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<title>6.7 filecmp -- File and Directory Comparisons
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<H1><A NAME=
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6.7 <tt class=
"module">filecmp
</tt> --
File and Directory Comparisons
</A>
<A NAME=
"module-filecmp"></A>
The
<tt class=
"module">filecmp
</tt> module defines functions to compare files and
directories, with various optional time/correctness trade-offs.
The
<tt class=
"module">filecmp
</tt> module defines the following functions:
<dl><dt><table cellpadding=
"0" cellspacing=
"0"><tr valign=
"baseline">
<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-
1814' xml:id='l2h-
1814'
class=
"function">cmp
</tt></b>(
</nobr></td>
<td><var>f1, f2
</var><big>[
</big><var>, shallow
</var><big>[
</big><var>, use_statcache
</var><big>]
</big><var></var><big>]
</big><var></var>)
</td></tr></table></dt>
Compare the files named
<var>f1
</var> and
<var>f2
</var>, returning
<code>True
</code> if
they seem equal,
<code>False
</code> otherwise.
Unless
<var>shallow
</var> is given and is false, files with identical
<tt class=
"function">os.stat()
</tt> signatures are taken to be equal.
<span class=
"versionnote">Changed in version
2.3:
<var>use_statcache
</var> is obsolete and ignored..
</span>
Files that were compared using this function will not be compared again
unless their
<tt class=
"function">os.stat()
</tt> signature changes.
Note that no external programs are called from this function, giving it
portability and efficiency.
<dl><dt><table cellpadding=
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<td><nobr><b><tt id='l2h-
1815' xml:id='l2h-
1815'
class=
"function">cmpfiles
</tt></b>(
</nobr></td>
<td><var>dir1, dir2, common
</var><big>[
</big><var>,
shallow
</var><big>[
</big><var>, use_statcache
</var><big>]
</big><var></var><big>]
</big><var></var>)
</td></tr></table></dt>
Returns three lists of file names:
<var>match
</var>,
<var>mismatch
</var>,
<var>errors
</var>.
<var>match
</var> contains the list of files match in both
directories,
<var>mismatch
</var> includes the names of those that don't,
and
<var>errros
</var> lists the names of files which could not be
compared. Files may be listed in
<var>errors
</var> because the user may
lack permission to read them or many other reasons, but always that
the comparison could not be done for some reason.
The
<var>common
</var> parameter is a list of file names found in both directories.
The
<var>shallow
</var> and
<var>use_statcache
</var> parameters have the same
meanings and default values as for
<tt class=
"function">filecmp.cmp()
</tt>.
<div class=
"verbatim"><pre>
>>> import filecmp
>>> filecmp.cmp('libundoc.tex', 'libundoc.tex')
>>> filecmp.cmp('libundoc.tex', 'lib.tex')
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<LI><A href=
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<tt class=
"class">dircmp
</tt> class
</a>
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<span class=
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