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I have one file that contains a list of files from a server, and a local folder that I compare to that manifest. Obviously, I do 'ls -1 > listing_local' and then diff that file with listing_server.

But is it possible to diff the manifest and the output of ls immediately to the diff command?

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migrated from stackoverflow.com Jan 27 '10 at 13:56

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4 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

In bash:

diff listing_server <(ls -1)
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up vote 3 down vote

You can pipe the output of a unix command into the input of another. 

ls -1 | diff file_goes_here -
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this won't work – John T Jan 27 '10 at 15:18
Now it does. That's what I get for not testing it first. – Josh K Jan 27 '10 at 16:01
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up vote 2 down vote 
diff listing <(ls -1)
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up vote 1 down vote 
ls -1 | diff listing_server -
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The -1 is unnecessary if the output is not to a terminal. – Peter Eisentraut Jan 27 '10 at 16:42
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