
+ return \@am, \@bm;
+}
+
+sub compact_diff
+{
+ my $a= shift @_;
+ my $b= shift @_;
+ my( $am, $bm )= LCSidx( $a, $b, @_ );
+ my @cdiff;
+ my( $ai, $bi )= ( 0, 0 );
+ push @cdiff, $ai, $bi;
+ while( 1 ) {
+ while( @$am && $ai == $am->[0] && $bi == $bm->[0] ) {
+ shift @$am;
+ shift @$bm;
+ ++$ai, ++$bi;
+ }
+ push @cdiff, $ai, $bi;
+ last if ! @$am;
+ $ai = $am->[0];
+ $bi = $bm->[0];
+ push @cdiff, $ai, $bi;
+ }
+ push @cdiff, 0+@$a, 0+@$b
+ if $ai < @$a || $bi < @$b;
+ return wantarray ? @cdiff : \@cdiff;
+}
+
+sub diff
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref
+ my $retval = [];
+ my $hunk = [];
+ my $discard = sub {
+ push @$hunk, [ '-', $_[0], $a->[ $_[0] ] ];
+ };
+ my $add = sub {
+ push @$hunk, [ '+', $_[1], $b->[ $_[1] ] ];
+ };
+ my $match = sub {
+ push @$retval, $hunk
+ if 0 < @$hunk;
+ $hunk = []
+ };
+ traverse_sequences( $a, $b,
+ { MATCH => $match, DISCARD_A => $discard, DISCARD_B => $add }, @_ );
+ &$match();
+ return wantarray ? @$retval : $retval;
+}
+
+sub sdiff
+{
+ my $a = shift; # array ref
+ my $b = shift; # array ref
+ my $retval = [];
+ my $discard = sub { push ( @$retval, [ '-', $a->[ $_[0] ], "" ] ) };
+ my $add = sub { push ( @$retval, [ '+', "", $b->[ $_[1] ] ] ) };
+ my $change = sub {
+ push ( @$retval, [ 'c', $a->[ $_[0] ], $b->[ $_[1] ] ] );
+ };
+ my $match = sub {
+ push ( @$retval, [ 'u', $a->[ $_[0] ], $b->[ $_[1] ] ] );
+ };
+ traverse_balanced(
+ $a,
+ $b,
+ {
+ MATCH => $match,
+ DISCARD_A => $discard,
+ DISCARD_B => $add,
+ CHANGE => $change,
+ },
+ @_
+ );
+ return wantarray ? @$retval : $retval;
+}
+
+########################################
+my $Root= __PACKAGE__;
+package Algorithm::Diff::_impl;
+use strict;
+
+sub _Idx() { 0 } # $me->[_Idx]: Ref to array of hunk indices
+ # 1 # $me->[1]: Ref to first sequence
+ # 2 # $me->[2]: Ref to second sequence
+sub _End() { 3 } # $me->[_End]: Diff between forward and reverse pos
+sub _Same() { 4 } # $me->[_Same]: 1 if pos 1 contains unchanged items
+sub _Base() { 5 } # $me->[_Base]: Added to range's min and max
+sub _Pos() { 6 } # $me->[_Pos]: Which hunk is currently selected
+sub _Off() { 7 } # $me->[_Off]: Offset into _Idx for current position
+sub _Min() { -2 } # Added to _Off to get min instead of max+1
+
+sub Die
+{
+ require Carp;
+ Carp::confess( @_ );
+}
+
+sub _ChkPos
+{
+ my( $me )= @_;
+ return if $me->[_Pos];
+ my $meth= ( caller(1) )[3];
+ Die( "Called $meth on 'reset' object" );
+}
+
+sub _ChkSeq
+{
+ my( $me, $seq )= @_;
+ return $seq + $me->[_Off]
+ if 1 == $seq || 2 == $seq;
+ my $meth= ( caller(1) )[3];
+ Die( "$meth: Invalid sequence number ($seq); must be 1 or 2" );
+}
+
+sub getObjPkg
+{
+ my( $us )= @_;
+ return ref $us if ref $us;
+ return $us . "::_obj";
+}
+
+sub new
+{
+ my( $us, $seq1, $seq2, $opts ) = @_;
+ my @args;
+ for( $opts->{keyGen} ) {
+ push @args, $_ if $_;
+ }
+ for( $opts->{keyGenArgs} ) {
+ push @args, @$_ if $_;
+ }
+ my $cdif= Algorithm::Diff::compact_diff( $seq1, $seq2, @args );
+ my $same= 1;
+ if( 0 == $cdif->[2] && 0 == $cdif->[3] ) {
+ $same= 0;
+ splice @$cdif, 0, 2;
+ }
+ my @obj= ( $cdif, $seq1, $seq2 );
+ $obj[_End] = (1+@$cdif)/2;
+ $obj[_Same] = $same;
+ $obj[_Base] = 0;
+ my $me = bless \@obj, $us->getObjPkg();
+ $me->Reset( 0 );
+ return $me;
+}
+
+sub Reset
+{
+ my( $me, $pos )= @_;
+ $pos= int( $pos || 0 );
+ $pos += $me->[_End]
+ if $pos < 0;
+ $pos= 0
+ if $pos < 0 || $me->[_End] <= $pos;
+ $me->[_Pos]= $pos || !1;
+ $me->[_Off]= 2*$pos - 1;
+ return $me;
+}
+
+sub Base
+{
+ my( $me, $base )= @_;
+ my $oldBase= $me->[_Base];
+ $me->[_Base]= 0+$base if defined $base;
+ return $oldBase;
+}
+
+sub Copy
+{
+ my( $me, $pos, $base )= @_;
+ my @obj= @$me;
+ my $you= bless \@obj, ref($me);
+ $you->Reset( $pos ) if defined $pos;
+ $you->Base( $base );
+ return $you;
+}
+
+sub Next {
+ my( $me, $steps )= @_;
+ $steps= 1 if ! defined $steps;
+ if( $steps ) {
+ my $pos= $me->[_Pos];
+ my $new= $pos + $steps;
+ $new= 0 if $pos && $new < 0;
+ $me->Reset( $new )
+ }
+ return $me->[_Pos];
+}
+
+sub Prev {
+ my( $me, $steps )= @_;
+ $steps= 1 if ! defined $steps;
+ my $pos= $me->Next(-$steps);
+ $pos -= $me->[_End] if $pos;
+ return $pos;
+}
+
+sub Diff {
