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<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">filecmp – Compare files</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#example-data">Example Data</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#comparing-files">Comparing Files</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-dircmp">Using dircmp</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#using-differences-in-your-program">Using differences in your program</a></li>
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<div class="section" id="module-filecmp">
<span id="filecmp-compare-files"></span><h1>filecmp – Compare files<a class="headerlink" href="#module-filecmp" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<table class="docutils field-list" frame="void" rules="none">
<col class="field-name" />
<col class="field-body" />
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Purpose:</th><td class="field-body">Compare files and directories on the filesystem.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="field"><th class="field-name">Python Version:</th><td class="field-body">2.1 and later</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div class="section" id="example-data">
<h2>Example Data<a class="headerlink" href="#example-data" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The examples in the discussion below use a set of test files created by <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">filecmp_mkexamples.py</span></tt>.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">filename</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">body</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="bp">None</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">with</span> <span class="nb">open</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">filename</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'w'</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="k">as</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">f</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">write</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">body</span> <span class="ow">or</span> <span class="n">filename</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">return</span>
<span class="k">def</span> <span class="nf">make_example_dir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">top</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="ow">not</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">exists</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">top</span><span class="p">):</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">top</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">curdir</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">getcwd</span><span class="p">()</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">chdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">top</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/file_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/file_only_in_dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/dir_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/dir_only_in_dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/common_dir'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/common_dir'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/common_file'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'this file is the same'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/common_file'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'this file is the same'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">mkfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir1/file_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'This is a file in dir1'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">mkdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'dir2/file_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">chdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">curdir</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">return</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">__name__</span> <span class="o">==</span> <span class="s">'__main__'</span><span class="p">:</span>
<span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">chdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dirname</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">__file__</span><span class="p">)</span> <span class="ow">or</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">getcwd</span><span class="p">())</span>
<span class="n">make_example_dir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">make_example_dir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/common_dir'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">make_example_dir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir2/common_dir'</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ ls -Rlast example
total 0
0 drwxr-xr-x 4 dhellmann dhellmann 136 Apr 20 17:04 .
0 drwxr-xr-x 9 dhellmann dhellmann 306 Apr 20 17:04 ..
0 drwxr-xr-x 8 dhellmann dhellmann 272 Apr 20 17:04 dir1
0 drwxr-xr-x 8 dhellmann dhellmann 272 Apr 20 17:04 dir2
example/dir1:
total 32
0 drwxr-xr-x 8 dhellmann dhellmann 272 Apr 20 17:04 .
0 drwxr-xr-x 4 dhellmann dhellmann 136 Apr 20 17:04 ..
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 dhellmann dhellmann 68 Apr 20 17:04 common_dir
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 21 Apr 20 17:04 common_file
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 dhellmann dhellmann 68 Apr 20 17:04 dir_only_in_dir1
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 22 Apr 20 17:04 file_in_dir1
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 22 Apr 20 17:04 file_only_in_dir1
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 17 Apr 20 17:04 not_the_same
example/dir2:
total 24
0 drwxr-xr-x 8 dhellmann dhellmann 272 Apr 20 17:04 .
0 drwxr-xr-x 4 dhellmann dhellmann 136 Apr 20 17:04 ..
