xref: /netbsd/usr.bin/cmp/cmp.1 (revision 6550d01e)
1.\"	$NetBSD: cmp.1,v 1.9 2003/08/07 11:13:21 agc Exp $
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33.\"     @(#)cmp.1	8.1 (Berkeley) 6/6/93
34.\"
35.Dd June 6, 1993
36.Dt CMP 1
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm cmp
40.Nd compare two files
41.Sh SYNOPSIS
42.Nm
43.Op Fl l | Fl s
44.Ar file1 file2
45.Op Ar skip1 Op Ar skip2
46.Sh DESCRIPTION
47The cmp utility compares two files of any type and writes the results
48to the standard output.
49By default,
50.Nm
51is silent if the files are the same; if they differ, the byte
52and line number at which the first difference occurred is reported.
53.Pp
54Bytes and lines are numbered beginning with one.
55.Pp
56The following options are available:
57.Bl -tag -width flag
58.It Fl l
59Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing
60byte values (octal) for each difference.
61.It Fl s
62Print nothing for differing files; return exit
63status only.
64.El
65.Pp
66The optional arguments
67.Ar skip1
68and
69.Ar skip2
70are the byte offsets from the beginning of
71.Ar file1
72and
73.Ar file2 ,
74respectively, where the comparison will begin.
75The offset is decimal by default, but may be expressed as an hexadecimal
76or octal value by preceding it with a leading ``0x'' or ``0''.
77.Pp
78The
79.Nm
80utility exits with one of the following values:
81.Bl -tag -width 4n
82.It 0
83The files are identical.
84.It 1
85The files are different; this includes the case
86where one file is identical to the first part of
87the other.
88In the latter case, if the
89.Fl s
90option has not been specified,
91.Nm
92writes to standard output that EOF was reached in the shorter
93file (before any differences were found).
94.It \*[Gt]1
95An error occurred.
96.El
97.Sh SEE ALSO
98.Xr diff 1 ,
99.Xr diff3 1
100.Sh STANDARDS
101The
102.Nm
103utility is expected to be
104.St -p1003.2
105compatible.
106