DIFF
Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: April 2010
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NAME
diff - compare files line by line
SYNOPSIS
diff
[OPTION]... FILES
DESCRIPTION
Compare files line by line.
- -i --ignore-case
-
Ignore case differences in file contents.
- --ignore-file-name-case
-
Ignore case when comparing file names.
- --no-ignore-file-name-case
-
Consider case when comparing file names.
- -E --ignore-tab-expansion
-
Ignore changes due to tab expansion.
- -b --ignore-space-change
-
Ignore changes in the amount of white space.
- -w --ignore-all-space
-
Ignore all white space.
- -B --ignore-blank-lines
-
Ignore changes whose lines are all blank.
- -I RE --ignore-matching-lines=RE
-
Ignore changes whose lines all match RE.
- --strip-trailing-cr
-
Strip trailing carriage return on input.
- -a --text
-
Treat all files as text.
- -c -C NUM --context[=NUM]
-
Output NUM (default 3) lines of copied context.
- -u -U NUM --unified[=NUM]
-
Output NUM (default 3) lines of unified context.
- --label LABEL
-
Use LABEL instead of file name.
- -p --show-c-function
-
Show which C function each change is in.
- -F RE --show-function-line=RE
-
Show the most recent line matching RE.
- -q --brief
-
Output only whether files differ.
- -e --ed
-
Output an ed script.
- --normal
-
Output a normal diff.
- -n --rcs
-
Output an RCS format diff.
- -y --side-by-side
-
Output in two columns.
- -W NUM --width=NUM
-
Output at most NUM (default 130) print columns.
- --left-column
-
Output only the left column of common lines.
- --suppress-common-lines
-
Do not output common lines.
- -D NAME --ifdef=NAME
-
Output merged file to show `#ifdef NAME' diffs.
- --GTYPE-group-format=GFMT
-
Similar, but format GTYPE input groups with GFMT.
- --line-format=LFMT
-
Similar, but format all input lines with LFMT.
- --LTYPE-line-format=LFMT
-
Similar, but format LTYPE input lines with LFMT.
- LTYPE is `old', `new', or `unchanged'.
-
GTYPE is LTYPE or `changed'.
-
GFMT may contain:
- %<
-
lines from FILE1
- %>
-
lines from FILE2
- %=
-
lines common to FILE1 and FILE2
- %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}LETTER
-
printf-style spec for LETTER
-
LETTERs are as follows for new group, lower case for old group:
- F
-
first line number
- L
-
last line number
- N
-
number of lines = L-F+1
- E
-
F-1
- M
-
L+1
-
LFMT may contain:
- %L
-
contents of line
- %l
-
contents of line, excluding any trailing newline
- %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}n
-
printf-style spec for input line number
-
Either GFMT or LFMT may contain:
- %%
-
%
- %c'C'
-
the single character C
- %c'\OOO'
-
the character with octal code OOO
- -l --paginate
-
Pass the output through `pr' to paginate it.
- -t --expand-tabs
-
Expand tabs to spaces in output.
- -T --initial-tab
-
Make tabs line up by prepending a tab.
- --tabsize=NUM
-
Tab stops are every NUM (default 8) print columns.
- --suppress-blank-empty
-
Suppress space or tab before empty output lines.
- -r --recursive
-
Recursively compare any subdirectories found.
- -N --new-file
-
Treat absent files as empty.
- --unidirectional-new-file
-
Treat absent first files as empty.
- -s --report-identical-files
-
Report when two files are the same.
- -x PAT --exclude=PAT
-
Exclude files that match PAT.
- -X FILE --exclude-from=FILE
-
Exclude files that match any pattern in FILE.
- -S FILE --starting-file=FILE
-
Start with FILE when comparing directories.
- --from-file=FILE1
-
Compare FILE1 to all operands. FILE1 can be a directory.
- --to-file=FILE2
-
Compare all operands to FILE2. FILE2 can be a directory.
- --horizon-lines=NUM
-
Keep NUM lines of the common prefix and suffix.
- -d --minimal
-
Try hard to find a smaller set of changes.
- --speed-large-files
-
Assume large files and many scattered small changes.
- -v --version
-
Output version info.
- --help
-
Output this help.
FILES are `FILE1 FILE2' or `DIR1 DIR2' or `DIR FILE...' or `FILE... DIR'.
If --from-file or --to-file is given, there are no restrictions on FILES.
If a FILE is `-', read standard input.
Exit status is 0 if inputs are the same, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.
AUTHOR
Written by Paul Eggert, Mike Haertel, David Hayes,
Richard Stallman, and Len Tower.
REPORTING BUGS
Report bugs to: bug-diffutils@gnu.org
GNU diffutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/>
General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2010 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
SEE ALSO
The full documentation for
diff
is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If the
info
and
diff
programs are properly installed at your site, the command
-
info diff
should give you access to the complete manual.
Index
- NAME
-
- SYNOPSIS
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- AUTHOR
-
- REPORTING BUGS
-
- COPYRIGHT
-
- SEE ALSO
-
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Time: 19:49:08 GMT, April 27, 2011