DIFF(1) FreeBSD General Commands Manual DIFF(1)
NAME
diff - differential file and directory comparator
SYNOPSIS
diff [-aBbdipTtw] [-c | -e | -f | -n | -q | -u | -y] [--brief]
[--changed-group-format GFMT] [--ed] [--expand-tabs] [--forward-ed]
[--ignore-all-space] [--ignore-case] [--ignore-space-change]
[--initial-tab] [--minimal] [--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--normal]
[--rcs] [--show-c-function] [--starting-file] [--speed-large-files]
[--strip-trailing-cr] [--tabsize number] [--text] [--unified]
[-I pattern | --ignore-matching-lines pattern]
[-L label | --label label] file1 file2
diff [-aBbdilpTtw] [-I pattern | --ignore-matching-lines pattern]
[-L label | --label label] [--brief] [--changed-group-format GFMT]
[--ed] [--expand-tabs] [--forward-ed] [--ignore-all-space]
[--ignore-case] [--ignore-space-change] [--initial-tab] [--minimal]
[--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--normal] [--paginate] [--rcs]
[--show-c-function] [--speed-large-files] [--starting-file]
[--strip-trailing-cr] [--tabsize number] [--text]
-C number | -context number file1 file2
diff [-aBbdiltw] [-I pattern | --ignore-matching-lines pattern] [--brief]
[--changed-group-format GFMT] [--ed] [--expand-tabs] [--forward-ed]
[--ignore-all-space] [--ignore-case] [--ignore-space-change]
[--initial-tab] [--minimal] [--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--normal]
[--paginate] [--rcs] [--show-c-function] [--speed-large-files]
[--starting-file] [--strip-trailing-cr] [--tabsize number] [--text]
-D string | --ifdef string file1 file2
diff [-aBbdilpTtw] [-I pattern | --ignore-matching-lines pattern]
[-L label | --label label] [--brief] [--changed-group-format GFMT]
[--ed] [--expand-tabs] [--forward-ed] [--ignore-all-space]
[--ignore-case] [--ignore-space-change] [--initial-tab] [--minimal]
[--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--normal] [--paginate] [--rcs]
[--show-c-function] [--speed-large-files] [--starting-file]
[--strip-trailing-cr] [--tabsize number] [--text]
-U number | --unified number file1 file2
diff [-aBbdilNPprsTtw] [-c | -e | -f | -n | -q | -u] [--brief]
[--changed-group-format GFMT] [--context] [--ed] [--expand-tabs]
[--forward-ed] [--ignore-all-space] [--ignore-case]
[--ignore-space-change] [--initial-tab] [--minimal] [--new-file]
[--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--normal] [--paginate] [--rcs]
[--recursive] [--report-identical-files] [--show-c-function]
[--speed-large-files] [--strip-trailing-cr] [--tabsize number]
[--text] [--unidirectional-new-file] [--unified]
[-I pattern | --ignore-matching-lines pattern]
[-L label | --label label] [-S name | --starting-file name]
[-X file | --exclude-from file] [-x pattern | --exclude pattern]
dir1 dir2
diff [-aBbditwW] [--expand-tabs] [--ignore-all-blanks]
[--ignore-blank-lines] [--ignore-case] [--minimal]
[--no-ignore-file-name-case] [--strip-trailing-cr]
[--suppress-common-lines] [--tabsize number] [--text] [--width]
-y | --side-by-side file1 file2
DESCRIPTION
The diff utility compares the contents of file1 and file2 and writes to
the standard output the list of changes necessary to convert one file
into the other. No output is produced if the files are identical.
Output options (mutually exclusive):
-C number --context number
Like -c but produces a diff with number lines of context.
-c Produces a diff with 3 lines of context. With -c the output
format is modified slightly: the output begins with
identification of the files involved and their creation dates and
then each change is separated by a line with fifteen *'s. The
lines removed from file1 are marked with `- '; those added to
file2 are marked `+ '. Lines which are changed from one file to
the other are marked in both files with `! '. Changes which lie
within 3 lines of each other are grouped together on output.
