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ZDIFF(1) User Commands ZDIFF(1)

NAME

zdiff - decompress and compare two files line by line

SYNOPSIS

zdiff [options] file1 [file2]

DESCRIPTION

Zdiff compares two files ('-' means standard input), and if they differ, shows the differences line by line. If any given file is compressed, its decompressed content is used. Zdiff is a front end to the diff program and has the limitation that messages from diff refer to temporary filenames instead of those specified.

The formats supported are bzip2, gzip, lzip and xz.

Zdiff compares file1 to file2. If file2 is omitted zdiff tries the following:

1. If file1 is compressed, compares its decompressed contents with the corresponding uncompressed file (the name of file1 with the extension removed).
2. If file1 is uncompressed, compares it with the decompressed contents of file1.[lz|bz2|gz|xz] (the first one that is found).
3. If no suitable file is found, compares file1 with data read from standard input.

Exit status is 0 if inputs are identical, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.

OPTIONS

-h, --help
display this help and exit
-V, --version
output version information and exit
-a, --text
treat all files as text
-b, --ignore-space-change
ignore changes in the amount of white space
-B, --ignore-blank-lines
ignore changes whose lines are all blank
-c
use the context output format
-C, --context=<n>
same as -c but use <n> lines of context
-d, --minimal
try hard to find a smaller set of changes
-E, --ignore-tab-expansion
ignore changes due to tab expansion
-i, --ignore-case
ignore case differences in file contents
-M, --format=<list>
process only the formats in <list>
-N, --no-rcfile
don't read runtime configuration file
-O, --force-format=[<f1>][,<f2>]
force given formats (bz2, gz, lz, xz)
-p, --show-c-function
show which C function each change is in
-q, --brief
output only whether files differ
-s, --report-identical-files
report when two files are identical
-t, --expand-tabs
expand tabs to spaces in output
-T, --initial-tab
make tabs line up by prepending a tab
-u
use the unified output format
-U, --unified=<n>
same as -u but use <n> lines of context
-w, --ignore-all-space
ignore all white space
--bz2=<command>
set compressor and options for bzip2 format
--gz=<command>
set compressor and options for gzip format
--lz=<command>
set compressor and options for lzip format
--xz=<command>
set compressor and options for xz format

REPORTING BUGS

Report bugs to zutils-bug@nongnu.org
Zutils home page: http://www.nongnu.org/zutils/zutils.html

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2019 Antonio Diaz Diaz. License GPLv2+: GNU GPL version 2 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
January 2019 zdiff (zutils) 1.8