+ my( $me )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ return 0 if $me->[_Same] == ( 1 & $me->[_Pos] );
+ my $ret= 0;
+ my $off= $me->[_Off];
+ for my $seq ( 1, 2 ) {
+ $ret |= $seq
+ if $me->[_Idx][ $off + $seq + _Min ]
+ < $me->[_Idx][ $off + $seq ];
+ }
+ return $ret;
+}
+
+sub Min {
+ my( $me, $seq, $base )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ my $off= $me->_ChkSeq($seq);
+ $base= $me->[_Base] if !defined $base;
+ return $base + $me->[_Idx][ $off + _Min ];
+}
+
+sub Max {
+ my( $me, $seq, $base )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ my $off= $me->_ChkSeq($seq);
+ $base= $me->[_Base] if !defined $base;
+ return $base + $me->[_Idx][ $off ] -1;
+}
+
+sub Range {
+ my( $me, $seq, $base )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ my $off = $me->_ChkSeq($seq);
+ if( !wantarray ) {
+ return $me->[_Idx][ $off ]
+ - $me->[_Idx][ $off + _Min ];
+ }
+ $base= $me->[_Base] if !defined $base;
+ return ( $base + $me->[_Idx][ $off + _Min ] )
+ .. ( $base + $me->[_Idx][ $off ] - 1 );
+}
+
+sub Items {
+ my( $me, $seq )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ my $off = $me->_ChkSeq($seq);
+ if( !wantarray ) {
+ return $me->[_Idx][ $off ]
+ - $me->[_Idx][ $off + _Min ];
+ }
+ return
+ @{$me->[$seq]}[
+ $me->[_Idx][ $off + _Min ]
+ .. ( $me->[_Idx][ $off ] - 1 )
+ ];
+}
+
+sub Same {
+ my( $me )= @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ return wantarray ? () : 0
+ if $me->[_Same] != ( 1 & $me->[_Pos] );
+ return $me->Items(1);
+}
+
+my %getName;
+BEGIN {
+ %getName= (
+ same => \&Same,
+ diff => \&Diff,
+ base => \&Base,
+ min => \&Min,
+ max => \&Max,
+ range=> \&Range,
+ items=> \&Items, # same thing
+ );
+}
+
+sub Get
+{
+ my $me= shift @_;
+ $me->_ChkPos();
+ my @value;
+ for my $arg ( @_ ) {
+ for my $word ( split ' ', $arg ) {
+ my $meth;
+ if( $word !~ /^(-?\d+)?([a-zA-Z]+)([12])?$/
+ || not $meth= $getName{ lc $2 }
+ ) {
+ Die( $Root, ", Get: Invalid request ($word)" );
+ }
+ my( $base, $name, $seq )= ( $1, $2, $3 );
+ push @value, scalar(
+ 4 == length($name)
+ ? $meth->( $me )
+ : $meth->( $me, $seq, $base )
+ );
+ }
+ }
+ if( wantarray ) {
+ return @value;
+ } elsif( 1 == @value ) {
+ return $value[0];
+ }
+ Die( 0+@value, " values requested from ",
+ $Root, "'s Get in scalar context" );
+}
+
+
+my $Obj= getObjPkg($Root);
+no strict 'refs';
+
+for my $meth ( qw( new getObjPkg ) ) {
+ *{$Root."::".$meth} = \&{$meth};
+ *{$Obj ."::".$meth} = \&{$meth};
+}
+for my $meth ( qw(
+ Next Prev Reset Copy Base Diff
+ Same Items Range Min Max Get
+ _ChkPos _ChkSeq
+) ) {
+ *{$Obj."::".$meth} = \&{$meth};
+}
+
+1;
+__END__
+
+=head1 NAME
+
+Algorithm::Diff - Compute `intelligent' differences between two files / lists
+
+=head1 SYNOPSIS
+
+ require Algorithm::Diff;
+
+ # This example produces traditional 'diff' output:
+
+ my $diff = Algorithm::Diff->new( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+ $diff->Base( 1 ); # Return line numbers, not indices
+ while( $diff->Next() ) {
+ next if $diff->Same();
+ my $sep = '';
+ if( ! $diff->Items(2) ) {
+ sprintf "%d,%dd%d\n",
+ $diff->Get(qw( Min1 Max1 Max2 ));
+ } elsif( ! $diff->Items(1) ) {
+ sprint "%da%d,%d\n",
+ $diff->Get(qw( Max1 Min2 Max2 ));
+ } else {
+ $sep = "---\n";
+ sprintf "%d,%dc%d,%d\n",
+ $diff->Get(qw( Min1 Max1 Min2 Max2 ));
+ }
+ print "< $_" for $diff->Items(1);
+ print $sep;
+ print "> $_" for $diff->Items(2);
+ }
+
+
+ # Alternate interfaces:
+
+ use Algorithm::Diff qw(
+ LCS LCS_length LCSidx
+ diff sdiff compact_diff
+ traverse_sequences traverse_balanced );
+
+ @lcs = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $lcsref = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $count = LCS_length( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+ ( $seq1idxref, $seq2idxref ) = LCSidx( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+
+ # Complicated interfaces:
+
+ @diffs = diff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+ @sdiffs = sdiff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+ @cdiffs = compact_diff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+ traverse_sequences(
+ \@seq1,
+ \@seq2,
+ { MATCH => \&callback1,
+ DISCARD_A => \&callback2,
