sdiff - Compares two files and displays the differences in
a side-by-side format
sdiff [-l | -s] [-w number] [-o output_file] file1 file2
The sdiff command reads file1 and file2, uses diff to compare
them, and writes the results to standard output in a
side-by-side format.
Displays only the left side when lines are identical.
Creates a third file, output_file, by a controlled interactive
line-by-line merging of file1 and file2. The following
subcommands govern the creation of this file: Adds
the left side to output_file. Adds the right side to output_file.
Stops displaying identical lines. Begins displaying
identical lines. Enters ed with the left side,
the right side, both sides, or an empty file, respectively.
Each time you exit from ed, sdiff writes the
resulting edited file to the end of output_file.
If you fail to save the changes before exiting,
sdiff writes the initial input to output_file.
Exits the interactive session. Suppresses display
of identical lines. Sets the width of the output
line to number (130 characters by default).
The sdiff command displays each line of the two files with
a series of spaces between them if the lines are identical,
a < (left angle bracket) in the field of spaces if
the line only exists in file1, a > (right angle bracket)
if the line only exists in file2, and a | (vertical bar)
for lines that are different.
When you specify the -o option, sdiff produces a third
file by merging file1 and file2 according to your instructions.
Note that the sdiff command invokes the diff -b command to
compare two input files. The -b option causes the diff
command to ignore trailing spaces, tab characters, and
consider other strings of spaces as equal.
To print a comparison of two files, enter: sdiff
chap1.bak chap1
This displays a side-by-side listing that compares
each line of chap1.bak and chap1. To display only
the lines that differ, enter: sdiff -s -w 80
chap1.bak chap1
This displays the differences at the tty. The -w
80 sets page width to 80 columns. The -s option
tells sdiff not to display lines that are identical
in both files. To selectively combine parts of two
files, enter: sdiff -s -w 80 -o chap1.combo
chap1.bak chap1
This combines chap1.bak and chap1 into a new file
called chap1.combo. For each group of differing
lines, sdiff asks you which group to keep or
whether you want to edit them using ed.
Commands: diff(1), ed(1)
sdiff(1)
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