Comparing Files
Mon, 2003-08-11 16:54 — simmo
Say I have two of the same very long configuration files with only minor differences. Is there a way to compare them and print only the differences to screen or to file? This would be very very handy indeed so I assume I can already do it? What command must a use or utility must I obtain?
diff
diff is your friend
man diff
effectively:
diff
will print differences in an offset format
atlas:/home/timoid/sms# diff icqsmsd.conf icqsmsd.conf2
3c3
< logfile = icqsmsd.log
---
> logfile = cqsmsd.log
there are plenty of advanced uses
-d --minimal Try hard to find a smaller set of changes.
-H --speed-large-files Assume large files and many scattered small changes.
those two are the most important for big files and small changes