sdiff(1)
NAME
sdiff − side-by-side difference program
SYNOPSIS
sdiff [options ...] file1 file2
DESCRIPTION
sdiff uses the output of diff(1) to produce a side-by-side listing of two files, indicating those lines that are different. Each line of the two files is printed with a blank gutter between them if the lines are identical, a < in the gutter if the line only exists in file1, a > in the gutter if the line only exists in file2, and a | for lines that are different.
For example:
| abc | | | xyz |
| abc | abc | |
| bca | < | |
| cba | < | |
| dcb | dcb | |
| > | cde |
Options
sdiff recognizes the following options:
-w n Use the next argument, n, as the width of the output line. The default line length is 130 characters.
-l Only print on the left side when lines are identical.
-s Do not print identical lines.
-o output Use the next argument, output, as the name of a third file that is created as a user-controlled merging of file1 and file2. Identical lines of file1 and file2 are copied to output. Sets of differences, as produced by diff(1), are printed; where a set of differences share a common gutter character. After printing each set of differences, sdiff prompts the user with a % and waits for one of the following user-typed commands:
l append the left column to the output file
r append the right column to the output file
s turn on silent mode; do not print identical lines
v turn off silent mode
e l call the editor with the left column
e r call the editor with the right column
e b call the editor with the concatenation of left and right
e call the editor with a zero length file
q exit from the program
On exit from the editor, the resulting file is concatenated on the end of the output file.
SEE ALSO
Hewlett-Packard Company — HP-UX Release 9.03: April 1994