cmp(1) [redhat man page]

CMP(1)							    BSD General Commands Manual 						    CMP(1)

NAME

     cmp -- compare two files

SYNOPSIS

     cmp [-l | -s] 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 occurred is reported.

     Bytes and lines are numbered beginning with one.

     The following options are available:

     -l    Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing byte values (octal) for each difference.

     -s    Print nothing for differing files; return exit status only.

     The optional arguments skip1 and skip2 are the byte offsets from the beginning of file1 and file2, respectively, where the comparison will
     begin.  The offset is decimal by default, but may be expressed as an hexadecimal or octal value by preceding it with a leading ``0x'' or
     ``0''.

     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 output 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.

BSD
								   June 6, 1993 							       BSD

cmp(1)							      General Commands Manual							    cmp(1)

NAME

       cmp - compare two files

SYNOPSIS

       file1 file2 [skip1 [skip2]]

DESCRIPTION

       compares  two  files (if file1 or file2 is the standard input is used).	Under default options, makes no comment if the files are the same;
       if they differ, it announces the byte and line number at which the difference occurred.	If one file  is  an  initial  subsequence  of  the
       other,  that  fact  is noted.  skip1 and skip2 are initial byte offsets into file1 and file2, respectively; and maybe octal or decimal; the
       form of the number is determined by the environment variable (in the C locale, a leading 0 denotes an octal number. See on  environ(5)  and
       strtol(3C)).

       recognizes the following options:

	      Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing bytes (octal)
		      for each difference (byte numbering begins at 1 rather than 0).

	      Print nothing for differing files; return codes only.

EXTERNAL INFLUENCES

   Environment Variables
       determines the language in which messages are displayed.  If is not specified or is set to the empty string, a default of "C" (see lang(5))
       is used instead of If any internationalization variable contains an invalid setting, behaves as if all internationalization  variables  are
       set to "C".  See environ(5).

   International Code Set Support
       Single- and multi-byte character code sets are supported.

DIAGNOSTICS

       returns the following exit values:

	      Files are identical.
	      Files are not identical.
	      Inaccessible or missing argument.

       prints the following warning if the comparison succeeds till the end of file of file1(file2) is reached.

       SEE ALSO
	      comm(1), diff(1).

STANDARDS CONFORMANCE

																	    cmp(1)