-D string --ifdef string
Creates a merged version of file1 and file2 on the standard
output, with C preprocessor controls included so that a
compilation of the result without defining string is equivalent
to compiling file1, while defining string will yield file2.
-e --ed
Produces output in a form suitable as input for the editor
utility, ed(1), which can then be used to convert file1 into
file2.
Extra commands are added to the output when comparing directories
with -e, so that the result is a sh(1) script for converting text
files which are common to the two directories from their state in
dir1 to their state in dir2.
-f --forward-ed
Identical output to that of the -e flag, but in reverse order.
It cannot be digested by ed(1).
-n Produces a script similar to that of -e, but in the opposite
order and with a count of changed lines on each insert or delete
command. This is the form used by rcsdiff.
-q --brief
Just print a line when the files differ. Does not output a list
of changes.
-U number --unified number
Like -u but produces a diff with number lines of context.
-u Produces a unified diff with 3 lines of context. A unified diff
is similar to the context diff produced by the -c option.
However, unlike with -c, all lines to be changed (added and/or
removed) are present in a single section.
-y --side-by-side
Output in two columns with a marker between them. The marker can
be one of the following:
space Corresponding lines are identical.
'|' Corresponding lines are different.
'<' Files differ and only the first file contains the
line.
'>' Files differ and only the second file contains the
line.
Comparison options:
-a --text
Treat all files as ASCII text. Normally diff will simply print
"Binary files ... differ" if files contain binary characters.
Use of this option forces diff to produce a diff.
-B --ignore-blank-lines
Causes chunks that include only blank lines to be ignored.
-b --ignore-space-change
Causes trailing blanks (spaces and tabs) to be ignored, and other
strings of blanks to compare equal.
-d --minimal
Try very hard to produce a diff as small as possible. This may
consume a lot of processing power and memory when processing
large files with many changes.
-I pattern --ignore-matching-lines pattern
Ignores changes, insertions, and deletions whose lines match the
extended regular expression pattern. Multiple -I patterns may be
specified. All lines in the change must match some pattern for
the change to be ignored. See re_format(7) for more information
on regular expression patterns.
-i --ignore-case
Ignores the case of letters. E.g., "A" will compare equal to
"a".
-l --paginate
Pass the output through pr(1) to paginate it.
-L label --label label
Print label instead of the first (and second, if this option is
specified twice) file name and time in the context or unified
diff header.
-p --show-c-function
With unified and context diffs, show with each change the first
40 characters of the last line before the context beginning with
a letter, an underscore or a dollar sign. For C source code
following standard layout conventions, this will show the
prototype of the function the change applies to.
-T --initial-tab
Print a tab rather than a space before the rest of the line for
the normal, context or unified output formats. This makes the
alignment of tabs in the line consistent.
-t --expand-tabs
Will expand tabs in output lines. Normal or -c output adds
character(s) to the front of each line which may screw up the
indentation of the original source lines and make the output
listing difficult to interpret. This option will preserve the
original source's indentation.
-w --ignore-all-blanks
Is similar to -b --ignore-space-change but causes whitespace
(blanks and tabs) to be totally ignored. E.g., "if ( a == b )"
will compare equal to "if(a==b)".
-W number --width number
Output at most number columns when using side by side format.
The default value is 130.
--changed-group-format GFMT
Format input groups in the provided
the format is a string with special keywords:
%< lines from FILE1
%< lines from FILE2
--ignore-file-name-case
ignore case when comparing file names
--no-ignore-file-name-case
do not ignore case wen comparing file names (default)
--normal
default diff output
--speed-large-files
stub option for compatibility with GNU diff
--strip-trailing-cr
strip carriage return on input files
--suppress-common-lines
Do not output common lines when using the side by side format
--tabsize number
Number of spaces representing a tab (default 8)
Directory comparison options:
-N --new-file
If a file is found in only one directory, act as if it was found
in the other directory too but was of zero size.
-P --unidirectional-new-file
If a file is found only in dir2, act as if it was found in dir1
too but was of zero size.
