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diff(1) [v7 man page]

DIFF(1) 						      General Commands Manual							   DIFF(1)

NAME
diff - differential file comparator SYNOPSIS
diff [ -efbh ] file1 file2 DESCRIPTION
Diff tells what lines must be changed in two files to bring them into agreement. If file1 (file2) is `-', the standard input is used. If file1 (file2) is a directory, then a file in that directory whose file-name is the same as the file-name of file2 (file1) is used. The normal output contains 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 -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. In connection with -e, the following shell program may help maintain multiple versions of a file. Only an ancestral file ($1) and a chain of version-to-version ed scripts ($2,$3,...) made by diff need be on hand. A `latest version' appears on the standard output. (shift; cat $*; echo '1,$p') | ed - $1 Except in rare circumstances, diff finds a smallest sufficient set of file differences. Option -h does a fast, half-hearted job. It works only when changed stretches are short and well separated, but does work on files of unlimited length. Options -e and -f are unavailable with -h. FILES
/tmp/d????? /usr/lib/diffh for -h SEE ALSO
cmp(1), comm(1), ed(1) DIAGNOSTICS
Exit status is 0 for no differences, 1 for some, 2 for trouble. BUGS
Editing scripts produced under the -e or -f option are naive about creating lines consisting of a single `.'. DIFF(1)

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diff3(1)						      General Commands Manual							  diff3(1)

Name
       diff3 - 3-way differential file comparison

Syntax
       diff3 [-ex3] file1 file2 file3

Description
       The command compares three versions of a file, and publishes the ranges of text that disagree, flagged with the following codes:

	  ====	      all three files differ

	  ====1       file1 is different

	  ====2       file2 is different

	  ====3       file3 is different

       The type of change needed to convert a given range of a given file to some other is indicated in one of these ways:

	  f : n1 a    Text is to be appended after line number n1 in file f, where f = 1, 2, or 3.

	  f : n1 , n2 c
		      Text is to be changed in the range line n1 to line n2.  If n1 = n2, the range may be abbreviated to n1.

       The original contents of the range follows immediately after a c indication.  When the contents of two files are identical, the contents of
       the lower-numbered file is suppressed.

Options
       -3   Produces an editor script containing the changes between file1 and file2 that are to be incorporated into file3.

       -e	   Produces an editor script containing the changes between file2 and file3 that are to be incorporated into file1.

       -x	   Produces an editor script containing the changes among all three files.

Examples
       Under the -e option, publishes a script for the editor that incorporates into file1 all changes between file2 and  file3  -  that  is,  the
       changes	that would normally be flagged ==== and ====3.	Option -x (-3) produces a script to incorporate only changes flagged ==== (====3).
       The following command applies the resulting script to `file1':
       (cat script; echo '1,$p') | ed - file1

Restrictions
       Text lines that consist of a single `.'	defeat -e.

Files
       /tmp/d3?????
       /usr/lib/diff3

See Also
       cmp(1), comm(1), diff(1), dffmk(1), join(1), sccsdiff(1), uniq(1)

																	  diff3(1)
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