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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 difference oc- curred 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 (oc- tal) 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 comparison if they are not equal. The optional arguments skip1 and skip2 are the byte offsets from the begin- ning 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 error that EOF was reached in the shorter file (before any differences were found). >1 An error occurred. EXAMPLES Assuming a file named example.txt with the following contents: a b c Compare stdin with example.txt: $ echo -e "a\nb\nc" | cmp - example.txt Same as above but introducing a change in the third byte of stdin. Show the byte number (decimal) and differing byte (octal): $ echo -e "a\nR\nc" | cmp -l - example.txt 3 122 142 Compare file sizes of example.txt and /boot/loader.conf and return 1 if they are not equal. Note that -z can only be used with regular files: $ cmp -z example.txt /boot/loader.conf example.txt /boot/loader.conf differ: size Compare stdin with example.txt omitting the first 4 bytes from stdin and the first 2 bytes from example.txt: $ echo -e "a\nR\nb\nc" | cmp - example.txt 4 2 SEE ALSO diff(1), diff3(1) STANDARDS The cmp utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 ("POSIX.2") compatible. The -h, -x, and -z options are extensions to the standard. HISTORY A cmp command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX. FreeBSD 13.0 June 20, 2020 CMP(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | EXIT STATUS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY
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