1GNU(1) User Commands GNU(1)
2
6 GNU diff - compare files line by line
7
9 diff [OPTION]... FILES
10
12 Compare FILES line by line.
13 Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options
15 too.
16 --normal
18 output a normal diff (the default)
19 -q, --brief
21 report only when files differ
22 -s, --report-identical-files
24 report when two files are the same
25 -c, -C NUM, --context[=NUM]
27 output NUM (default 3) lines of copied context
28 -u, -U NUM, --unified[=NUM]
30 output NUM (default 3) lines of unified context
31 -e, --ed
33 output an ed script
34 -n, --rcs
36 output an RCS format diff
37 -y, --side-by-side
39 output in two columns
40 -W, --width=NUM
42 output at most NUM (default 130) print columns
43 --left-column
45 output only the left column of common lines
46 --suppress-common-lines
48 do not output common lines
49 -p, --show-c-function
51 show which C function each change is in
52 -F, --show-function-line=RE
54 show the most recent line matching RE
55 --label LABEL
57 use LABEL instead of file name and timestamp (can be repeated)
58 -t, --expand-tabs
60 expand tabs to spaces in output
61 -T, --initial-tab
63 make tabs line up by prepending a tab
64 --tabsize=NUM
66 tab stops every NUM (default 8) print columns
67 --suppress-blank-empty
69 suppress space or tab before empty output lines
70 -l, --paginate
72 pass output through 'pr' to paginate it
73 -r, --recursive
75 recursively compare any subdirectories found
76 --no-dereference
78 don't follow symbolic links
79 -N, --new-file
81 treat absent files as empty
82 --unidirectional-new-file
84 treat absent first files as empty
85 --ignore-file-name-case
87 ignore case when comparing file names
88 --no-ignore-file-name-case
90 consider case when comparing file names
91 -x, --exclude=PAT
93 exclude files that match PAT
94 -X, --exclude-from=FILE
96 exclude files that match any pattern in FILE
97 -S, --starting-file=FILE
99 start with FILE when comparing directories
100 --from-file=FILE1
102 compare FILE1 to all operands; FILE1 can be a directory
103 --to-file=FILE2
105 compare all operands to FILE2; FILE2 can be a directory
106 -i, --ignore-case
108 ignore case differences in file contents
109 -E, --ignore-tab-expansion
111 ignore changes due to tab expansion
112 -Z, --ignore-trailing-space
114 ignore white space at line end
115 -b, --ignore-space-change
117 ignore changes in the amount of white space
118 -w, --ignore-all-space
120 ignore all white space
121 -B, --ignore-blank-lines
123 ignore changes where lines are all blank
124 -I, --ignore-matching-lines=RE
126 ignore changes where all lines match RE
127 -a, --text
129 treat all files as text
130 --strip-trailing-cr
132 strip trailing carriage return on input
133 -D, --ifdef=NAME
135 output merged file with '#ifdef NAME' diffs
136 --GTYPE-group-format=GFMT
138 format GTYPE input groups with GFMT
139 --line-format=LFMT
141 format all input lines with LFMT
142 --LTYPE-line-format=LFMT
144 format LTYPE input lines with LFMT
145 These format options provide fine-grained control over the out‐
147 put
148 of diff, generalizing -D/--ifdef.
150 LTYPE is 'old', 'new', or 'unchanged'.
152 GTYPE is LTYPE or 'changed'.
153 GFMT (only) may contain:
155 %< lines from FILE1
157 %> lines from FILE2
159 %= lines common to FILE1 and FILE2
161 %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}LETTER
163 printf-style spec for LETTER
164 LETTERs are as follows for new group, lower case for old group:
166 F first line number
168 L last line number
170 N number of lines = L-F+1
172 E F-1
174 M L+1
176 %(A=B?T:E)
178 if A equals B then T else E
179 LFMT (only) may contain:
181 %L contents of line
183 %l contents of line, excluding any trailing newline
185 %[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}n
187 printf-style spec for input line number
188 Both GFMT and LFMT may contain:
190 %% %
192 %c'C' the single character C
194 %c'\OOO'
196 the character with octal code OOO
197 C the character C (other characters represent themselves)
199 -d, --minimal
201 try hard to find a smaller set of changes
202 --horizon-lines=NUM
204 keep NUM lines of the common prefix and suffix
205 --speed-large-files
207 assume large files and many scattered small changes
208 --color[=WHEN]
210 colorize the output; WHEN can be 'never', 'always', or 'auto'
211 (the default)
212 --palette=PALETTE
214 the colors to use when --color is active; PALETTE is a
215 colon-separated list of terminfo capabilities
216 --help display this help and exit
218 -v, --version
220 output version information and exit
221 FILES are 'FILE1 FILE2' or 'DIR1 DIR2' or 'DIR FILE' or 'FILE DIR'. If
223 --from-file or --to-file is given, there are no restrictions on
224 FILE(s). If a FILE is '-', read standard input. Exit status is 0 if
225 inputs are the same, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.
226
228 Written by Paul Eggert, Mike Haertel, David Hayes, Richard Stallman,
229 and Len Tower.
230
232 Report bugs to: bug-diffutils@gnu.org
233 GNU diffutils home page: <http://www.gnu.org/software/diffutils/>
234 General help using GNU software: <https://www.gnu.org/gethelp/>
235
237 Copyright © 2018 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU
238 GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>.
239 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
240 There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
241
243 wdiff(1), cmp(1), diff3(1), sdiff(1), patch(1)
244 The full documentation for GNU is maintained as a Texinfo manual. If
246 the info and GNU programs are properly installed at your site, the com‐
247 mand
248 info GNU
250 should give you access to the complete manual.
252diffutils 3.7 October 2020 GNU(1)