How do I compare 2 files?

linuxhippy · 03-25-2005, 10:21 PM

I'd like to compare 2 config files for 2 kernels to see what the differences are. These are 2 text files. How would I do this?

2Gnu · 03-25-2005, 10:32 PM

Try this: http://sourceforge.net/projects/tkdiff/

It works very nicely, clearly pointing out the differences between two files.

DaHammer · 03-25-2005, 10:34 PM

diff -au file1 file2

DyeKid · 03-25-2005, 10:55 PM

If you use KDE, you could also use the diff/patch frontend Kompare. It's under the K > Development menu

linuxhippy · 03-25-2005, 11:16 PM

Thanks for all the advice on diff and tkdiff. From terminal I did this:

diff -au config-2.4.29 config-2.6.11 > config-diff

This gave me file config-diff that's a pretty big differences file (3587 lines). Are these lines matched up in similitude...are lines that are close in similarity to another compared?

2Gnu · 03-26-2005, 12:59 AM

That's what I like about tkdiff. Both files are shown side by side in a split window with the differences highlighted in color. I used it exactly for the same purpose - to find out what differences existed between two kernel configs when I had a problem with a new kernel.

I usually favor a strict command line for most things, but in this case the GUI works.

badinode · 03-26-2005, 01:54 AM

I like sdiff in a terminal window for this type of problem,

something like this:
sdiff -s config.a confgi.b

explain:
this suppresses the common lines of both files, and lets you see side by side the differences between the two.

man sdiff when in doubt..

HTH

badinode