(diff.info.gz) Incomplete Lines
Info Catalog
(diff.info.gz) Output Formats
(diff.info.gz) Top
(diff.info.gz) Comparing Directories
Incomplete Lines
****************
When an input file ends in a non-newline character, its last line is
called an "incomplete line" because its last character is not a
newline. All other lines are called "full lines" and end in a newline
character. Incomplete lines do not match full lines unless differences
in white space are ignored ( White Space).
An incomplete line is normally distinguished on output from a full
line by a following line that starts with `\'. However, the RCS format
( RCS) outputs the incomplete line as-is, without any trailing
newline or following line. The side by side format normally represents
incomplete lines as-is, but in some cases uses a `\' or `/' gutter
marker; Side by Side. The if-then-else line format preserves a
line's incompleteness with `%L', and discards the newline with `%l';
Line Formats. Finally, with the `ed' and forward `ed' output
formats ( Output Formats) `diff' cannot represent an incomplete
line, so it pretends there was a newline and reports an error.
For example, suppose `F' and `G' are one-byte files that contain
just `f' and `g', respectively. Then `diff F G' outputs
1c1
< f
\ No newline at end of file
---
> g
\ No newline at end of file
(The exact message may differ in non-English locales.) `diff -n F G'
outputs the following without a trailing newline:
d1 1
a1 1
g
`diff -e F G' reports two errors and outputs the following:
1c
g
.
Info Catalog
(diff.info.gz) Output Formats
(diff.info.gz) Top
(diff.info.gz) Comparing Directories
automatically generated byinfo2html