I would like to compare two files [ unsorted ] file1 and file2. I would like to do file2 - file1 [ the difference ] irrespective of the line number? diff is not working.
This question is related to
unix
Well, you can just sort the files first, and diff the sorted files.
sort file1 > file1.sorted
sort file2 > file2.sorted
diff file1.sorted file2.sorted
You can also filter the output to report lines in file2 which are absent from file1:
diff -u file1.sorted file2.sorted | grep "^+"
As indicated in comments, you in fact do not need to sort the files. Instead, you can use a process substitution and say:
diff <(sort file1) <(sort file2)
There are 3 basic commands to compare files in unix:
cmp
: This command is used to compare two files byte by byte and as any mismatch occurs,it echoes it on the screen.if no mismatch occurs i gives no response.
syntax:$cmp file1 file2.
comm
: This command is used to find out the records available in one but not in another
diff
Most easy way: sort files with sort(1) and then use diff(1).
Source: Stackoverflow.com