+ DISCARD_B => \&callback3,
+ },
+ \&key_generator,
+ @extra_args,
+ );
+
+ traverse_balanced(
+ \@seq1,
+ \@seq2,
+ { MATCH => \&callback1,
+ DISCARD_A => \&callback2,
+ DISCARD_B => \&callback3,
+ CHANGE => \&callback4,
+ },
+ \&key_generator,
+ @extra_args,
+ );
+
+
+=head1 INTRODUCTION
+
+(by Mark-Jason Dominus)
+
+I once read an article written by the authors of C<diff>; they said
+that they worked very hard on the algorithm until they found the
+right one.
+
+I think what they ended up using (and I hope someone will correct me,
+because I am not very confident about this) was the `longest common
+subsequence' method. In the LCS problem, you have two sequences of
+items:
+
+ a b c d f g h j q z
+
+ a b c d e f g i j k r x y z
+
+and you want to find the longest sequence of items that is present in
+both original sequences in the same order. That is, you want to find
+a new sequence I<S> which can be obtained from the first sequence by
+deleting some items, and from the secend sequence by deleting other
+items. You also want I<S> to be as long as possible. In this case I<S>
+is
+
+ a b c d f g j z
+
+From there it's only a small step to get diff-like output:
+
+ e h i k q r x y
+ + - + + - + + +
+
+This module solves the LCS problem. It also includes a canned function
+to generate C<diff>-like output.
+
+It might seem from the example above that the LCS of two sequences is
+always pretty obvious, but that's not always the case, especially when
+the two sequences have many repeated elements. For example, consider
+
+ a x b y c z p d q
+ a b c a x b y c z
+
+A naive approach might start by matching up the C<a> and C<b> that
+appear at the beginning of each sequence, like this:
+
+ a x b y c z p d q
+ a b c a b y c z
+
+This finds the common subsequence C<a b c z>. But actually, the LCS
+is C<a x b y c z>:
+
+ a x b y c z p d q
+ a b c a x b y c z
+
+or
+
+ a x b y c z p d q
+ a b c a x b y c z
+
+=head1 USAGE
+
+(See also the README file and several example
+scripts include with this module.)
+
+This module now provides an object-oriented interface that uses less
+memory and is easier to use than most of the previous procedural
+interfaces. It also still provides several exportable functions. We'll
+deal with these in ascending order of difficulty: C<LCS>,
+C<LCS_length>, C<LCSidx>, OO interface, C<prepare>, C<diff>, C<sdiff>,
+C<traverse_sequences>, and C<traverse_balanced>.
+
+=head2 C<LCS>
+
+Given references to two lists of items, LCS returns an array containing
+their longest common subsequence. In scalar context, it returns a
+reference to such a list.
+
+ @lcs = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $lcsref = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+C<LCS> may be passed an optional third parameter; this is a CODE
+reference to a key generation function. See L</KEY GENERATION
+FUNCTIONS>.
+
+ @lcs = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2, \&keyGen, @args );
+ $lcsref = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2, \&keyGen, @args );
+
+Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to the key generation
+routine.
+
+=head2 C<LCS_length>
+
+This is just like C<LCS> except it only returns the length of the
+longest common subsequence. This provides a performance gain of about
+9% compared to C<LCS>.
+
+=head2 C<LCSidx>
+
+Like C<LCS> except it returns references to two arrays. The first array
+contains the indices into @seq1 where the LCS items are located. The
+second array contains the indices into @seq2 where the LCS items are located.
+
+Therefore, the following three lists will contain the same values:
+
+ my( $idx1, $idx2 ) = LCSidx( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ my @list1 = @seq1[ @$idx1 ];
+ my @list2 = @seq2[ @$idx2 ];
+ my @list3 = LCS( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+=head2 C<new>
+
+ $diff = Algorithm::Diffs->new( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $diff = Algorithm::Diffs->new( \@seq1, \@seq2, \%opts );
+
+C<new> computes the smallest set of additions and deletions necessary
+to turn the first sequence into the second and compactly records them
+in the object.
