bdiff(1)                                                 bdiff(1)



NAME
     bdiff - compares the difference between two large files that
     are too big for diff to handle

SYNOPSIS
     bdiff file1 file2 [lines-per-segment] [-s]

ARGUMENTS
     file1
          Specifies the file that will be compared with file2.
          If this file is a hyphen (-), bdiff reads the standard
          input. In this case, file2 cannot be a hyphen.

     file2
          Specifies the file that will be compared with file1.
          If this file is a hyphen, bdiff reads the standard
          input. In this case, file1 cannot be a hyphen.

     lines-per-segment
          Specifies an optional integer value that bdiff uses as
          the number of lines into which it divides each segment.
          If you do not use the lines-per-segment argument, bdiff
          uses a default of 3500.  This argument is useful for
          those cases in which segments of the default size are
          too large and cause diff to fail.  If you use this
          argument, it must appear after the file arguments. If
          you also use the -s option, the lines-per-segment
          argument must appear before -s.

     -s   Suppresses bdiff diagnostic messages. This option does
          not suppress diff status messages.  If you use this
          option, it must appear after the file arguments.  If
          you also use the lines-per-segment argument, the -s
          option must appear after the lines-per-segment
          argument.

DESCRIPTION
     bdiff finds the differences between files that are too large
     for diff by dividing the files into segments and by then
     running diff on the corresponding segments.

     The output of bdiff is exactly that of diff, with line
     numbers adjusted to make it appear as though the files were
     processed as a whole.  Note that because bdiff divides the
     files into segments, it does not necessarily find a smallest
     sufficient set of file differences.

     The output consists of line number information and changed
     lines in a format that can be used by ed to change file1
     into file2.  A less than symbol (<) at the beginning of a
     line indicates that a difference has been found in file1.  A
     greater than symbol (>) at the beginning of a line indicates



January 1992                                                    1

bdiff(1)                                                 bdiff(1)



     a difference in file2.  See diff(1) for a complete
     explanation of the output.

EXAMPLES
     Here are the contents of two files named Harold and Maude:

     Harold:            Maude:
     The first line.    The first line.
     The second line.   The second line.
     The third line.    The THIRD line.

     This command line produces the differences between the
     files:

        bdiff Harold Maude

     Here is the output:

        3c3
        < The third line.
        ---
        > The THIRD line.


STATUS MESSAGES AND VALUES
     The bdiff command produces messages that the help command
     can interpret.  You may, for example, see this message:

        bdiff: can not write to temporary file (bd7)

     To see an explanation of this message, enter

        help bd7

     The bdiff command can also produce these messages:

        ERROR: arg count (bd1)
        ERROR: both files standard input (bd2)
        ERROR: cannot fork, try again (bd3)
        ERROR: non-numeric limit (bd4)
        ERROR: cannot execute diff (bd5)


FILES
     /usr/bin/bdiff
          Executable file
     /usr/bin/diff
          Executable file that bdiff calls

SEE ALSO
     diff(1), diff3(1), ed(1), help(1), sdiff(1)




2                                                    January 1992