1DIFF(1)                          User Commands                         DIFF(1)
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NAME

6       diff - compare files line by line
7

SYNOPSIS

9       diff [OPTION]... FILES
10

DESCRIPTION

12       Compare FILES line by line.
13
14       Mandatory  arguments  to  long  options are mandatory for short options
15       too.
16
17       --normal
18              output a normal diff (the default)
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20       -q, --brief
21              report only when files differ
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23       -s, --report-identical-files
24              report when two files are the same
25
26       -c, -C NUM, --context[=NUM]
27              output NUM (default 3) lines of copied context
28
29       -u, -U NUM, --unified[=NUM]
30              output NUM (default 3) lines of unified context
31
32       -e, --ed
33              output an ed script
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35       -n, --rcs
36              output an RCS format diff
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38       -y, --side-by-side
39              output in two columns
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41       -W, --width=NUM
42              output at most NUM (default 130) print columns
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44       --left-column
45              output only the left column of common lines
46
47       --suppress-common-lines
48              do not output common lines
49
50       -p, --show-c-function
51              show which C function each change is in
52
53       -F, --show-function-line=RE
54              show the most recent line matching RE
55
56       --label LABEL
57              use LABEL instead of file name (can be repeated)
58
59       -t, --expand-tabs
60              expand tabs to spaces in output
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62       -T, --initial-tab
63              make tabs line up by prepending a tab
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65       --tabsize=NUM
66              tab stops every NUM (default 8) print columns
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68       --suppress-blank-empty
69              suppress space or tab before empty output lines
70
71       -l, --paginate
72              pass output through 'pr' to paginate it
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74       -r, --recursive
75              recursively compare any subdirectories found
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77       --no-dereference
78              don't follow symbolic links
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80       -N, --new-file
81              treat absent files as empty
82
83       --unidirectional-new-file
84              treat absent first files as empty
85
86       --ignore-file-name-case
87              ignore case when comparing file names
88
89       --no-ignore-file-name-case
90              consider case when comparing file names
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92       -x, --exclude=PAT
93              exclude files that match PAT
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95       -X, --exclude-from=FILE
96              exclude files that match any pattern in FILE
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98       -S, --starting-file=FILE
99              start with FILE when comparing directories
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101       --from-file=FILE1
102              compare FILE1 to all operands; FILE1 can be a directory
103
104       --to-file=FILE2
105              compare all operands to FILE2; FILE2 can be a directory
106
107       -i, --ignore-case
108              ignore case differences in file contents
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110       -E, --ignore-tab-expansion
111              ignore changes due to tab expansion
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113       -Z, --ignore-trailing-space
114              ignore white space at line end
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116       -b, --ignore-space-change
117              ignore changes in the amount of white space
118
119       -w, --ignore-all-space
120              ignore all white space
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122       -B, --ignore-blank-lines
123              ignore changes where lines are all blank
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125       -I, --ignore-matching-lines=RE
126              ignore changes where all lines match RE
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128       -a, --text
129              treat all files as text
130
131       --strip-trailing-cr
132              strip trailing carriage return on input
133
134       -D, --ifdef=NAME
135              output merged file with '#ifdef NAME' diffs
136
137       --GTYPE-group-format=GFMT
138              format GTYPE input groups with GFMT
139
140       --line-format=LFMT
141              format all input lines with LFMT
142
143       --LTYPE-line-format=LFMT
144              format LTYPE input lines with LFMT
145
146              These format options provide fine-grained control over the  out‐
147              put
148
149              of diff, generalizing -D/--ifdef.
150
151       LTYPE is 'old', 'new', or 'unchanged'.
152              GTYPE is LTYPE or 'changed'.
153
154              GFMT (only) may contain:
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156       %<     lines from FILE1
157
158       %>     lines from FILE2
159
160       %=     lines common to FILE1 and FILE2
161
162       %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}LETTER
163              printf-style spec for LETTER
164
165              LETTERs are as follows for new group, lower case for old group:
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167       F      first line number
168
169       L      last line number
170
171       N      number of lines = L-F+1
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173       E      F-1
174
175       M      L+1
176
177       %(A=B?T:E)
178              if A equals B then T else E
179
180              LFMT (only) may contain:
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182       %L     contents of line
183
184       %l     contents of line, excluding any trailing newline
185
186       %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}n
187              printf-style spec for input line number
188
189              Both GFMT and LFMT may contain:
190
191       %%     %
192
193       %c'C'  the single character C
194
195       %c'\OOO'
196              the character with octal code OOO
197
198       C      the character C (other characters represent themselves)
199
200       -d, --minimal
201              try hard to find a smaller set of changes
202
203       --horizon-lines=NUM
204              keep NUM lines of the common prefix and suffix
205
206       --speed-large-files
207              assume large files and many scattered small changes
208
209       --help display this help and exit
210
211       -v, --version
212              output version information and exit
213
214       FILES  are  'FILE1  FILE2'  or 'DIR1 DIR2' or 'DIR FILE...' or 'FILE...
215       DIR'.  If --from-file or --to-file is given, there are no  restrictions
216       on  FILE(s).   If a FILE is '-', read standard input.  Exit status is 0
217       if inputs are the same, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.
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AUTHOR

220       Written by Paul Eggert, Mike Haertel, David  Hayes,  Richard  Stallman,
221       and Len Tower.
222

REPORTING BUGS

224       Report bugs to: bug-diffutils@gnu.org
225       GNU diffutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/>
226       General help using GNU software: <http://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
227

COPYRIGHT

229       Copyright  ©  2013  Free Software Foundation, Inc.  License GPLv3+: GNU
230       GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
231       This is free software: you are free  to  change  and  redistribute  it.
232       There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
233

SEE ALSO

235       wdiff(1), cmp(1), diff3(1), sdiff(1), patch(1)
236
237       The  full documentation for diff is maintained as a Texinfo manual.  If
238       the info and diff programs are properly installed  at  your  site,  the
239       command
240
241              info diff
242
243       should give you access to the complete manual.
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245
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247diffutils 3.3                      June 2014                           DIFF(1)