+
+You use the object to iterate over I<hunks>, where each hunk represents
+a contiguous section of items which should be added, deleted, replaced,
+or left unchanged.
+
+=over 4
+
+The following summary of all of the methods looks a lot like Perl code
+but some of the symbols have different meanings:
+
+ [ ] Encloses optional arguments
+ : Is followed by the default value for an optional argument
+ | Separates alternate return results
+
+Method summary:
+
+ $obj = Algorithm::Diff->new( \@seq1, \@seq2, [ \%opts ] );
+ $pos = $obj->Next( [ $count : 1 ] );
+ $revPos = $obj->Prev( [ $count : 1 ] );
+ $obj = $obj->Reset( [ $pos : 0 ] );
+ $copy = $obj->Copy( [ $pos, [ $newBase ] ] );
+ $oldBase = $obj->Base( [ $newBase ] );
+
+Note that all of the following methods C<die> if used on an object that
+is "reset" (not currently pointing at any hunk).
+
+ $bits = $obj->Diff( );
+ @items|$cnt = $obj->Same( );
+ @items|$cnt = $obj->Items( $seqNum );
+ @idxs |$cnt = $obj->Range( $seqNum, [ $base ] );
+ $minIdx = $obj->Min( $seqNum, [ $base ] );
+ $maxIdx = $obj->Max( $seqNum, [ $base ] );
+ @values = $obj->Get( @names );
+
+Passing in C<undef> for an optional argument is always treated the same
+as if no argument were passed in.
+
+=item C<Next>
+
+ $pos = $diff->Next(); # Move forward 1 hunk
+ $pos = $diff->Next( 2 ); # Move forward 2 hunks
+ $pos = $diff->Next(-5); # Move backward 5 hunks
+
+C<Next> moves the object to point at the next hunk. The object starts
+out "reset", which means it isn't pointing at any hunk. If the object
+is reset, then C<Next()> moves to the first hunk.
+
+C<Next> returns a true value iff the move didn't go past the last hunk.
+So C<Next(0)> will return true iff the object is not reset.
+
+Actually, C<Next> returns the object's new position, which is a number
+between 1 and the number of hunks (inclusive), or returns a false value.
+
+=item C<Prev>
+
+C<Prev($N)> is almost identical to C<Next(-$N)>; it moves to the $Nth
+previous hunk. On a 'reset' object, C<Prev()> [and C<Next(-1)>] move
+to the last hunk.
+
+The position returned by C<Prev> is relative to the I<end> of the
+hunks; -1 for the last hunk, -2 for the second-to-last, etc.
+
+=item C<Reset>
+
+ $diff->Reset(); # Reset the object's position
+ $diff->Reset($pos); # Move to the specified hunk
+ $diff->Reset(1); # Move to the first hunk
+ $diff->Reset(-1); # Move to the last hunk
+
+C<Reset> returns the object, so, for example, you could use
+C<< $diff->Reset()->Next(-1) >> to get the number of hunks.
+
+=item C<Copy>
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy( $newPos, $newBase );
+
+C<Copy> returns a copy of the object. The copy and the orignal object
+share most of their data, so making copies takes very little memory.
+The copy maintains its own position (separate from the original), which
+is the main purpose of copies. It also maintains its own base.
+
+By default, the copy's position starts out the same as the original
+object's position. But C<Copy> takes an optional first argument to set the
+new position, so the following three snippets are equivalent:
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy($pos);
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy();
+ $copy->Reset($pos);
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy()->Reset($pos);
+
+C<Copy> takes an optional second argument to set the base for
+the copy. If you wish to change the base of the copy but leave
+the position the same as in the original, here are two
+equivalent ways:
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy();
+ $copy->Base( 0 );
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy(undef,0);
+
+Here are two equivalent way to get a "reset" copy:
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy(0);
+
+ $copy = $diff->Copy()->Reset();
+
+=item C<Diff>
+
+ $bits = $obj->Diff();
+
+C<Diff> returns a true value iff the current hunk contains items that are
+different between the two sequences. It actually returns one of the
+follow 4 values:
+
+=over 4
+
+=item 3
+
+C<3==(1|2)>. This hunk contains items from @seq1 and the items
+from @seq2 that should replace them. Both sequence 1 and 2
+contain changed items so both the 1 and 2 bits are set.
+
+=item 2
+
+This hunk only contains items from @seq2 that should be inserted (not
+items from @seq1). Only sequence 2 contains changed items so only the 2
+bit is set.
+
+=item 1
+
+This hunk only contains items from @seq1 that should be deleted (not
+items from @seq2). Only sequence 1 contains changed items so only the 1
+bit is set.
+
+=item 0
+
+This means that the items in this hunk are the same in both sequences.
+Neither sequence 1 nor 2 contain changed items so neither the 1 nor the
+2 bits are set.
+
+=back
+
+=item C<Same>
+
+C<Same> returns a true value iff the current hunk contains items that
+are the same in both sequences. It actually returns the list of items
+if they are the same or an emty list if they aren't. In a scalar
+context, it returns the size of the list.
+
+=item C<Items>
+
+ $count = $diff->Items(2);
+ @items = $diff->Items($seqNum);
+
+C<Items> returns the (number of) items from the specified sequence that
+are part of the current hunk.
