cmp(1) General Commands Manual cmp(1)
Name
cmp - compare two files
Syntax
cmp [-l | -s] file1 file2 [ skip1 ] [ skip2 ]
Description
The command compares two files. If either file1 or file2 is `-', standard input is used for the file. With no options, makes no comment
if the files are the same. If they differ, it reports the byte and line number at which the difference occurred to standard output. If
one file is an initial subsequence of the other a message including the file name is written to standard error.
The optional skip1 and skip2 parameters are initial byte offsets into file1 and file2 respectively and may be either octal, by specifying a
leading 0, or decimal. When using skip1 and skip2 the offset is treated as the start of the respective input file. Only one option may be
specified at a time. Only one of the input files may be standard input at a time. Because the line number is not calculated when using
either of the options the use of either flag will increase the speed of
Options
-l Long format: prints the byte number (decimal) and the differing bytes (octal) for each difference.
-s Suppresses normal output and sets the exit code only.
Diagnostics
Exit code 0 is returned for identical files, 1 for different files, and 2 for an inaccessible or missing argument.
See Also
comm(1), diff(1)
cmp(1)
