CODEWITHSUNDEEP
linuxshelldiff
David Hsu
David Hsu

Reputation: 223

The diff command for files with empty content

If I want to get the difference between the 2 directories, I use the command below:

diff -aruN dir1/ dir2/ > dir.patch

so the dir.patch file should comprise all differences I want, right?

But if dir2/ contains a file with empty content, and that file is not existent in dir1/, for example,

dir1/

dir2/empty_content_file.txt ------ with empty content.

Then the diff command will not generate any patch for empty_content_file.txt, but it is a needed file.

Is there any expertise or alternative way to do this?

Thank you in advance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2727

Answers (2)

David Hsu
David Hsu

Reputation: 223

The screenshot below shows the operation of "diff -aru" command for inexistent files in the first directory, a message "Only in xxx" will show.

The diff command without -N option for inexistent files in the first directory.

Upvotes: 0

rakib_
rakib_

Reputation: 142625

It's because you're using -N option, which is added to explicitly treat absent file as empty. man diff says :

     -N,  --new-file 
              treat absent file as empty

Upvotes: 1

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