diff for (text only) manuscripts

[Jon Slavin]

This is not Python specific, but it seems that Python offers hope for
a solution.

I've been looking for a form of diff that is good for manuscipts --
rather than programs.  That is, a diff that is word as opposed to line
oriented.  My motivation is that, as a scientist I often collaborate
with others on papers wherein we take turns editing a LaTeX file. 
Sometimes I'd like to know exactly how the file has been changed but I
don't care if the lines wrap at a different point -- so I don't want
to see noted as changed an entire paragraph if a couple words in the
beginning have been added and the line breaks re-done.

I have a little experience with Python and tried altering ndiff.py (in
Python 2.1 Tools/scripts) but without too much luck.  The problem is
that even if you make it do a diff on a series of words rather than
lines, it's not clear how to put it all back together to make the
result readable.

Any suggestions welcome.

Jon Slavin