
 DIFFERENCES[/qualifier[s]] filespec1 filespec2
	    /CHANGE_BAR:n
	    /IGNORE:arg
		    BLANK_LINES
		    COMMENTS
		    FORM_FEEDS
		    SPACING
		    TRAILING_BLANKS
	    /LINES:n
	    /NONUMBERS
	    /OUTPUT:filespec
	    /SLP[:au]

 The DIFFERENCES command compares the contents of two ASCII files and 
 reports the differences found between them. The default filetype
 for both input files is .MAC.
2 IGNORE
 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:(arg[,s]) filespec1 filespec2
		    BLANK_LINES
		    COMMENTS
		    FORM_FEEDS
		    SPACING
		    TRAILING_BLANKS
 
 The /IGNORE qualifier directs that you wish certain differences 
 between files ignored.  

 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.

 See HELP DIFFERENCES IGNORE arg for more information.

3 BLANK_LINES
 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:BLANK_LINES filespec1 filespec2

 The BLANK_LINES argument specifies that blank lines in both files
 be included in the comparison operation.  Otherwise, blank lines are
 ignored.

 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.
3 FORM_FEED

 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:FORM_FEED filespec1 filespec2

 The FORM_FEED argument specifies that lines consisting solely of a
 single form_feed character be included in the comparison. Normally,
 these records are ignored.

 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.
3 COMMENTS

 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:COMMENTS filespec1 filespec2

 The COMMENTS argument specifies that comments, that is, text pre-
 ceded by a semicolon (;) be excluded from the comparison. Normally,
 such lines are treated like any other line.


 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.
3 SPACING

 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:SPACING filespec1 filespec2

 The SPACING argument specifies that any sequence of blank and
 tab characters is to be interpreted as a single blank for the compar-
 ison. This argument is useful when source files that differ only in
 their spacing are being compared. The output listing includes blanks
 and tabs as they are found in the input files but they are ignored in
 the comparison. Normally, sequences of blanks and tabs are compared
 like any other characters.

 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.
3 TRAILING_BLANKS

 DIFFERENCES/IGNORE:TRAILING_BLANKS filespec1 filespec2

 The TRAILING_BLANKS argument specifies that all blanks following the
 last nonblank character be ignored. If you include this argument with
 the the NOCOMMENTS argument blanks preceding a semicolon are also
 ignored.

 If you specify more than one argument to the /IGNORE qualifier, you 
 must enclose the arguments in parentheses and separate them with 
 commas.  If you specify only one argument, you can leave out the 
 parentheses.
2 CHANGE_BAR

 DIFFERENCES/CHANGE_BAR[:n] filespec1 filespec2

 The /CHANGE_BAR qualifier specifies that the second input file be
 listed with change bars applied to each line that does not have a 
 corresponding line in the first input file.

 The default change bar is the exclamation point (!).  The argument, n, 
 is the octal value of the ASCII character you wish to use as the 
 change bar.

 When a section of lines in the first input file has been deleted in
 the second input file, the first line not deleted is marked.
2 LINES

 DIFFERENCES/LINES:n filespec1 filespec2

 The /LINES qualifier specifies that n lines must be identical before a
 match is recognized.

 The default value is /LINES:3.
2 NONUMBERS

 DIFFERENCES/NONUMBERS filespec1 filespec2

 The /NONUMBERS qualifier specifies that lines in the output file not
 be preceded by line numbers. Lines are numbered beginning with the
 number one. Line numbers are incremented by one for each line read in,
 including blank lines. Normally, lines in the output file are preceded
 by line numbers.
2 OUTPUT:filespec

 DIFFERENCES/OUTPUT:filespec filespec1 filespec2

 The /OUTPUT qualifier specifies that lines in the output file be
 written to the file named in the qualifier. Normally, this output
 appears on your terminal.
2 SLP

 DIFFERENCES/SLP[:au]

 The /SLP qualifier specifies that the  output listing take the form of
 a SLP indirect command file. When you include this qualifier, the out-
 put listing is a SLP indirect command file which, when applied to the
 first input file, makes it identical to the second input file. The
 optional argument, au, is a 1-to-8-character alphanumeric audit trail
 symbol.

