Compare contents of 2 files and output only strings common to both

[brk6971]

I have 2 files I need to compare the contents of and create a third file that contains only what is common to both files. Below is an example, the actual files contain thousands of entries.

file 1
G00127
G00653
G00737
G00744

File 2
G00127
G00252
G01328

File 3 (desired output)
G00127

 

[KenCunningham]

Sorry - I'm about to leave, but have you read up on comm

Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks - make sure most are the former.

 

[feherke]

Hi

If your [tt]grep[/tt] supports -f or --file= option ( -F and -x can be ignored in certain circumstances, for example your sample data ) :

grep -F -x -f file1 file2 > file3

[gray]# or[/gray]

diff --old-line-format= --new-line-format= --unchanged-line-format='%L' file1 file2 > file3

Tested with GNU [tt]grep[/tt] and GNU [tt]diff[/tt].


Feherke.

http://rootshell.be/~feherke/

 

[brk6971]

That did the trick....Thanks for responding so quickly