ZephyrDiff Tool

A powerful VS Code extension for comparing and formatting Zephyr Device Tree Source (.dts) files and Zephyr configuration (.config) files with comprehensive semantic normalization.

Features

🔍 Smart ZephyrDiff Comparison

• Semantic comparison with node and property sorting
• Comment filtering - Focus on actual code differences
• Recursive node sorting - All nested nodes sorted alphabetically
• Property normalization - Consistent property ordering within nodes
• Hex value normalization - Standardized hex formatting (lowercase, consistent padding)
• Array normalization - Consistent spacing in < > arrays and string arrays
• Whitespace normalization - Standardized indentation and spacing

📋 Comparison Options

• Compare two DTS files with full semantic normalization
• Compare two .config files with comment filtering and alphabetical sorting
• Compare with clipboard - Quick comparison with copied DTS content
• Copy formatted file - Get fully normalized DTS content in clipboard
• Save/load comparison configurations - Reuse comparison setups for both DTS and .config files

⚙️ Advanced Configuration

• Configurable normalization options - Enable/disable specific features
• Property sorting - Sort properties alphabetically within nodes
• Node sorting - Sort child nodes alphabetically (e.g., cpuapp_data, cpurad_data)
• Hex and array normalization - Consistent formatting

Usage

Compare Two Zephyr DTS Files

1. Open a .dts or .dtsi file in VS Code
2. Right-click in the file explorer or editor
3. Select "ZephyrDiff: Compare Files"
4. Choose the second file to compare
5. View semantic diff with normalized content

Compare with Clipboard

1. Copy DTS content to clipboard
2. Open a .dts file in VS Code
3. Right-click in the editor
4. Select "ZephyrDiff: Compare with Clipboard"

Copy Formatted File

1. Open a .dts file in VS Code
2. Right-click in the editor
3. Select "ZephyrDiff: Copy formatted file"
4. Fully normalized content is copied to clipboard

Save Comparison Configuration

1. Open a .dts file and run "ZephyrDiff: Save Comparison Configuration"
2. Enter a configuration name
3. Select second file to compare
4. Configuration saved for future use

Configure Advanced Options

• Run "ZephyrDiff: Configure Advanced Comparison Options"
• Enable/disable:
  • Semantic comparison
  • Property sorting
  • Hex value normalization
  • Array normalization
  • Comment stripping
  • Whitespace normalization

Compare Zephyr .config Files

1. Open a .config file in VS Code
2. Right-click in the file explorer or editor
3. Select "ZephyrDiff: Compare Zephyr .config Files"
4. Choose the second .config file to compare
5. View diff with comments filtered and config entries sorted alphabetically

Save .config Comparison Configuration

1. Open a .config file and run "ZephyrDiff: Save Zephyr .config Comparison Configuration"
2. Enter a configuration name
3. Select second .config file to compare
4. Configuration saved for future use with proper filtering options

Commands

All commands are available via Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

DTS File Commands:

• ZephyrDiff: Compare DTS Files - Compare two DTS files
• ZephyrDiff: Compare DTS with Clipboard - Compare with clipboard content
• ZephyrDiff: Copy formatted DTS file - Copy normalized DTS to clipboard
• ZephyrDiff: Save DTS Comparison Configuration - Save DTS comparison setup

.config File Commands:

• ZephyrDiff: Compare Zephyr .config Files - Compare two .config files with filtering and sorting
• ZephyrDiff: Save Zephyr .config Comparison Configuration - Save .config comparison setup

Management Commands:

• ZephyrDiff: Load Saved DTS Comparison - Run saved comparison
• ZephyrDiff: Manage DTS Comparison Configurations - Manage saved configurations
• ZephyrDiff: Configure Advanced DTS Comparison Options - Configure normalization options
• ZephyrDiff: Delete Saved DTS Comparison - Remove saved configuration

Semantic Normalization

The extension performs comprehensive DTS normalization:

Node Sorting

// Before: Random order
reserved-memory {
    cpurad_data: memory@1f000000 { ... }
    cpuapp_data: memory@2f000000 { ... }
}

// After: Alphabetical order
reserved-memory {
    cpuapp_data: memory@2f000000 { ... }
    cpurad_data: memory@1f000000 { ... }
}

Property Sorting

// Before: Random order
gpio6: gpio@938c00 {
    status = "disabled";
    compatible = "nordic,nrf-gpio";
    reg = < 0x938c00 0x200 >;
}

// After: Alphabetical order
gpio6: gpio@938c00 {
    compatible = "nordic,nrf-gpio";
    reg = < 0x938c00 0x200 >;
    status = "disabled";
}

Value Normalization

// Hex normalization: 0x938C00 → 0x938c00
// Array normalization: <0x1 0x2> → < 0x1 0x2 >

.config File Processing

The extension also handles Zephyr .config files with specialized processing:

Comment Filtering

# Before: With comments
# This is a board configuration
CONFIG_BOARD="nrf52840dk_nrf52840"  # Development board
CONFIG_SOC_SERIES_NRF52X=y
# CONFIG_SERIAL is not set

# After: Comments removed
CONFIG_BOARD="nrf52840dk_nrf52840"
CONFIG_SOC_SERIES_NRF52X=y

Alphabetical Sorting

# Before: Random order
CONFIG_SERIAL=y
CONFIG_BOARD="nrf52840dk_nrf52840"
CONFIG_ARM=y

# After: Alphabetical order  
CONFIG_ARM=y
CONFIG_BOARD="nrf52840dk_nrf52840"
CONFIG_SERIAL=y

Requirements

• VS Code 1.74.0 or higher
• Device Tree Source files (.dts, .dtsi)
• Zephyr configuration files (.config)

Known Issues

None at this time.

Release Notes

1.0.4

• Rebranded to ZephyrDiff Tool - Updated extension name and branding to focus on Zephyr projects
• Enhanced command titles - More descriptive context menu options that clearly indicate DTS/config file comparison
• Improved .config file support - Added .config commands to explorer context menu and fixed filtering/sorting
• Fixed saved comparisons - Properly detect file types and use appropriate comparison functions
• Updated keywords - Added "zephyr" and "zephyrdiff" for better discoverability

1.0.0

• Complete semantic DTS normalization
• Recursive node and property sorting
• Advanced configuration options
• Copy formatted file functionality
• Improved comparison accuracy
• Hex and array value normalization

0.0.1

• Initial release with basic comparison functionality