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cmp is a command line utility for computer systems that use a Unix operating system. It compares two files of any type and writes the results to the standard output. By default, cmp is silent if the files are the same; if they differ, the byte and line number at which the first difference occurred is reported.
[edit] Switches
cmp may be qualified by the use of the following switches, (the long versions are in brackets):
- -b (--print-bytes) - Print differing bytes.
- -i SKIP (--ignore-initial=SKIP) - Skip the first SKIP bytes of input.
- -i SKIP1:SKIP2 (--ignore-initial=SKIP1:SKIP2) - Skip the first SKIP1 bytes of FILE1 and the first SKIP2 bytes of FILE2.
- -l (--verbose) - Output byte numbers and values of all differing bytes.
- -n LIMIT (--bytes=LIMIT) - Compare at most LIMIT bytes.
- -s (--quiet --silent) - Output nothing; yield exit status only.
- -v (--version) - Output version info.
- --help - Outputs a help file.
[edit] Return values
- 0 - files are identical
- 1 - files differ
- 2 - inaccessible or missing argument
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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