Dear Listers

let me share one of my experiences with this list and the readiness of its
members to share their knowledge with those who need help.

1) The Problem:

We needed a tool to compare files. Our search started with the DIFF util in
the HPBIN directory. This utility seems to have problems with larger files
(ERROR files to large).

I then searched the internet and came to the GNU DIFF utility. Only a view
seconds later I turned to Mark Bixby to ask him about this utility and he
pointed me to an address where I could download this tool (sources and
HP3000 BINARIES!!!) - So all the pizzas go to MARK.

You can get GNU DIFF at:

          http://www.bixby.org/ftp/pub/mpe/diffutils-2.7-mpe.tar.Z
          or
          ftp://ftp.bixby.org/pub/mpe/diffutils-2.7-mpe.tar.Z

2) The Solution:

- you need to download the file
- extract the files (sorry I did it on a LINUX server)
- transfer the binaries to the HP3000 (binary mode; Rec Size 128; Blocking
1; Filecode 1030; Fiexed)
- as the tool needs certain capabilities I renamed and transferred it to
the HPBIN group (only until I make up my mind where to place it)
- alternatively you can also binary transfer the zip-file to your HP3000
directly and extract it there (tar xvfop diff.tar.z).

3) My experience:

- works great and fast!
- compares files (off all sizes) and directories
- can be easliy used in jobs
- stores return values either in CJCW (CI), $? (POSIX)

Once more many thanks to Mark.

It is a real great pleasure to be part of this list

Friedrich