June 23, 2003 ZDIFF 1

### NAME

zcmp, zdiff - compare compressed files

### SYNOPSIS

zcmp [options] file [file2] zdiff [options] file [file2]

### DESCRIPTION

zcmp and zdiff are filters that invoke cmp(1) or diff(1) respectively to compare compressed files. Such files generally have a ``Z'' or ``gz'' extension (both the compress(1) and gzip(1) formats are supported). Any options that are specified are passed to cmp(1) or diff(1).

If only file1 is specified, it is compared against a file with the same name, but with the extension removed. When both file1 or file2 are specified, either file may be compressed.

### ENVIRONMENT

```TMPDIR`
  Directory in which to place temporary files. If unset, ```/tmp` is used.

### FILES

```/tmp/zcmp.XXXXXXXXXX`
  Temporary file for zcmp.
```/tmp/zdiff.XXXXXXXXXX`
  Temporary file for zdiff.

### SEE ALSO

cmp(1), compress(1), diff(1)

### CAVEATS

zcmp and zdiff rely solely on the file extension to determine what is, or is not, a compressed file. Consequently, the following are not supported as arguments:

  - directories

  - device special files

  - filenames indicating the standard input (``-'')