Hex binary diff 2 files, with your own choice / variety of preferred diff tools

add-this-into-your-profile-or-login-script.sh

# source discussion, over on superuser:
# https://superuser.com/questions/125376/how-do-i-compare-binary-files-in-linux

hex-binary-diff()
{
  _diffcmd="$1"
  shift

  unset _diff_opts
  _arg="$1"
  while [ "$_arg" ]; do
    if [ "${_arg#-}" != "$_arg" ]; then
      _diff_opts="$_diff_opts $_arg"

      shift
      _arg="$1"
    else
      break
    fi
  done
  
  if [ ! "$2" ]; then
    echo "usage: hex-binary-diff [--diff-options-flags|-opts] file1.bin file2.bin"
  else
    $_diffcmd $_diff_opts <(xxd "$1") <(xxd "$2")
  fi
}

# for colordiff tool
alias hex-binary-colordiff="hex-binary-diff colordiff -W150 -y"
alias hex-binary-colordiff-compact="hex-binary-colordiff --suppress-common-lines"

# for meld gui diff tool
alias hex-binary-diff-meld="hex-binary-diff meld"

# for beyond compare diff tool
alias hex-binary-diff-meld="hex-binary-diff bcompare"

# other available tools which include a built-in binary diff functionality
alias hex-binary-diff-dhex="dhex"
alias hex-binary-diff-binwalk="binwalk -W"

# tools that let you directly EDIT the binary files (instead of just only view them)
alias hex-binary-diff-vbindiff="vbindiff"