Dear all,

I have two files in UNIX File1 and File2 as below:

File1:
1,1234,.,67.897,,0
1,4134,.,87.97,,4
0,1564,.,97.8,,1

File2:
2,8798,.,67.897,,0
2,8879,.,77.97,,4
0,1564,.,97.8,,1

I want to do the following:
(1) Make sure that both the files have equal number of columns and if not error out
(2) If there are equal number of columns then compare each corresponding field from both the files line by line and if there is any difference then print the two different values with line number and column number.

I know that 'diff -w' is useful here because it compares ignoring leading, trailing or in-between spaces which is useful because all my columns are numeric.

Can I use say 'awk' and its NF and NR variables along with diff? Or is there any other way? Please advise. I thank you for your help.

GG