xzdiff(1) [osx man page]

XZDIFF(1)                                                            XZ Utils                                                            XZDIFF(1)

NAME

       xzcmp, xzdiff, lzcmp, lzdiff - compare compressed files

SYNOPSIS

       xzcmp [cmp_options] file1 [file2]
       xzdiff [diff_options] file1 [file2]
       lzcmp [cmp_options] file1 [file2]
       lzdiff [diff_options] file1 [file2]

DESCRIPTION

       xzcmp  and  xzdiff  invoke cmp(1) or diff(1) on files compressed with xz(1), lzma(1), gzip(1), bzip2(1), or lzop(1).  All options specified
       are passed directly to cmp(1) or diff(1).  If only one file is specified, then the files compared are file1 (which must have a suffix of  a
       supported  compression format) and file1 from which the compression format suffix has been stripped.  If two files are specified, then they
       are uncompressed if necessary and fed to cmp(1) or diff(1).  The exit status from cmp(1) or diff(1) is preserved.

       The names lzcmp and lzdiff are provided for backward compatibility with LZMA Utils.

SEE ALSO

       cmp(1), diff(1), xz(1), gzip(1), bzip2(1), lzop(1), zdiff(1)

BUGS

       Messages from the cmp(1) or diff(1) programs refer to temporary filenames instead of those specified.

Tukaani                                                             2011-03-19                                                           XZDIFF(1)

DIFF(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   DIFF(1)

NAME

       diff - differential file comparator

SYNOPSIS

       diff [ -efbwr ] file1 ... file2

DESCRIPTION

       Diff tells what lines must be changed in two files to bring them into agreement.  If one file is a directory, then a file in that directory
       with basename the same as that of the other file is used.  If both files are directories, similarly named files in the two directories  are
       compared  by the method of diff for text files and cmp(1) otherwise.  If more than two file names are given, then each argument is compared
       to the last argument as above.  The -r option causes diff to process similarly named subdirectories recursively.  The  normal  output  con-
       tains lines of these forms:

	    n1 a n3,n4
	    n1,n2 d n3
	    n1,n2 c n3,n4

       These  lines resemble ed commands to convert file1 into file2.  The numbers after the letters pertain to file2.	In fact, by exchanging `a'
       for `d' and reading backward one may ascertain equally how to convert file2 into file1.	As in ed, identical pairs where n1 = n2 or n3 = n4
       are abbreviated as a single number.

       Following  each	of these lines come all the lines that are affected in the first file flagged by `<', then all the lines that are affected
       in the second file flagged by `>'.

       The -b option causes trailing blanks (spaces and tabs) to be ignored and other strings of blanks to compare equal.  The	-w  option  causes
       all white-space to be removed from input lines before applying the difference algorithm.

       The  -e	option produces a script of a, c and d commands for the editor ed, which will recreate file2 from file1.  The -f option produces a
       similar script, not useful with ed, in the opposite order. It may, however, be useful as input to a stream-oriented post-processor.

       Except in rare circumstances, diff finds a smallest sufficient set of file differences.

FILES

       /tmp/diff[12]

SOURCE

       /sys/src/cmd/diff

SEE ALSO

       cmp(1), ed(1)

DIAGNOSTICS

       Exit status is the empty string for no differences, for some, and for trouble.

BUGS

       Editing scripts produced under the -e or -f option are naive about creating lines consisting of a single `.'.
       When running diff on directories, the notion of what is a text file is open to debate.

																	   DIFF(1)