Computer and Software Support


FC

This page is from Microsoft

Updated: January 21, 2005

Compares two files and displays the differences between them.

 
 
Syntax
fc [/a] [/b] [/c] [/l] [/lbN] [/n] [/t] [/u] [/w] [/NNNN] [Drive1:][Path1]FileName1 [Drive2:][Path2]FileName2
Parameters
/a
Abbreviates the output of an ASCII comparison. Instead of displaying all of the lines that are different, fc displays only the first and last line for each set of differences.
/b
Compares the files in binary mode. Fc compares the two files byte by byte and does not attempt to resynchronize the files after finding a mismatch. This is the default mode for comparing files that have the following file extensions: .exe, .com, .sys, .obj, .lib, or .bin.
/c
Ignores the case of letters.
/l
Compares the files in ASCII mode. Fc compares the two files line by line and attempts to resynchronize the files after finding a mismatch. This is the default mode for comparing files, except files with the following file extensions: .exe, .com, .sys, .obj, .lib, or .bin.
/lbN
Sets the N number of lines for the internal line buffer. The default length of the line buffer is 100 lines. If the files that you are comparing have more than this number of consecutive differing lines, fc cancels the comparison.
/n
Displays the line numbers during an ASCII comparison.
/t
Prevents fc from converting tabs to spaces. The default behavior is to treat tabs as spaces, with stops at each eighth character position.
/u
Compares files as Unicode text files.
/w
Compresses white space (that is, tabs and spaces) during the comparison. If a line contains many consecutive spaces or tabs, /w treats these characters as a single space. When used with the /w command-line option, fc ignores (and does not compare) white space at the beginning and end of a line.
/NNNN
Specifies the number of consecutive lines that must match before fc considers the files to be resynchronized. If the number of matching lines in the files is less than NNNN, fc displays the matching lines as differences. The default value is 2.
[Drive1:][Path1]FileName1
Specifies the location and name of the first file you want to compare. FileName1 is required.
[Drive2:][Path2]FileName2
Specifies the location and name of the second file you want to compare. FileName2 is required.
/?
Displays help at the command prompt.
Remarks
  • Reporting differences between files for an ASCII comparison

    When you use fc for an ASCII comparison, fc displays differences between two files in the following order:

    • Name of the first file
    • Lines from FileName1 that differ between the files
    • First line to match in both files
    • Name of the second file
    • Lines from FileName2 that differ
    • First line to match
  • Using /b for binary comparisons

    /b displays mismatches found during a binary comparison as follows:

    XXXXXXXX: YY ZZ

    The value of XXXXXXXX specifies the relative hexadecimal address for the pair of bytes, measured from the beginning of the file. Addresses start at 00000000. The hexadecimal values for YY and ZZ represent the mismatched bytes from FileName1 and FileName2, respectively.

  • Using wildcards

    You can use wildcards (that is, * and ?) in FileName1 and FileName2. If you use a wildcard in FileName1, fc compares all the specified files to the file specified by FileName. If you use a wildcard in FileName2, fc uses the corresponding value from FileName1.

  • Working with memory

    When comparing ASCII files, fc uses an internal buffer (large enough to hold 100 lines) as storage. If the files are larger than the buffer, fc compares what it can load into the buffer. If fc does not find a match in the loaded portions of the files, it stops and displays the following message:

    Resynch failed. Files are too different.

    When comparing binary files that are larger than available memory, fc compares both files completely, overlaying the portions in memory with the next portions from the disk. The output is the same as that for files that fit completely in memory.

Examples
To make an ASCII comparison of two text files that are named Monthly.rpt and Sales.rpt and display the results in abbreviated format, type:

fc /a monthly.rpt sales.rpt

To make a binary comparison of two batch files named Profits.bat and Earnings.bat, type:

fc /b profits.bat earnings.bat

The results similar to the following appear: 

00000002: 72 43
00000004: 65 3A
0000000E: 56 92
00000012: 6D 5C
00000013: 0D 7C
00000014: 0D 0A
00000015: 0A 0D
0000001E: 43 7A
0000001F: 09 0A
00000022: 72 44
...
...
...
000005E0: 00 61
000005E1: 00 73
000005E2: 00 73
000005E3: 00 69
000005E4: 00 67
000005E5: 00 6E
000005E6: 00 6D
000005E7: 00 65
000005E8: 00 6E
FC: Earnings.bat longer than Profits.bat

If the Profits.bat and Earnings.bat files are identical, fc displays the following message:

FC: no differences encountered

To compare every .bat file in the current directory with the file New.bat, type:

fc *.bat new.bat

To compare the file New.bat on drive C with the file New.bat on drive D, type:

fc c:new.bat d:*.bat

To compare each batch file in the root directory on drive C to the file with the same name in the root directory on drive D, type:

fc c:*.bat d:*.bat

Formatting legend

Format Meaning
Italic Information that the user must supply
Bold Elements that the user must type exactly as shown
Ellipsis (...) Parameter that can be repeated several times in a command line
Between brackets ([]) Optional items
Between braces ({}); choices separated by pipe (|). Example: {even|odd} Set of choices from which the user must choose only one
Courier font Code or program output