DIFF.HELPCMD.D1

DIFF                                                                CMS MODULE
 
CMS port of the GNU DIFF command. Compare files line by line.
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DIFF     | [options] fileid1 fileid2                                       |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
where:
 
fileid1, fileid2
          must be entered on the command line using "." to separate the
          components, for example.
 
          profile.exec.a
 
Options:
 
Mandatory arguments to long options are mandatory for short options too.
 
--normal
       output a normal diff (the default)
 
-q, --brief
       report only when files differ
 
-s, --report-identical-files
       report when two files are the same
 
-c, -C NUM, --context[=NUM]
       output NUM (default 3) lines of copied context
 
-u, -U NUM, --unified[=NUM]
       output NUM (default 3) lines of unified context
-e, --ed
       output an ed script
 
-n, --rcs
       output an RCS format diff
 
-y, --side-by-side
       output in two columns
 
-W, --width=NUM
       output at most NUM (default 130) print columns
 
--left-column
       output only the left column of common lines
 
--suppress-common-lines
       do not output common lines
 
-p, --show-c-function
       show which C function each change is in
 
-F, --show-function-line=RE
       show the most recent line matching RE
 
--label LABEL
       use LABEL instead of file name and timestamp (can be repeated)
 
-t, --expand-tabs
       expand tabs to spaces in output
 
-T, --initial-tab
       make tabs line up by prepending a tab
 
--tabsize=NUM
       tab stops every NUM (default 8) print columns
 
--suppress-blank-empty
       suppress space or tab before empty output lines
 
-l, --paginate
       pass output through 'pr' to paginate it
 
-r, --recursive
       recursively compare any subdirectories found
 
--no-dereference
       don't follow symbolic links
 
-N, --new-file
       treat absent files as empty
 
--unidirectional-new-file
       treat absent first files as empty
--ignore-file-name-case
       ignore case when comparing file names
 
--no-ignore-file-name-case
       consider case when comparing file names
 
-x, --exclude=PAT
       exclude files that match PAT
 
-X, --exclude-from=FILE
       exclude files that match any pattern in FILE
 
-S, --starting-file=FILE
       start with FILE when comparing directories
 
--from-file=FILE1
       compare FILE1 to all operands; FILE1 can be a directory
 
--to-file=FILE2
       compare all operands to FILE2; FILE2 can be a directory
 
-i, --ignore-case
       ignore case differences in file contents
 
-E, --ignore-tab-expansion
       ignore changes due to tab expansion
 
-Z, --ignore-trailing-space
       ignore white space at line end
 
-b, --ignore-space-change
       ignore changes in the amount of white space
 
-w, --ignore-all-space
       ignore all white space
-B, --ignore-blank-lines
       ignore changes where lines are all blank
 
-I, --ignore-matching-lines=RE
       ignore changes where all lines match RE
 
-a, --text
       treat all files as text
 
--strip-trailing-cr
       strip trailing carriage return on input
 
-D, --ifdef=NAME
       output merged file with '#ifdef NAME' diffs
 
--GTYPE-group-format=GFMT
       format GTYPE input groups with GFMT
--line-format=LFMT
       format all input lines with LFMT
 
--LTYPE-line-format=LFMT
       format LTYPE input lines with LFMT
 
       These format options provide fine-grained control over the output
 
       of diff, generalizing -D/--ifdef.
 
LTYPE is 'old', 'new', or 'unchanged'.
       GTYPE is LTYPE or 'changed'.
 
       GFMT (only) may contain:
 
%<     lines from FILE1
 
%>     lines from FILE2
 
%=     lines common to FILE1 and FILE2
 
%[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}LETTER
       printf-style spec for LETTER
       LETTERs are as follows for new group, lower case for old group:
 
F      first line number
 
L      last line number
 
N      number of lines = L-F+1
 
E      F-1
 
M      L+1
%(A=B?T:E)
       if A equals B then T else E
 
       LFMT (only) may contain:
 
%L     contents of line
 
%l     contents of line, excluding any trailing newline
 
%[-][WIDTH][.[PREC]]{doxX}n
       printf-style spec for input line number
 
       Both GFMT and LFMT may contain:
 
%%     %
 
%c'C'  the single character C
%c'\OOO'
       the character with octal code OOO
 
C      the character C (other characters represent themselves)
 
-d, --minimal
       try hard to find a smaller set of changes
 
--horizon-lines=NUM
       keep NUM lines of the common prefix and suffix
 
--speed-large-files
       assume large files and many scattered small changes
 
--color[=WHEN]
       colorize  the  output;  WHEN can be 'never', 'always', or 'auto'
       (the default)
--palette=PALETTE
       the colors to use when --color is active; PALETTE  is  a
       colon-separated list of terminfo capabilities
 
--help display this help and exit
 
-v, --version
       output version information and exit
 
FILES  are  'FILE1  FILE2'  or  'DIR1  DIR2'  or  'DIR  FILE' or 'FILE
DIR'.  If --from-file or --to-file is given, there are no restrictions on
FILE(s). If  a FILE is '-', read standard input.  Exit status is 0 if inputs
are the same, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.
 
Usage Notes:
 
1. This is a straight port of the GNU utility the command format is UNIX
   style with the options before the file names.
 
2. There are no folders or directories in CMS therefore some of the options are
   non-functional.
 
3. UNIX style ">" I/O re-direction does not work. To write the output
   to a file issue a FILEDEF for "SYSTERM" before calling the command
 
4. Enter, "DIFF --help" for details of the options.