Linux [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

diff (compare two text files)

Compares the contents of two text files. Displays the lines that are different.

Format: diff

fileordirname1 fileordirname2
Examples: diff prog1 prog2
diff prog1 /home/janet/dir1
diff /home/janet /home/janet/dir1

Compares prog1 to prog2. In the second example, compares prog1 to /home/janet/dir1/prog1 if it exists. In the third example, compares all files that exist in both directories.

Displays the lines that differ between the two files. < indicates lines from the first file; > indicates lines from the second file. For example:

cat fileA
John Smith
Alice Brown
John Huang

cat fileB
Bob Smith
Alice in Wonderland
John Huang

diff fileA fileB
<John Smith
<Alice Brown
---
>Bob Smith
>Alice in Wonderland