NAME
cmp - compare two files
SYNOPSIS
cmp [ -l ] [ -s ] file1 file2 [ skip1 ] [ skip2 ]
DESCRIPTION
The two files are compared. (If file1 is ‘-’,
the standard input
is used.) With no options, cmp makes no comment if the files
are
the same; if they differ, it reports the byte and line
number at
which the difference occurred, or, that one file is an
initial
subsequence of the other. Skip1 and skip2 are initial byte
offsets
into file1 and file2 respectively, and may be either octal
or
decimal; a leading "0" denotes octal.
Options:
-s Print nothing for differing files; set exit codes only.
-l Print the byte number (in
decimal) and the differing bytes
(in octal) for all differences between the two files.
SEE ALSO
diff(1), comm(1)
DIAGNOSTICS
Exit code 0 is returned for identical files, 1 for different
files,
and 2 for an inaccessible or missing argument, or a system
error.
NOTES
When cmp compares two Macintosh files (i.e. cmp TeachText
ResEdit)
strange results are returned. See "Inside
Macintosh", Volume I, p.
I-105, Apple Computer Co., Addison-Wesley, for a discussion
of
resource and data forks.