my $info1 = grok_file $file1;
  my $info2 = grok_file $file2;
MODULE:
  while ( my ($module, $nets_href) = each %$info1 )
  {
      unless ( $info2->{$module} )
      {
          warn "$file2 has no module $module";
          next MODULE;
      }

    NET:
      while ( my ($net, $gates_href) = each %$nets_href )
      {
          unless ( $info2->{$module}->{$net} )
          {
              warn "$file2 has no net $module/$net";
              next NET;
          }

        GATE:
          while ( my ( $gate, $href1 ) = each %$gates_href )
          {
              my $href2 = $info2->{$module}->{$net}->{$gate};
              unless ( $href2 )
              {
                  warn "$file2 has no gate $module/$net/$gate";
                  next GATE;
              }

              diff_gates "$module/$net/$gate", $href1, $href2;
          } # GATE

      } # NET

  } # MODULE

##</code><code>##

sub diff_gates ( $ $ $ )
{
    my ( $path, $g1, $g2 ) = @_;

    my %all_keys = ( %$g1, %$g2 );
    foreach my $key ( sort keys %all_keys )
    {
        if ( ! exists $g2->{$key} )
        {
            print "$path: g2 missing $key\n";
        }
        elsif ( ! exists $g1->{$key} )
        {
            print "$path: g1 missing $key\n";
        }
        elsif ( $g1->{$key} ne $g2->{$key} )
        {
            print "$path: $key diff between g1 and g2\n";
        }
    }
}

##</code><code>##

sub grok_file ( $ )
{
    my ( $fh ) = @_;
    $fh ||= \*STDIN;

    # somewhere to store all the info:
    #
    #   $info{module}{net}{gate_id}{...} = $value
    #
    # where "..." can be one of these keys:
    #
    #   type
    #   cap_max
    #   cap_net
    #   cap_viol
    #   trans_max
    #   trans_worst
    #   trans_viol
    my %info;

    # keep track of the last thing we saw
    my $last_module;
    my $last_net;
    my $last_stat;              # cap or trans
    my $last_gate_href;

    # common regex subexpressions
    my $float = qr/[\d.\-]+/; # floating point value
    my $ind = qr/   /;        # indent

    # ok, now the main loop.
    while (<$fh>)
    {
        # remove trailing whitespace
        s/\s+\z//;

        # new module?
        # |Module: gg_PCI_PORT_bc_unit_221 [bc_pci_u3/bc_unit_u46]
        if ( /^Module: (.*)$/ )
        {
            $last_module = $1;
            print STDERR "module: $last_module\n";
            $info{$last_module} ||= {};
        }
        # new net?
        # |   Net: inp_c_1
        elsif ( /^   Net: (.*)$/ )
        {
            $last_net = $1;
            print STDERR "  net: $last_module / $last_net\n";
            $info{$last_module}{$last_net} ||= {};
        }
        # look for individual gates now
        # |      Max Capacitance      =   0.61 (bc_0:A1 [NAN2D1])
        # |      Max Transition       =   1.50 (bc_3:A2 [NAN2D1])
        elsif ( / ^ $ind $ind
                    Max \s (Capacitance|
                            Transition) \s+           # what
                    = \s+ ($float) \s+                # amt
                    \( (\S+) \s+                      # id
                       \[ ([^\]]+) \] \)              # type
                  $ /x )
        {
            my ( $what, $amt, $id, $type ) = ( $1, $2, $3, $4 );
            print STDERR "    gate: $id\n";
            $last_stat = $what eq 'Capacitance' ? 'cap'
              : 'trans';
            my $key = $last_stat . '_max';
            $info{$last_module}{$last_net}{$id} ||= {};
            $last_gate_href = $info{$last_module}{$last_net}{$id};
            $last_gate_href->{$key} = $amt;
            $last_gate_href->{type} = $type;
        }
        # finally, a bunch of other values that apply to
        # the most recent gate:
        # |      Pin Worst Transition =    7.48
        # |      Net Capacitance      =    6.04
        # |      VIOLATION            =  -5.98
        elsif ( / ^ $ind $ind
                  (?: ( Pin \s Worst \s Transition ) |
                      ( Net \s Capacitance ) |
                      VIOLATION ) \s+ = \s+
                  ($float) $ /x )
        {
            my ( $pin, $net, $amt ) = ( $1, $2, $3 );
            my $key = $pin  ? 'trans_worst' :
                      $net  ? 'cap_net' :
                      $last_stat . '_viol';
            $last_gate_href->{$key} = $amt;
        }
        else
        {
            print STDERR "$0: could not parse line $.: $_\n";
        }
    }

    return \%info;
}