bdiff(1)
Name
bdiff − big file differential comparator
Syntax
bdiff file1 file2 [n] [−s]
Description
The bdiff command is used to find lines that must be changed in two files to bring them into agreement. Its purpose is to allow processing of files that are too large for diff(.).
The bdiff command ignores lines common to the beginning of both files, splits the remainder of each file into n−line segments, and invokes diff() upon corresponding segments. The value of n is 3500 by default. If the optional third argument is given and if it is numeric, it is used as the value for n. This is useful in those cases in which 3500-line segments are too large for diff, causing it to fail.
The output of the bdiff command is the same as the output of the diff command: line numbers are adjusted to account for the segmenting of the files to make it look as if the files had been processed whole. Note that because of the segmenting of the files, bdiff does not necessarily find the smallest sufficient set of file differences.
If either file1 or file2 is −, the standard input is read. The optional −s (silent) argument specifies that no diagnostics are to be printed by bdiff. However, this does not suppress possible exclamations by diff. If both optional arguments are specified, they must appear in the order indicated above.
Options
−s Suppresses normal diagnostic messages.
Diagnostics
Use sccshelp() for explanations.
Files
/tmp/bd?????