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1:mod:`filecmp` --- File and Directory Comparisons
2=================================================
3
4.. module:: filecmp
5   :synopsis: Compare files efficiently.
6.. sectionauthor:: Moshe Zadka <moshez@zadka.site.co.il>
7
8**Source code:** :source:`Lib/filecmp.py`
9
10--------------
11
12The :mod:`filecmp` module defines functions to compare files and directories,
13with various optional time/correctness trade-offs. For comparing files,
14see also the :mod:`difflib` module.
15
16The :mod:`filecmp` module defines the following functions:
17
18
19.. function:: cmp(f1, f2[, shallow])
20
21   Compare the files named *f1* and *f2*, returning ``True`` if they seem equal,
22   ``False`` otherwise.
23
24   Unless *shallow* is given and is false, files with identical :func:`os.stat`
25   signatures are taken to be equal.
26
27   Files that were compared using this function will not be compared again unless
28   their :func:`os.stat` signature changes.
29
30   Note that no external programs are called from this function, giving it
31   portability and efficiency.
32
33
34.. function:: cmpfiles(dir1, dir2, common[, shallow])
35
36   Compare the files in the two directories *dir1* and *dir2* whose names are
37   given by *common*.
38
39   Returns three lists of file names: *match*, *mismatch*,
40   *errors*.  *match* contains the list of files that match, *mismatch* contains
41   the names of those that don't, and *errors* lists the names of files which
42   could not be compared.  Files are listed in *errors* if they don't exist in
43   one of the directories, the user lacks permission to read them or if the
44   comparison could not be done for some other reason.
45
46   The *shallow* parameter has the same meaning and default value as for
47   :func:`filecmp.cmp`.
48
49   For example, ``cmpfiles('a', 'b', ['c', 'd/e'])`` will compare ``a/c`` with
50   ``b/c`` and ``a/d/e`` with ``b/d/e``.  ``'c'`` and ``'d/e'`` will each be in
51   one of the three returned lists.
52
53
54Example::
55
56   >>> import filecmp
57   >>> filecmp.cmp('undoc.rst', 'undoc.rst') # doctest: +SKIP
58   True
59   >>> filecmp.cmp('undoc.rst', 'index.rst') # doctest: +SKIP
60   False
61
62
63.. _dircmp-objects:
64
65The :class:`dircmp` class
66-------------------------
67
68:class:`dircmp` instances are built using this constructor:
69
70
71.. class:: dircmp(a, b[, ignore[, hide]])
72
73   Construct a new directory comparison object, to compare the directories *a* and
74   *b*. *ignore* is a list of names to ignore, and defaults to ``['RCS', 'CVS',
75   'tags']``. *hide* is a list of names to hide, and defaults to ``[os.curdir,
76   os.pardir]``.
77
78   The :class:`dircmp` class compares files by doing *shallow* comparisons
79   as described for :func:`filecmp.cmp`.
80
81   The :class:`dircmp` class provides the following methods:
82
83
84   .. method:: report()
85
86      Print (to ``sys.stdout``) a comparison between *a* and *b*.
87
88
89   .. method:: report_partial_closure()
90
91      Print a comparison between *a* and *b* and common immediate
92      subdirectories.
93
94
95   .. method:: report_full_closure()
96
97      Print a comparison between *a* and *b* and common subdirectories
98      (recursively).
99
100   The :class:`dircmp` class offers a number of interesting attributes that may be
101   used to get various bits of information about the directory trees being
102   compared.
103
104   Note that via :meth:`__getattr__` hooks, all attributes are computed lazily,
105   so there is no speed penalty if only those attributes which are lightweight
106   to compute are used.
107
108
109   .. attribute:: left
110
111      The directory *a*.
112
113
114   .. attribute:: right
115
116      The directory *b*.
117
118
119   .. attribute:: left_list
120
121      Files and subdirectories in *a*, filtered by *hide* and *ignore*.
122
123
124   .. attribute:: right_list
125
126      Files and subdirectories in *b*, filtered by *hide* and *ignore*.
127
128
129   .. attribute:: common
130
131      Files and subdirectories in both *a* and *b*.
132
133
134   .. attribute:: left_only
135
136      Files and subdirectories only in *a*.
137
138
139   .. attribute:: right_only
140
141      Files and subdirectories only in *b*.
142
143
144   .. attribute:: common_dirs
145
146      Subdirectories in both *a* and *b*.
147
148
149   .. attribute:: common_files
150
151      Files in both *a* and *b*
152
153
154   .. attribute:: common_funny
155
156      Names in both *a* and *b*, such that the type differs between the
157      directories, or names for which :func:`os.stat` reports an error.
158
159
160   .. attribute:: same_files
161
162      Files which are identical in both *a* and *b*, using the class's
163      file comparison operator.
164
165
166   .. attribute:: diff_files
167
168      Files which are in both *a* and *b*, whose contents differ according
169      to the class's file comparison operator.
170
171
172   .. attribute:: funny_files
173
174      Files which are in both *a* and *b*, but could not be compared.
175
176
177   .. attribute:: subdirs
178
179      A dictionary mapping names in :attr:`common_dirs` to :class:`dircmp` objects.
180
181
182Here is a simplified example of using the ``subdirs`` attribute to search
183recursively through two directories to show common different files::
184
185    >>> from filecmp import dircmp
186    >>> def print_diff_files(dcmp):
187    ...     for name in dcmp.diff_files:
188    ...         print "diff_file %s found in %s and %s" % (name, dcmp.left,
189    ...               dcmp.right)
190    ...     for sub_dcmp in dcmp.subdirs.values():
191    ...         print_diff_files(sub_dcmp)
192    ...
193    >>> dcmp = dircmp('dir1', 'dir2') # doctest: +SKIP
194    >>> print_diff_files(dcmp) # doctest: +SKIP
195
196