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CMP(1)			    General Commands Manual			CMP(1)

NAME
       cmp -- compare two files

SYNOPSIS
       cmp [-l | -s | -x] [-hz]	file1 file2 [skip1 [skip2]]

DESCRIPTION
       The  cmp	 utility compares two files of any type	and writes the results
       to the standard output.	By default, cmp	is silent if the files are the
       same; if	they differ, the byte and line number at which the first  dif-
       ference occurred	is reported.

       Bytes and lines are numbered beginning with one.

       The following options are available:

       -h      Do not follow symbolic links.

       -l, --verbose
	       Print  the  byte	number (decimal) and the differing byte	values
	       (octal) for each	difference.

       -s, --silent, --quiet
	       Print nothing for differing files; return exit status only.

       -x      Like -l but prints in hexadecimal and using zero	as  index  for
	       the first byte in the files.

       -z      For  regular  files compare file	sizes first, and fail the com-
	       parison if they are not equal.

       The optional arguments skip1 and	skip2 are the byte  offsets  from  the
       beginning  of  file1 and	file2, respectively, where the comparison will
       begin.  The offset is decimal by	default, but may  be  expressed	 as  a
       hexadecimal  or	octal  value  by preceding it with a leading ``0x'' or
       ``0''.

EXIT STATUS
       The cmp utility exits with one of the following values:

       0     The files are identical.

       1     The files are different; this includes the	case where one file is
	     identical to the first part of the	other.	In the latter case, if
	     the -s option has not been	specified, cmp writes to standard  er-
	     ror  that EOF was reached in the shorter file (before any differ-
	     ences were	found).

       >1    An	error occurred.

SEE ALSO
       diff(1),	diff3(1)

STANDARDS
       The cmp utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2")  compati-
       ble.  The -h, -x, and -z	options	are extensions to the standard.

HISTORY
       A cmp command appeared in Version 1 AT&T	UNIX.

FreeBSD	12.1			  May 1, 2018				CMP(1)

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