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Flex09 User Manual
FLEX UCS: CMPBIN

The CMPBIN command is used to compare the contents of two binary files and list the differences. CMPBIN is a useful tool for sorting out mislabled or long-forgotten binary files, for tracking changes in programs, and for identifying current versions.

DESCRIPTION:

The general syntax of the CMPBIN command is:

CMPBIN,<file spec>,<file spec>

This will cause the two files to be read as FLEX binary files and compared. The default extension is BIN. The files are read as binary records, in the format described on page 45 of the FLEX Advanced Programmer's Guide. A binary record consists of a load address, a byte count, and bytes of data to be stored in memory. The data bytes from the first file are compared to the data bytes from the second file. The current load address for each file is also compared. If either is different, the address and data byte from each file is printed. Example:

+++CMPBIN,A.BIN,AOLD.BIN
FILE A FILE B
ADDRESS BYTE BYTE ADDRESS
0209 A5 A7 0209
020A 56 29 020A
03E4 C6 4D 03E4

CMPBIN is a very simple-minded program, and works best only when the two files load starting at the same address. If the files differ by one file having code inserted or removed, then mismatches will be found from the point where bytes were added or removed to the end of the file. If one file is longer than the other, the extra bytes will all be mismatches, with the shorter file's contents listed as "0106 00". If the data bytes are the same, but the files were assembled to load at different addresses, then every byte will be a mismatch, but only on the addresses, which is easily seen.


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