+
+If the current hunk contains only insertions, then
+C<< $diff->Items(1) >> will return an empty list (0 in a scalar conext).
+If the current hunk contains only deletions, then C<< $diff->Items(2) >>
+will return an empty list (0 in a scalar conext).
+
+If the hunk contains replacements, then both C<< $diff->Items(1) >> and
+C<< $diff->Items(2) >> will return different, non-empty lists.
+
+Otherwise, the hunk contains identical items and all of the following
+will return the same lists:
+
+ @items = $diff->Items(1);
+ @items = $diff->Items(2);
+ @items = $diff->Same();
+
+=item C<Range>
+
+ $count = $diff->Range( $seqNum );
+ @indices = $diff->Range( $seqNum );
+ @indices = $diff->Range( $seqNum, $base );
+
+C<Range> is like C<Items> except that it returns a list of I<indices> to
+the items rather than the items themselves. By default, the index of
+the first item (in each sequence) is 0 but this can be changed by
+calling the C<Base> method. So, by default, the following two snippets
+return the same lists:
+
+ @list = $diff->Items(2);
+ @list = @seq2[ $diff->Range(2) ];
+
+You can also specify the base to use as the second argument. So the
+following two snippets I<always> return the same lists:
+
+ @list = $diff->Items(1);
+ @list = @seq1[ $diff->Range(1,0) ];
+
+=item C<Base>
+
+ $curBase = $diff->Base();
+ $oldBase = $diff->Base($newBase);
+
+C<Base> sets and/or returns the current base (usually 0 or 1) that is
+used when you request range information. The base defaults to 0 so
+that range information is returned as array indices. You can set the
+base to 1 if you want to report traditional line numbers instead.
+
+=item C<Min>
+
+ $min1 = $diff->Min(1);
+ $min = $diff->Min( $seqNum, $base );
+
+C<Min> returns the first value that C<Range> would return (given the
+same arguments) or returns C<undef> if C<Range> would return an empty
+list.
+
+=item C<Max>
+
+C<Max> returns the last value that C<Range> would return or C<undef>.
+
+=item C<Get>
+
+ ( $n, $x, $r ) = $diff->Get(qw( min1 max1 range1 ));
+ @values = $diff->Get(qw( 0min2 1max2 range2 same base ));
+
+C<Get> returns one or more scalar values. You pass in a list of the
+names of the values you want returned. Each name must match one of the
+following regexes:
+
+ /^(-?\d+)?(min|max)[12]$/i
+ /^(range[12]|same|diff|base)$/i
+
+The 1 or 2 after a name says which sequence you want the information
+for (and where allowed, it is required). The optional number before
+"min" or "max" is the base to use. So the following equalities hold:
+
+ $diff->Get('min1') == $diff->Min(1)
+ $diff->Get('0min2') == $diff->Min(2,0)
+
+Using C<Get> in a scalar context when you've passed in more than one
+name is a fatal error (C<die> is called).
+
+=back
+
+=head2 C<prepare>
+
+Given a reference to a list of items, C<prepare> returns a reference
+to a hash which can be used when comparing this sequence to other
+sequences with C<LCS> or C<LCS_length>.
+
+ $prep = prepare( \@seq1 );
+ for $i ( 0 .. 10_000 )
+ {
+ @lcs = LCS( $prep, $seq[$i] );
+ # do something useful with @lcs
+ }
+
+C<prepare> may be passed an optional third parameter; this is a CODE
+reference to a key generation function. See L</KEY GENERATION
+FUNCTIONS>.
+
+ $prep = prepare( \@seq1, \&keyGen );
+ for $i ( 0 .. 10_000 )
+ {
+ @lcs = LCS( $seq[$i], $prep, \&keyGen );
+ # do something useful with @lcs
+ }
+
+Using C<prepare> provides a performance gain of about 50% when calling LCS
+many times compared with not preparing.
+
+=head2 C<diff>
+
+ @diffs = diff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $diffs_ref = diff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+C<diff> computes the smallest set of additions and deletions necessary
+to turn the first sequence into the second, and returns a description
+of these changes. The description is a list of I<hunks>; each hunk
+represents a contiguous section of items which should be added,
+deleted, or replaced. (Hunks containing unchanged items are not
+included.)
+
+The return value of C<diff> is a list of hunks, or, in scalar context, a
+reference to such a list. If there are no differences, the list will be
+empty.
+
+Here is an example. Calling C<diff> for the following two sequences:
+
+ a b c e h j l m n p
+ b c d e f j k l m r s t
+
+would produce the following list:
+
+ (
+ [ [ '-', 0, 'a' ] ],
+
+ [ [ '+', 2, 'd' ] ],
+
+ [ [ '-', 4, 'h' ],
+ [ '+', 4, 'f' ] ],
+
+ [ [ '+', 6, 'k' ] ],
+
+ [ [ '-', 8, 'n' ],
+ [ '-', 9, 'p' ],
+ [ '+', 9, 'r' ],
+ [ '+', 10, 's' ],
+ [ '+', 11, 't' ] ],
+ )
+
+There are five hunks here. The first hunk says that the C<a> at
+position 0 of the first sequence should be deleted (C<->). The second
+hunk says that the C<d> at position 2 of the second sequence should
+be inserted (C<+>). The third hunk says that the C<h> at position 4
+of the first sequence should be removed and replaced with the C<f>
+from position 4 of the second sequence. And so on.
