xdelta3
VCDIFF binary delta encoding
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
xdelta3 [command] [options] [input [output]]
DESCRIPTION
xdelta3 creates and applies binary delta patches using the VCDIFF format defined in RFC 3284. Encoding compares a source file with a target file and produces a compact delta that captures only the differences, while decoding reconstructs the target by applying the delta to the original source.Compression levels from 0 to 9 trade processing speed for smaller delta sizes. A streaming mode processes data in chunks, enabling memory-efficient handling of very large files. Self-contained patches can be created without requiring the original source file for decoding, embedding the necessary data within the delta itself.
PARAMETERS
-e
Encode (compress/create delta).-d
Decode (decompress/apply delta).-s FILE
Source file to copy from.-0 to -9
Compression level.-f
Force overwrite of existing files.-c
Output to stdout.-v
Verbose output (may be specified up to 2 times).-q
Quiet, suppress output messages.-B bytes
Source window size.-W bytes
Input window size.-S [djw|fgk]
Enable/disable secondary compression.-n
Disable checksum.-V
Show version.
COMMANDS
encode
Compress the input (default). Also set by -e.decode
Decompress the input. Also set by -d.printdelta
Print information about the entire delta.printhdr
Print information about the first window.printhdrs
Print information about all windows.config
Print xdelta3 configuration.recode
Re-encode with new application/secondary settings.
INSTALL
CAVEATS
The source file must be available for decoding unless the delta was created without a source. Memory options (-B, -W) may need tuning for very large files. The command-line syntax is similar to gzip.
HISTORY
xdelta3 is the third version of xdelta, implementing RFC 3284 VCDIFF. It provides efficient binary delta compression.
