How can i find the difference for directory

alice95089 · 02-07-2005, 02:20 AM

Hi all,

We will use diff file1 file2 usually to find the diffreence for the files.
I would like to ask, if i want to find the difference for directory instead of file, any suggested command? sdiff?

Thanks
Alice

__J · 02-07-2005, 02:40 AM

did you try man diff?

try diff directory1 directory2

is that what you're looking for or something different?

alice95089 · 02-07-2005, 03:05 AM

diff directory1 directory2 don't work as what i want is to compare the difference of directory instead of file content, for example. are there addition file or lack of some file?

Alice

scuzzman · 02-07-2005, 05:28 AM

Try this script:

Code:

#! /bin/bash

# dirdiff - diff 2 directories

DIR1=/path/to/directory/1
DIR2=/path/to/directory/2

ls $DIR1 | sort > dir1.ls.tmp
       # list files in dir1, sort them alphabetically, and store in temp file
ls $DIR2 | sort > dir2.ls.tmp
      # same as dir 1, but for dir 2

echo "Differences are:"
diff dir1.ls.tmp dir2.ls.tmp

#Clean up time:
rm dir1.ls.tmp
rm dir2.ls.tmp

#EOF

*note: change this:

Code:

DIR1 = /path/to/directory/1
DIR2 = /path/to/directory/2

where /path/to/directory/1 is the path for the 1st dir, and same for the second.

Also - be sure to make it executable:

Code:

chmod 755 dirdiff

dirdiff was just an arbitrary name I chose - replace with a name you feel appropriate.

Also - make sure you're not in one of the directories when executing this, otherwise the diff will report the temp files as differences before they're deleted.

zulfilee · 02-07-2005, 08:49 AM

A simple
diff -rq Dir1 Dir2

will tell you which files are lacking or more in each dir.

Cheers
Z