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 dhellmann dhellmann 68 Apr 20 17:04 common_dir
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 21 Apr 20 17:04 common_file
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 dhellmann dhellmann 68 Apr 20 17:04 dir_only_in_dir2
0 drwxr-xr-x 2 dhellmann dhellmann 68 Apr 20 17:04 file_in_dir1
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 22 Apr 20 17:04 file_only_in_dir2
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 dhellmann dhellmann 17 Apr 20 17:04 not_the_same</pre>
</div>
<p>The same directory structure is repeated one time under the “common_dir”
directories to give interesting recursive comparison options.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="comparing-files">
<h2>Comparing Files<a class="headerlink" href="#comparing-files" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The filecmp module includes functions and a class for comparing files and
directories on the filesystem. If you need to compare two files, use the cmp()
function.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'common_file:'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/common_file'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir2/common_file'</span><span class="p">),</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/common_file'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir2/common_file'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">shallow</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="bp">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'not_the_same:'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir2/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">),</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir2/not_the_same'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">shallow</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="bp">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'identical:'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/file_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir1/file_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">),</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1/file_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir1/file_only_in_dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">shallow</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="bp">False</span><span class="p">)</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>By default, cmp() looks only at the information available from os.stat(). The
shallow argument tells cmp() whether to look at the contents of the file, as
well. The default is to perform a shallow comparison, without looking inside
the files. Notice that files of the same size created at the same time seem to
be the same if their contents are not compared.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_cmp.py
common_file: True True
not_the_same: True False
identical: True True</pre>
</div>
<p>To compare a set of files in two directories without recursing, use
filecmp.cmpfiles(). The arguments are the names of the directories and a list
of files to be checked in the two locations. The list of common files should
contain only filenames (directories always result in a mismatch) and
the files must be present in both locations. The code below shows a simple way
to build the common list. If you have a shorter formula, post it in the
comments. The comparison also takes the shallow flag, just as with cmp().</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">os</span>
<span class="c"># Determine the items that exist in both directories</span>
<span class="n">d1_contents</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">set</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">listdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">))</span>
<span class="n">d2_contents</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">set</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">listdir</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">))</span>
<span class="n">common</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="nb">list</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">d1_contents</span> <span class="o">&</span> <span class="n">d2_contents</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="n">common_files</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="p">[</span> <span class="n">f</span>
<span class="k">for</span> <span class="n">f</span> <span class="ow">in</span> <span class="n">common</span>
<span class="k">if</span> <span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">isfile</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="n">os</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">path</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">join</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">f</span><span class="p">))</span>
<span class="p">]</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Common files:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">common_files</span>
<span class="c"># Compare the directories</span>
<span class="n">match</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mismatch</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">errors</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">cmpfiles</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">,</span>
<span class="n">common_files</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Match:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">match</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Mismatch:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">mismatch</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Errors:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">errors</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>cmpfiles() returns three lists of filenames for files that match, files that
do not match, and files that could not be compared (due to permission problems
or for any other reason).</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_cmpfiles.py
Common files: ['not_the_same', 'file_in_dir1', 'common_file']
Match: ['not_the_same', 'common_file']
Mismatch: ['file_in_dir1']
Errors: []</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="using-dircmp">
<h2>Using dircmp<a class="headerlink" href="#using-dircmp" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The functions described above are suitable for relatively simple comparisons,
but for recursive comparison of large directory trees or for more complete
analysis, the dircmp class is more useful. In its simplest use case, you can
print a report comparing two directories with the report() method:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">report</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The output is a plain-text report showing the results of just the
contents of the directories given, without recursing. In this case,
the file “not_the_same” is thought to be the same because the contents
are not being compared. There is no way to have dircmp compare the
contents of files like cmp() can.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_report.py
diff example/dir1 example/dir2
Only in example/dir1 : ['dir_only_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1']
Only in example/dir2 : ['dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_only_in_dir2']
Identical files : ['common_file', 'not_the_same']
Common subdirectories : ['common_dir']
Common funny cases : ['file_in_dir1']</pre>
</div>
<p>For more detail, and a recursive comparison, use report_full_closure():</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">report_full_closure</span><span class="p">()</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>The output includes comparisons of all parallel subdirectories.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_report_full_closure.py
diff example/dir1 example/dir2
Only in example/dir1 : ['dir_only_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1']
Only in example/dir2 : ['dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_only_in_dir2']
