cmp (Unix)

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Template:Short description

Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template other Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". cmp is a shell command that compares two files of any type and reports differences. By default, it outputs nothing if the files match. If they differ, it reports the byte and line number of the first difference. The exit code can be used programmatically since it is 0 if the files match, 1 if the files differ or 2 if comparison fails (i.e. inaccessible or missing argument).

The command is available on Unix-like systems, OS-9, IBM i and Windows (via UnxUtils).[1][2][3] The command first appeared in Version 1 Unix.[4] It is part of the X/Open Portability Guide since issue 2 of 1987. It was inherited into the first version of POSIX.1 and the Single Unix Specification.[5] The implementation in GNU coreutils was written by Torbjorn Granlund and David MacKenzie.[6]

Use

Command line options include:

Option Description Unix Plan 9 Inferno FreeBSD Linux IBM i
Template:Mono Print the differing bytes; display control bytes as a 'Template:Mono' followed by a letter of the alphabet and precede bytes that have the high bit set with 'Template:Mono' (which stands for "meta") No No No No Yes No
Template:Mono Do not follow symbolic links No No No Yes No No
Template:Mono Skip the first SKIP bytes of input No No No No Yes No
Template:Mono Skip the first SKIP1 bytes of FILE1 and the first SKIP2 bytes of FILE2 No No No No Yes No
Template:Mono Print the (decimal) byte numbers and (octal) values of all differing bytes, instead of the default info; also, print the EOF message if one file is shorter than the other Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Template:Mono Print the line number of the first differing byte Yes Yes Yes No No No
Template:Mono Compare at most LIMIT bytes No No No No Yes No
Template:Mono Print nothing; yield exit status only Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Template:Mono Text mode where the files are opened in text mode and translated to the CCSID of the job before comparing byte for byte No No No No No Yes
Template:Mono Print version info No No No No Yes No
Template:Mono Like -l but prints in hexadecimal and using zero as index for the first byte in the files No No No Yes No No
Template:Mono For regular files, compare file sizes first, and fail if they are not equal No No No Yes No No
Template:Mono Print command-line help info No No No No Yes No

Operands that are byte counts are decimal by default, but may be preceded by 'Template:Mono' for octal and 'Template:Mono' for hexadecimal.

A byte count can be followed by a suffix to specify a multiple of that count; in this case an omitted integer is understood to be 1. A bare size letter, or one followed by 'Template:Mono', specifies a multiple using powers of 1024. A size letter followed by 'Template:Mono' specifies powers of 1000 instead. For example, 'Template:Mono' and 'Template:Mono' are equivalent to 'Template:Mono', whereas 'Template:Mono' is equivalent to 'Template:Mono'. This notation is upward compatible with the SI prefixes[7] for decimal multiples and with the IEC 60027-2 prefixes for binary multiples.[8]

Example

File:Cmp-example-command-gimp.gif
Example use to report different bytes between text files

See also

References

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  1. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. cmp(1) – FreeBSD General Commands Manual
  5. printf – Shell and Utilities Reference, The Single UNIX Specification, Version 5 from The Open Group
  6. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Template:Sister project

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