Compare 2 text files unix shell script

Question

I have 2 text files in below format

field1                         : test1
field2                         : test2
field3                         : test3
field4                         : test4

and File 2 as :--

 field1 : test1
 field2 : test2
 field3 : test3
 field4 : test4

I am trying to compare the files and output as "All records Matched" if everything matches and if it doesn't then "Data Mismatch for field name "

I tried using diff to do basic match by ignoring white space but it is not happening.

diff -byw 1.txt 2.txt

Can someone help me with same ?

Regards.

What does "it is not happening" mean exactly? What is the output of diff? Have you tried -b? — René Pijl
– René Pijl, Commented Nov 30, 2017 at 8:47

Ajay2588 · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-30 12:47:43Z

In shell, you can use $? to check output status of previous command. $? holds 0 if last command was successful with exit status 0, other wise. You can check $? value and print statements accordingly. Input files

cat 1.txt 
field1                         : test1
field2                         : test2
field3                         : test3
field4                         : test4
cat 2.txt 
field1 : test1
field2 : test2
field3 : test3
field4 : test4

Commands below

   > diff -bE 1.txt 2.txt 
   > if [ $? -eq 0 ];then echo SUCCESSFUL; else echo FAIL; fi

Output

SUCCESSFUL

If files data do not match [Leading spaces in 2.txt]

diff -bE 1.txt 2.txt 
1c1
< field1                         : test1
---
>  field1 : test1
3c3
< field3                         : test3
---
>  field3 : test3

if [ $? -eq 0 ];then echo SUCCESSFUL; else echo FAIL; fi

OutPut

FAIL

user2854333 · Accepted Answer · 2017-11-30 08:57:57Z

1

You are having mismatch as there is space at start of each line in 2nd file. Remove the space using sed

 sed -i 's/^ *//' 2.txt

and now compare using diff -b it will work fine.

answered Nov 30, 2017 at 8:57

user2854333

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1 Comment

Anand Abhay Over a year ago

Thank you :) .. it worked . Can you tell me how to print sucess or failure based in exact match

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