NAME

comm − display lines in common, and lines not in common, between two sorted lists

SYNOPSIS

comm [ −1| −2| −3| −12| −13| −23 ] filename1 filename2

DESCRIPTION

comm reads filename1 and filename2, which should be ordered in ASCII collating sequence (see sort(1V)), and produces three-column output when no options are specified:

• Column 1 contains lines that occur only in filename1.

• Column 2 contains lines only in filename2.

• Column 3 contains lines common to both files. 

The filename ‘−’ means the standard input. 

OPTIONS

The following options can be used to suppress the indicated columns from display.  You can specify ‘−123’, but doing so suppresses all output. 

−1 Suppress column 1; omit lines only in filename1.

−2 Suppress column 2; omit lines only in filename2.

−3 Suppress column 3; omit lines common to both files. 

−12 Suppress columns 1 and 2; only show lines common to both files. 

−13 Suppress columns 1 and 3; only show lines in filename2.

−23 Suppress columns 2 and 3; only show lines in filename1.

SEE ALSO

cmp(1), diff(1), sort(1V), uniq(1)

BUGS

The options suppress, rather than select the columns you indicate. 

Sun Release 4.1  —  Last change: 9 September 1987