CODEWITHSUNDEEP
unixemacs
smilingbuddha
smilingbuddha

Reputation: 14660

Comparing two text files on a unix system

I am using Emacs on a GNU/Linux system. I am trying to compare two data files containing columns of numbers which are almost similar in content. Is there an Emacs/Unix utility to highlight the differences between these text files?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 3849

Answers (2)

Levon
Levon

Reputation: 143047

In emacs, if you pull both files into different buffers, you can use the M-x ediff-buffers command to display the differences. Emacs will nicely highlight the differences and allow you to scroll through the buffers concurrently. See tip #5 on this "Ten Essential Emacs tips" page, or the GNU docs on Ediff.

Under Unix there's the diff command. Here's a short example of using diff, and one more example

I usually prefer comparing with Emacs, more visual, though of course both files will need to fit into buffers.

Upvotes: 8

user529758
user529758

Reputation:

The diff command is your friend.

Upvotes: 2

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