$title = "Contrasting two text files - sdiff"; $area = "Unix Support"; $metadata = "unix, commands, file, directory, compare, sdiff, difference"; $pfloc = ""; require '/usr/local/wwwdocs/ucs/fragments/header.phtml'; require '/usr/local/wwwdocs/ucs/fragments/header-bc.phtml'; ?>
To display a clear visual contrast between two text files use the command:
sdiff file1 file2
sdiff displays each line of the two files side by side, making it easier for you to see the difference between them.
Lines that are different are shown with a | symbol. Lines unique to file1 are identified by a < symbol; lines unique to file2 with a >. A blank line indicates that the lines are identical.
To contrast two files:
sdiff -w 80 email addresses Mike erpl08@ed | John erpl08@ed Joe CZT@cern.ch Joe CZT@cern.ch > Jean JRS@pollux.ucs.co > Jim jim@frolix8 Kim ks@x.co Kim ks@x.co Sam s.wally@aston < Keith keith@festival Keith keith@festival
This contrasts the two files email on the left and addresses on the right.
The option -w 80 is used to set the width of the output from the command to 80 characters - the most that will fit across most computer terminals. The default is 130 characters.
The first line in each file is different and is marked with a |. Lines 3 and 4 of the file addresses are unique as is line 6 of the file email. All the other lines are identical.
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