Identical files : ['common_file', 'not_the_same']
Common subdirectories : ['common_dir']
Common funny cases : ['file_in_dir1']
diff example/dir1/common_dir example/dir2/common_dir
Common subdirectories : ['dir1', 'dir2']
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir2 example/dir2/common_dir/dir2
Identical files : ['common_file', 'file_only_in_dir2', 'not_the_same']
Common subdirectories : ['common_dir', 'dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_in_dir1']
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir2/common_dir example/dir2/common_dir/dir2/common_dir
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir2/dir_only_in_dir2 example/dir2/common_dir/dir2/dir_only_in_dir2
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir2/file_in_dir1 example/dir2/common_dir/dir2/file_in_dir1
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir1 example/dir2/common_dir/dir1
Identical files : ['common_file', 'file_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1', 'not_the_same']
Common subdirectories : ['common_dir', 'dir_only_in_dir1']
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir1/common_dir example/dir2/common_dir/dir1/common_dir
diff example/dir1/common_dir/dir1/dir_only_in_dir1 example/dir2/common_dir/dir1/dir_only_in_dir1</pre>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="using-differences-in-your-program">
<h2>Using differences in your program<a class="headerlink" href="#using-differences-in-your-program" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Besides producing printed reports, dircmp calculates useful lists of files you
can use in your programs directly. Each of the following attributes is
calculated only when requested, so instantiating a dircmp does not incur a lot
of extra overhead.</p>
<p>The files and subdirectories contained in the directories being compared are
listed in left_list and right_list:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Left :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">left_list</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Right:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">right_list</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_list.py
Left : ['common_dir', 'common_file', 'dir_only_in_dir1', 'file_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1', 'not_the_same']
Right: ['common_dir', 'common_file', 'dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir2', 'not_the_same']</pre>
</div>
<p>The inputs can be filtered by passing a list of names to ignore to the
constructor. By default the names RCS, CVS, and tags are ignored.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">ignore</span><span class="o">=</span><span class="p">[</span><span class="s">'common_file'</span><span class="p">])</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Left :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">left_list</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Right:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">right_list</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In this case, the “common_file” is left out of the list of files to be
compared.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_list_filter.py
Left : ['common_dir', 'dir_only_in_dir1', 'file_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1', 'not_the_same']
Right: ['common_dir', 'dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir2', 'not_the_same']</pre>
</div>
<p>The set of files common to both input directories is maintained in common, and
the files unique to each directory are listed in left_only, and right_only.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Common:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">common</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Left :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">left_only</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Right :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">right_only</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_membership.py
Common: ['not_the_same', 'common_file', 'file_in_dir1', 'common_dir']
Left : ['dir_only_in_dir1', 'file_only_in_dir1']
Right : ['dir_only_in_dir2', 'file_only_in_dir2']</pre>
</div>
<p>The common members can be further broken down into files, directories and
“funny” items (anything that has a different type in the two directories or
where there is an error from os.stat()).</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Common :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">common</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Directories:'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">common_dirs</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Files :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">common_files</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Funny :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">common_funny</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>In the example data, the item named “file_in_dir1” is a file in one directory
and a subdirectory in the other, so it shows up in the “funny” list.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_common.py
Common : ['not_the_same', 'common_file', 'file_in_dir1', 'common_dir']
Directories: ['common_dir']
Files : ['not_the_same', 'common_file']
Funny : ['file_in_dir1']</pre>
</div>
<p>The differences between files are broken down similarly:</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Same :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">same_files</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Different :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">diff_files</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Funny :'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">funny_files</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>Remember, the file “not_the_same” is only being compared via os.stat, and the contents are not examined.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_diff.py
Same : ['not_the_same', 'common_file']
Different : []
Funny : []</pre>
</div>
<p>Finally, the subdirectories are also mapped to new dircmp objects in the
attribute subdirs to allow easy recursive comparison.</p>
<div class="highlight-python"><div class="highlight"><pre><span class="kn">import</span> <span class="nn">filecmp</span>
<span class="n">dc</span> <span class="o">=</span> <span class="n">filecmp</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">dircmp</span><span class="p">(</span><span class="s">'example/dir1'</span><span class="p">,</span> <span class="s">'example/dir2'</span><span class="p">)</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="s">'Subdirectories:'</span>
<span class="k">print</span> <span class="n">dc</span><span class="o">.</span><span class="n">subdirs</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<div class="highlight-python"><pre>$ python filecmp_dircmp_subdirs.py
Subdirectories:
{'common_dir': <filecmp.dircmp instance at 0x85da0>}</pre>
</div>
<div class="admonition-see-also admonition seealso">
<p class="first admonition-title">See also</p>
<dl class="last docutils">
<dt><a class="reference external" href="http://docs.python.org/library/filecmp.html">filecmp</a></dt>
<dd>The standard library documentation for this module.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../os/index.html#os-directories"><em>Directories</em></a> from <a class="reference internal" href="../os/index.html#module-os" title="os: Portable access to operating system specific features."><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">os</span></tt></a></dt>
<dd>Listing the contents of a directory.</dd>
<dt><a class="reference internal" href="../difflib/index.html#module-difflib" title="difflib: Compare sequences, especially lines of text."><tt class="xref py py-mod docutils literal"><span class="pre">difflib</span></tt></a></dt>
<dd>Computing the differences between two sequences.</dd>
</dl>
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