COMPARE                              Michael J. Mefford
Compare contents of two files	            Version 1.0
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Purpose
-------
Displays the differences between two text or two binary
files. Files need not be the same length, and paragraph
reformatting changes introduced by wordwrap are ignored.

Format
------

    COMPARE filespec filespec[/B][/W]

Remarks
-------
COMPARE's default assumption is that the filenames
designated in filespec are to be compared as ASCII text
files. Formatting commands embedded by word processing
programs are reproduced on screen but are not acted
upon. Files in which the "high bit" is set (such as
those produced by WordStar's document mode) can be made
displayable in ASCII by entering the optional /W on the
command line.

Files are displayed in two on-screen windows.
Differences are shown in inverse video, and are
preceded by several lines of matching text to provide
a context. When the windows are filled, pressing any
key continues to search for differences; pressing Esc
returns the user to DOS. All character modes, but no
graphics modes, are supported.

Files with .COM or .EXE extensions are automatically
displayed in COMPARE's binary mode, which is similar to
that produced by DEBUG.COM. Unlike DEBUG, however,
COMPARE uses the IBM/ASCII symbol set rather than
periods to show non-alphanumeric characters, and its
segment offset begins at zero rather than at 100h. Any
file can be compared in binary mode by adding the
optional /B switch on the command line.

Note
----
When COMPARE finds a difference between files it
searches ahead up to 400 bytes (the reach value) for a
string of 10 (excluding spaces) successive matching
characters (the sequence value). DEBUG.COM can be used
to change the reach and search values on a copy of
COMPARE.COM thus:

    DEBUG COMPARE.COM
    E 6ED cd ab
    E 6F5 cd ab
    E 6F9 gh ef
    W
    Q

where abcd is the reach value, in hex (default 0190h)
and efgh is the sequence value (default 000Ah).
