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ZCMP(1) User Commands ZCMP(1) NAME zcmp - decompress and compare two files byte by byte SYNOPSIS zcmp [options] file1 [file2] DESCRIPTION zcmp compares two files and, if they differ, writes to standard output the first byte and line number where they differ. Bytes and lines are numbered starting with 1. A hyphen '-' used as a file argument means standard input. If any file given is compressed, its decompressed content is used. Com- pressed files are decompressed on the fly; no temporary files are created. The formats supported are bzip2, gzip, lzip, xz, and zstd. zcmp compares file1 to file2. The standard input is used only if file1 or file2 refers to standard input. If file2 is omitted zcmp tries to compare file1 with the corresponding uncompressed file (if file1 is compressed), and then with the corresponding compressed files of the remaining formats until one is found. OPTIONS -h, --help display this help and exit -V, --version output version information and exit -b, --print-bytes print differing bytes -H, --hexadecimal print hexadecimal values instead of octal -i, --ignore-initial=<n>[:<n2>] ignore differences in the first <n> bytes -l, --list list position, value of all differing bytes -M, --format=<list> process only the formats in <list> -n, --bytes=<n> compare at most <n> bytes -N, --no-rcfile don't read runtime configuration file -O, --force-format=[<f1>][,<f2>] force one or both input formats -q, --quiet, --silent suppress diagnostics written to stderr -s, --script suppress messages about file differences -v, --verbose verbose mode (opposite of --quiet) --bz2=<command> set compressor and options for bzip2 format --gz=<command> set compressor and options for gzip format --lz=<command> set compressor and options for lzip format --xz=<command> set compressor and options for xz format --zst=<command> set compressor and options for zstd format Valid formats for options '-M' and '-O' are 'bz2', 'gz', 'lz', 'xz', 'zst', and 'un' for uncompressed. Byte counts given as arguments to options may be expressed in decimal, hexadecimal, or octal (using the same syntax as integer constants in C++), may contain underscore separators between groups of digits and may be fol- lowed by a SI or binary multiplier: 1_234_567kB, 4KiB. EXIT STATUS 0 if inputs are identical, 1 if different, 2 if trouble. REPORTING BUGS Report bugs to zutils-bug@nongnu.org Zutils home page: http://www.nongnu.org/zutils/zutils.html COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2026 Antonio Diaz Diaz. License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html> This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. SEE ALSO The full documentation for zcmp is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the info and zcmp programs are properly installed at your site, the command info zutils should give you access to the complete manual. zutils 1.16 February 2026 ZCMP(1)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | EXIT STATUS | REPORTING BUGS | COPYRIGHT | SEE ALSO
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