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BSDIFF(1) General Commands Manual BSDIFF(1)

NAME

bsdiffgenerate a patch between two binary files

SYNOPSIS

bsdiff oldfile⟩ ⟨newfile⟩ ⟨patchfile

DESCRIPTION

bsdiff compares ⟨oldfile⟩ to ⟨newfile⟩ and writes to ⟨patchfile⟩ a binary patch suitable for use by bspatch(1). When ⟨oldfile⟩ and ⟨newfile⟩ are two versions of an executable program, the patches produced are on average a factor of five smaller than those produced by any other binary patch tool known to the author.

bsdiff uses memory equal to 17 times the size of ⟨oldfile⟩, and requires an absolute minimum working set size of 8 times the size of oldfile.

SEE ALSO

bspatch(1)

AUTHORS

Colin Percival ⟨cperciva@freebsd.org⟩

May 18, 2003 FreeBSD