Comp (command)

comp
DevelopersDEC, IBM, Microsoft, Digital Research, Novell, Paul Vojta, ReactOS Contributors
ReleaseAugust 1981; 45 years ago (1981-08)
Operating systemOS/8, PC DOS, MS-DOS, FlexOS, SISNE plus, OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Windows, DR DOS, FreeDOS, ReactOS
PlatformCross-platform
TypeCommand
LicenseFreeDOS: MIT
ReactOS: GNU GPL 2

In computing, comp is a command used on DEC OS/8, DOS, DR FlexOS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related computer operating systems such as ReactOS. It is used to perform comparisons of multiple computer files to show the differences between them.

History

COMP.COM (among other commands) in IBM PC DOS 1.0.

In DOS, the comp command first appeared in PC DOS 1.0 and has been included in most versions of MS-DOS and PC DOS. A newer command, fc was added in DOS 3.3 which allows for line comparisons in addition to binary comparisons. DR DOS 6.0 also includes an implementation of the comp command.

The FreeDOS version was developed by Paul Vojta and is licensed under the MIT License. Ged Murphy developed the ReactOS version. It is licensed under the GNU GPL 2.

The command is also available in the EFI shell.

Syntax

The command-syntax is:

comp [<Data1>] [<Data2>] [/d] [/a] [/l] [/n=<Number>] [/c]

Parameters

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Concise Command Language" (CCL)."OS/8 Handbook" (PDF). April 1974. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Jamsa, Kris A. (1993), DOS: The Complete Reference, Osborne McGraw-Hill, p. 206, ISBN 0078819040.
  3. ↑ "FlexOS™ User's Guide" (PDF). bitsavers.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  4. ↑ "OS/2 Commands". www.jatomes.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-14. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  5. ↑ "Comp".
  6. ↑ Wolverton, Van (2003). Running MS-DOS Version 6.22 (20th Anniversary Edition), 6th Revised edition. Microsoft Press. ISBN 0-7356-1812-7.
  7. ↑ "Disk Operating System" (PDF). bitsavers.org. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  8. ↑ "DR DOS 6.0 User Guide Optimisation and Configuration Tips" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2019-08-13.
  9. ↑ "FreeDOS 1.2 Updates Package - comp (FreeDOS Base)". Ibiblio.org. 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  10. ↑ "Reactos/Reactos". GitHub. 3 January 2022.
  11. ↑ "EFI Shells and Scripting". Intel. Archived from the original on 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2013-09-25.
  12. ↑ MS-DOS and Windows command line comp command

Further reading