+
+C<diff> may be passed an optional third parameter; this is a CODE
+reference to a key generation function. See L</KEY GENERATION
+FUNCTIONS>.
+
+Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to the key generation
+routine.
+
+=head2 C<sdiff>
+
+ @sdiffs = sdiff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+ $sdiffs_ref = sdiff( \@seq1, \@seq2 );
+
+C<sdiff> computes all necessary components to show two sequences
+and their minimized differences side by side, just like the
+Unix-utility I<sdiff> does:
+
+ same same
+ before | after
+ old < -
+ - > new
+
+It returns a list of array refs, each pointing to an array of
+display instructions. In scalar context it returns a reference
+to such a list. If there are no differences, the list will have one
+entry per item, each indicating that the item was unchanged.
+
+Display instructions consist of three elements: A modifier indicator
+(C<+>: Element added, C<->: Element removed, C<u>: Element unmodified,
+C<c>: Element changed) and the value of the old and new elements, to
+be displayed side-by-side.
+
+An C<sdiff> of the following two sequences:
+
+ a b c e h j l m n p
+ b c d e f j k l m r s t
+
+results in
+
+ ( [ '-', 'a', '' ],
+ [ 'u', 'b', 'b' ],
+ [ 'u', 'c', 'c' ],
+ [ '+', '', 'd' ],
+ [ 'u', 'e', 'e' ],
+ [ 'c', 'h', 'f' ],
+ [ 'u', 'j', 'j' ],
+ [ '+', '', 'k' ],
+ [ 'u', 'l', 'l' ],
+ [ 'u', 'm', 'm' ],
+ [ 'c', 'n', 'r' ],
+ [ 'c', 'p', 's' ],
+ [ '+', '', 't' ],
+ )
+
+C<sdiff> may be passed an optional third parameter; this is a CODE
+reference to a key generation function. See L</KEY GENERATION
+FUNCTIONS>.
+
+Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to the key generation
+routine.
+
+=head2 C<compact_diff>
+
+C<compact_diff> is much like C<sdiff> except it returns a much more
+compact description consisting of just one flat list of indices. An
+example helps explain the format:
+
+ my @a = qw( a b c e h j l m n p );
+ my @b = qw( b c d e f j k l m r s t );
+ @cdiff = compact_diff( \@a, \@b );
+ # Returns:
+ # @a @b @a @b
+ # start start values values
+ ( 0, 0, # =
+ 0, 0, # a !
+ 1, 0, # b c = b c
+ 3, 2, # ! d
+ 3, 3, # e = e
+ 4, 4, # f ! h
+ 5, 5, # j = j
+ 6, 6, # ! k
+ 6, 7, # l m = l m
+ 8, 9, # n p ! r s t
+ 10, 12, #
+ );
+
+The 0th, 2nd, 4th, etc. entries are all indices into @seq1 (@a in the
+above example) indicating where a hunk begins. The 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.
+entries are all indices into @seq2 (@b in the above example) indicating
+where the same hunk begins.
+
+So each pair of indices (except the last pair) describes where a hunk
+begins (in each sequence). Since each hunk must end at the item just
+before the item that starts the next hunk, the next pair of indices can
+be used to determine where the hunk ends.
+
+So, the first 4 entries (0..3) describe the first hunk. Entries 0 and 1
+describe where the first hunk begins (and so are always both 0).
+Entries 2 and 3 describe where the next hunk begins, so subtracting 1
+from each tells us where the first hunk ends. That is, the first hunk
+contains items C<$diff[0]> through C<$diff[2] - 1> of the first sequence
+and contains items C<$diff[1]> through C<$diff[3] - 1> of the second
+sequence.
+
+In other words, the first hunk consists of the following two lists of items:
+
+ # 1st pair 2nd pair
+ # of indices of indices
+ @list1 = @a[ $cdiff[0] .. $cdiff[2]-1 ];
+ @list2 = @b[ $cdiff[1] .. $cdiff[3]-1 ];
+ # Hunk start Hunk end
+
+Note that the hunks will always alternate between those that are part of
+the LCS (those that contain unchanged items) and those that contain
+changes. This means that all we need to be told is whether the first
+hunk is a 'same' or 'diff' hunk and we can determine which of the other
+hunks contain 'same' items or 'diff' items.
+
+By convention, we always make the first hunk contain unchanged items.
+So the 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. hunks (all odd-numbered hunks if you start
+counting from 1) all contain unchanged items. And the 2nd, 4th, 6th,
+etc. hunks (all even-numbered hunks if you start counting from 1) all
+contain changed items.
+
+Since @a and @b don't begin with the same value, the first hunk in our
+example is empty (otherwise we'd violate the above convention). Note
+that the first 4 index values in our example are all zero. Plug these
+values into our previous code block and we get:
+
+ @hunk1a = @a[ 0 .. 0-1 ];
+ @hunk1b = @b[ 0 .. 0-1 ];
+
+And C<0..-1> returns the empty list.
+
+Move down one pair of indices (2..5) and we get the offset ranges for
+the second hunk, which contains changed items.
