CMP(1)			FreeBSD General Commands Manual 		CMP(1)

NAME
     cmp -- compare two files

SYNOPSIS
     cmp [-l | -s | -x] [-hz] file1 file2 [skip1 [skip2]]

DESCRIPTION
     The cmp utility compares two files of any type and writes the results to
     the standard output.  By default, cmp is silent if the files are the
     same; if they differ, the byte and line number at which the first differ-
     ence occurred is reported.

     Bytes and lines are numbered beginning with one.

     The following options are available:

     -h      Do not follow symbolic links.

     -l      Print the byte number (decimal) and the differing byte values
	     (octal) for each difference.

     -s      Print nothing for differing files; return exit status only.

     -x      Like -l but prints in hexadecimal and using zero as index for the
	     first byte in the files.

     -z      For regular files compare file sizes first, and fail the compari-
	     son if they are not equal.

     The optional arguments skip1 and skip2 are the byte offsets from the
     beginning of file1 and file2, respectively, where the comparison will
     begin.  The offset is decimal by default, but may be expressed as a hexa-
     decimal or octal value by preceding it with a leading ``0x'' or ``0''.

EXIT STATUS
     The cmp utility exits with one of the following values:

     0	   The files are identical.

     1	   The files are different; this includes the case where one file is

	   identical to the first part of the other.  In the latter case, if
	   the -s option has not been specified, cmp writes to standard error
	   that EOF was reached in the shorter file (before any differences
	   were found).

     >1    An error occurred.

SEE ALSO
     diff(1), diff3(1)

STANDARDS
     The cmp utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (``POSIX.2'') compati-
     ble.

HISTORY
     A cmp command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

FreeBSD 7.2		       December 19, 2006		   FreeBSD 7.2

NAME - SYNOPSIS - DESCRIPTION - EXIT STATUS - SEE ALSO - STANDARDS - 
HISTORY -