diff command

bjohn has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hello Monks, I am using the diff command to compare 2 output files. The output needs to be identical but im having trouble understanding how to fix it. can u help me?

0a1,4
> For a=  2.000, b=  5.000, c=  1.000: Two solutions for x:  -0.219 an
+d  -2.281
> For a=  2.000, b=  4.000, c=  2.000: One solution for x:  -1.000
> For a=  5.500, b=  8.000, c=  2.200: Two solutions for x:  -0.368 an
+d  -1.086
> For a= -2.000, b=  5.000, c= -3.000: Two solutions for x:   1.000 an
+d   1.500
2a7
> For a=  5.000, b= 10.000, c=  0.000: Two solutions for x:   0.000 an
+d  -2.000
3a9
> ERROR: Input must have 3 coefficients, line read had 2
5d10
< For a=  6.457, b=  7.735, c=100.787: Two solutions for x:   0.000 an
+d  -2.000
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Comment on diff command Download Code

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re: diff command by ikegami (Patriarch) on Mar 31, 2011 at 19:53 UTC
Fix what?	[reply]
Re^2: diff command by bjohn (Initiate) on Mar 31, 2011 at 19:55 UTC
I do not understand what this means. 0a1,4 means and how to make the output files identical	[reply]
Re^3: diff command by ikegami (Patriarch) on Mar 31, 2011 at 20:33 UTC
I do not understand what this means. 0a1,4 means "a" denotes an addition. "d" denotes a deletion. The numbers on the left form a range of line numbers in file1. The numbers on the right form a range of line numbers in file2. and how to make the output files identical Some options: `cp file1 file2` [download] `cp file2 file1` [download] `truncate -s 0 file1 file2` [download]	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^4: diff command by ruzam (Curate) on Apr 01, 2011 at 02:37 UTC
Re^3: diff command by choroba (Cardinal) on Mar 31, 2011 at 20:19 UTC
From man diff: These lines resemble ed subcommands to convert file1 into file2. See man ed	[reply]
Re^3: diff command by afoken (Chancellor) on Mar 31, 2011 at 21:04 UTC
I prefer the unified diff format, it is usually easier to read than the traditional format. You can get that format with the `-u` parameter, i.e. `diff -u old new` (at least with GNU diff). Alexander -- Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)	[reply] [d/l] [select]