+
+Since C<@diff[2..5]> contains (0,0,1,0) in our example, the second hunk
+consists of these two lists of items:
+
+ @hunk2a = @a[ $cdiff[2] .. $cdiff[4]-1 ];
+ @hunk2b = @b[ $cdiff[3] .. $cdiff[5]-1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk2a = @a[ 0 .. 1-1 ];
+ @hunk2b = @b[ 0 .. 0-1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk2a = @a[ 0 .. 0 ];
+ @hunk2b = @b[ 0 .. -1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk2a = ( 'a' );
+ @hunk2b = ( );
+
+That is, we would delete item 0 ('a') from @a.
+
+Since C<@diff[4..7]> contains (1,0,3,2) in our example, the third hunk
+consists of these two lists of items:
+
+ @hunk3a = @a[ $cdiff[4] .. $cdiff[6]-1 ];
+ @hunk3a = @b[ $cdiff[5] .. $cdiff[7]-1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk3a = @a[ 1 .. 3-1 ];
+ @hunk3a = @b[ 0 .. 2-1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk3a = @a[ 1 .. 2 ];
+ @hunk3a = @b[ 0 .. 1 ];
+ # or
+ @hunk3a = qw( b c );
+ @hunk3a = qw( b c );
+
+Note that this third hunk contains unchanged items as our convention demands.
+
+You can continue this process until you reach the last two indices,
+which will always be the number of items in each sequence. This is
+required so that subtracting one from each will give you the indices to
+the last items in each sequence.
+
+=head2 C<traverse_sequences>
+
+C<traverse_sequences> used to be the most general facility provided by
+this module (the new OO interface is more powerful and much easier to
+use).
+
+Imagine that there are two arrows. Arrow A points to an element of
+sequence A, and arrow B points to an element of the sequence B.
+Initially, the arrows point to the first elements of the respective
+sequences. C<traverse_sequences> will advance the arrows through the
+sequences one element at a time, calling an appropriate user-specified
+callback function before each advance. It willadvance the arrows in
+such a way that if there are equal elements C<$A[$i]> and C<$B[$j]>
+which are equal and which are part of the LCS, there will be some moment
+during the execution of C<traverse_sequences> when arrow A is pointing
+to C<$A[$i]> and arrow B is pointing to C<$B[$j]>. When this happens,
+C<traverse_sequences> will call the C<MATCH> callback function and then
+it will advance both arrows.
+
+Otherwise, one of the arrows is pointing to an element of its sequence
+that is not part of the LCS. C<traverse_sequences> will advance that
+arrow and will call the C<DISCARD_A> or the C<DISCARD_B> callback,
+depending on which arrow it advanced. If both arrows point to elements
+that are not part of the LCS, then C<traverse_sequences> will advance
+one of them and call the appropriate callback, but it is not specified
+which it will call.
+
+The arguments to C<traverse_sequences> are the two sequences to
+traverse, and a hash which specifies the callback functions, like this:
+
+ traverse_sequences(
+ \@seq1, \@seq2,
+ { MATCH => $callback_1,
+ DISCARD_A => $callback_2,
+ DISCARD_B => $callback_3,
+ }
+ );
+
+Callbacks for MATCH, DISCARD_A, and DISCARD_B are invoked with at least
+the indices of the two arrows as their arguments. They are not expected
+to return any values. If a callback is omitted from the table, it is
+not called.
+
+Callbacks for A_FINISHED and B_FINISHED are invoked with at least the
+corresponding index in A or B.
+
+If arrow A reaches the end of its sequence, before arrow B does,
+C<traverse_sequences> will call the C<A_FINISHED> callback when it
+advances arrow B, if there is such a function; if not it will call
+C<DISCARD_B> instead. Similarly if arrow B finishes first.
+C<traverse_sequences> returns when both arrows are at the ends of their
+respective sequences. It returns true on success and false on failure.
+At present there is no way to fail.
+
+C<traverse_sequences> may be passed an optional fourth parameter; this
+is a CODE reference to a key generation function. See L</KEY GENERATION
+FUNCTIONS>.
+
+Additional parameters, if any, will be passed to the key generation function.
+
+If you want to pass additional parameters to your callbacks, but don't
+need a custom key generation function, you can get the default by
+passing undef:
+
+ traverse_sequences(
+ \@seq1, \@seq2,
+ { MATCH => $callback_1,
+ DISCARD_A => $callback_2,
+ DISCARD_B => $callback_3,
+ },
+ undef, # default key-gen
+ $myArgument1,
+ $myArgument2,
+ $myArgument3,
+ );
+
+C<traverse_sequences> does not have a useful return value; you are
+expected to plug in the appropriate behavior with the callback
+functions.
+
+=head2 C<traverse_balanced>
+
+C<traverse_balanced> is an alternative to C<traverse_sequences>. It
+uses a different algorithm to iterate through the entries in the
+computed LCS. Instead of sticking to one side and showing element changes
+as insertions and deletions only, it will jump back and forth between
+the two sequences and report I<changes> occurring as deletions on one
+side followed immediatly by an insertion on the other side.