-r --recursive
Causes application of diff recursively to common subdirectories
encountered.
-S name --starting-file name
Re-starts a directory diff in the middle, beginning with file
name.
-s --report-identical-files
Causes diff to report files which are the same, which are
otherwise not mentioned.
-X file --exclude-from file
Exclude files and subdirectories from comparison whose basenames
match lines in file. Multiple -X options may be specified.
-x pattern --exclude pattern
Exclude files and subdirectories from comparison whose basenames
match pattern. Patterns are matched using shell-style globbing
via fnmatch(3). Multiple -x options may be specified.
If both arguments are directories, diff sorts the contents of the
directories by name, and then runs the regular file diff algorithm,
producing a change list, on text files which are different. Binary files
which differ, common subdirectories, and files which appear in only one
directory are described as such. In directory mode only regular files
and directories are compared. If a non-regular file such as a device
special file or FIFO is encountered, a diagnostic message is printed.
If only one of file1 and file2 is a directory, diff is applied to the
non-directory file and the file contained in the directory file with a
filename that is the same as the last component of the non-directory
file.
If either file1 or file2 is `-', the standard input is used in its place.
Output Style
The default (without -e, -c, or -n --rcs options) output contains lines
of these forms, where XX, YY, ZZ, QQ are line numbers respective of file
order.
XXaYY At (the end of) line XX of file1, append the contents of
line YY of file2 to make them equal.
XXaYY,ZZ Same as above, but append the range of lines, YY through ZZ
of file2 to line XX of file1.
XXdYY At line XX delete the line. The value YY tells to which
line the change would bring file1 in line with file2.
XX,YYdZZ Delete the range of lines XX through YY in file1.
XXcYY Change the line XX in file1 to the line YY in file2.
XX,YYcZZ Replace the range of specified lines with the line ZZ.
XX,YYcZZ,QQ Replace the range XX,YY from file1 with the range ZZ,QQ from
file2.
These lines resemble ed(1) subcommands to convert file1 into file2. The
line numbers before the action letters pertain to file1; those after
pertain to file2. Thus, by exchanging a for d and reading the line in
reverse order, one can also determine how to convert file2 into file1.
As in ed(1), identical pairs (where num1 = num2) are abbreviated as a
single number.
FILES
/tmp/diff.XXXXXXXX Temporary file used when comparing a device or the
standard input. Note that the temporary file is
unlinked as soon as it is created so it will not show
up in a directory listing.
EXIT STATUS
The diff utility exits with one of the following values:
0 No differences were found.
1 Differences were found.
>1 An error occurred.
EXAMPLES
Compare old_dir and new_dir recursively generating an unified diff and
treating files found only in one of those directories as new files:
$ diff -ruN /path/to/old_dir /path/to/new_dir
Same as above but excluding files matching the expressions "*.h" and
"*.c":
$ diff -ruN -x '*.h' -x '*.c' /path/to/old_dir /path/to/new_dir
Show a single line indicating if the files differ:
$ diff -q /boot/loader.conf /boot/defaults/loader.conf
Files /boot/loader.conf and /boot/defaults/loader.conf differ
Assuming a file named example.txt with the following contents:
FreeBSD is an operating system
Linux is a kernel
OpenBSD is an operating system
Compare stdin with example.txt excluding from the comparison those lines
containing either "Linux" or "Open":
$ echo "FreeBSD is an operating system" | diff -q -I 'Linux|Open' example.txt -
SEE ALSO
cmp(1), comm(1), diff3(1), ed(1), patch(1), pr(1), sdiff(1)
James W. Hunt and M. Douglas McIlroy, "An Algorithm for Differential File
Comparison", Computing Science Technical Report, Bell Laboratories 41,
June 1976.
STANDARDS
The diff utility is compliant with the IEEE Std 1003.1-2008 ("POSIX.1")
specification.
The flags [-aDdIiLlNnPpqSsTtwXxy] are extensions to that specification.
HISTORY
A diff command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.
FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6 June 19, 2020 FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p6
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