emacs ediff refresh buffers

Question

I am using emacs ediff to compare two files that I frequently update. How can I refresh or update the buffer to reflect the new file without killing and reloading ediff? When I try to update each file using C-x C-v, the Ediff Control Panel says "You have killed a vital Ediff buffer--you must leave Ediff now!"

Blinders

Answer 1

Switch to the Emacs Ediff control panel and and press !.

That will do it.

Lsd

Answer 2

Try updating the file with M-x revert-buffer, and then hit ! in the Ediff control panel to make Ediff recalculate the difference regions.

Foetid

Answer 3

Ediff have ediff-revert-buffers-then-recompute-diffs.

From the ediff manual ediff-revert-buffers-then-recompute-diffs:

ediff-revert-buffers-then-recompute-diffs: This command reverts the buffers you are comparing and recomputes their differences. It is useful when, after making changes, you decided to make a fresh start, or if at some point you changed the files being compared but want to discard any changes to comparison buffers that were done since then.

Geronimo