+
+In addition to the C<DISCARD_A>, C<DISCARD_B>, and C<MATCH> callbacks
+supported by C<traverse_sequences>, C<traverse_balanced> supports
+a C<CHANGE> callback indicating that one element got C<replaced> by another:
+
+ traverse_balanced(
+ \@seq1, \@seq2,
+ { MATCH => $callback_1,
+ DISCARD_A => $callback_2,
+ DISCARD_B => $callback_3,
+ CHANGE => $callback_4,
+ }
+ );
+
+If no C<CHANGE> callback is specified, C<traverse_balanced>
+will map C<CHANGE> events to C<DISCARD_A> and C<DISCARD_B> actions,
+therefore resulting in a similar behaviour as C<traverse_sequences>
+with different order of events.
+
+C<traverse_balanced> might be a bit slower than C<traverse_sequences>,
+noticable only while processing huge amounts of data.
+
+The C<sdiff> function of this module
+is implemented as call to C<traverse_balanced>.
+
+C<traverse_balanced> does not have a useful return value; you are expected to
+plug in the appropriate behavior with the callback functions.
+
+=head1 KEY GENERATION FUNCTIONS
+
+Most of the functions accept an optional extra parameter. This is a
+CODE reference to a key generating (hashing) function that should return
+a string that uniquely identifies a given element. It should be the
+case that if two elements are to be considered equal, their keys should
+be the same (and the other way around). If no key generation function
+is provided, the key will be the element as a string.
+
+By default, comparisons will use "eq" and elements will be turned into keys
+using the default stringizing operator '""'.
+
+Where this is important is when you're comparing something other than
+strings. If it is the case that you have multiple different objects
+that should be considered to be equal, you should supply a key
+generation function. Otherwise, you have to make sure that your arrays
+contain unique references.
+
+For instance, consider this example:
+
+ package Person;
+
+ sub new
+ {
+ my $package = shift;
+ return bless { name => '', ssn => '', @_ }, $package;
+ }
+
+ sub clone
+ {
+ my $old = shift;
+ my $new = bless { %$old }, ref($old);
+ }
+
+ sub hash
+ {
+ return shift()->{'ssn'};
+ }
+
+ my $person1 = Person->new( name => 'Joe', ssn => '123-45-6789' );
+ my $person2 = Person->new( name => 'Mary', ssn => '123-47-0000' );
+ my $person3 = Person->new( name => 'Pete', ssn => '999-45-2222' );
+ my $person4 = Person->new( name => 'Peggy', ssn => '123-45-9999' );
+ my $person5 = Person->new( name => 'Frank', ssn => '000-45-9999' );
+
+If you did this:
+
+ my $array1 = [ $person1, $person2, $person4 ];
+ my $array2 = [ $person1, $person3, $person4, $person5 ];
+ Algorithm::Diff::diff( $array1, $array2 );
+
+everything would work out OK (each of the objects would be converted
+into a string like "Person=HASH(0x82425b0)" for comparison).
+
+But if you did this:
+
+ my $array1 = [ $person1, $person2, $person4 ];
+ my $array2 = [ $person1, $person3, $person4->clone(), $person5 ];
+ Algorithm::Diff::diff( $array1, $array2 );
+
+$person4 and $person4->clone() (which have the same name and SSN)
+would be seen as different objects. If you wanted them to be considered
+equivalent, you would have to pass in a key generation function:
+
+ my $array1 = [ $person1, $person2, $person4 ];
+ my $array2 = [ $person1, $person3, $person4->clone(), $person5 ];
+ Algorithm::Diff::diff( $array1, $array2, \&Person::hash );
+
+This would use the 'ssn' field in each Person as a comparison key, and
+so would consider $person4 and $person4->clone() as equal.
+
+You may also pass additional parameters to the key generation function
+if you wish.
+
+=head1 ERROR CHECKING
+
+If you pass these routines a non-reference and they expect a reference,
+they will die with a message.
+
+=head1 AUTHOR
+
+This version released by Tye McQueen (http://perlmonks.org/?node=tye).
+
+=head1 LICENSE
+
+Parts Copyright (c) 2000-2004 Ned Konz. All rights reserved.
+Parts by Tye McQueen.
+
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the same terms as Perl.
+
+=head1 MAILING LIST
+
+Mark-Jason still maintains a mailing list. To join a low-volume mailing
+list for announcements related to diff and Algorithm::Diff, send an
+empty mail message to mjd-perl-diff-request@plover.com.
+
+=head1 CREDITS
+
+Versions through 0.59 (and much of this documentation) were written by:
+
+Mark-Jason Dominus, mjd-perl-diff@plover.com
+
+This version borrows some documentation and routine names from
+Mark-Jason's, but Diff.pm's code was completely replaced.
+
+This code was adapted from the Smalltalk code of Mario Wolczko
+<mario@wolczko.com>, which is available at
+ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/pub/Smalltalk/MANCHESTER/manchester/4.0/diff.st
+
+C<sdiff> and C<traverse_balanced> were written by Mike Schilli
+<m@perlmeister.com>.
+
+The algorithm is that described in
+I<A Fast Algorithm for Computing Longest Common Subsequences>,
+CACM, vol.20, no.5, pp.350-353, May 1977, with a few
+minor improvements to improve the speed.
+
+Much work was done by Ned Konz (perl@bike-nomad.com).
+
+The OO interface and some other changes are by Tye McQueen.
+
+=cut