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CMP(1)			FreeBSD	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 differ-
     ence 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 compari-
	     son if they are not equal.

     The optional arguments skip1 and skip2 are	the byte offsets from the be-
     ginning of	file1 and file2, respectively, where the comparison will be-
     gin.  The offset is decimal by default, but may be	expressed as a hexa-
     decimal 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.

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			  May 1, 2018			  FreeBSD 13.0

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | EXIT STATUS | SEE ALSO | STANDARDS | HISTORY

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