File Compare

fc

The Microsoft Windows 95 fc command
Original author(s)	M. A. Ulloa
Developer(s)	Microsoft, IBM, Digital Research, Novell
Initial release	1984, 37–38 years ago
Written in	MS-DOS: x86 assembly language FreeDOS: C
Operating system	MS-DOS, PC DOS, OS/2, eComStation, ArcaOS, Windows, DR DOS, FreeDOS
Platform	Cross-platform
Type	Command
License	MS-DOS: MIT FreeDOS: GPLv2+
Website	docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/fc

In computing, fc (File Compare) is a command-line program in DOS, IBM OS/2 and Microsoft Windows operating systems, that compares multiple files and outputs the differences between them.^[1][2] It is similar to the Unix commands comm, cmp and diff.

History[]

The fc command has been included in Microsoft operating systems since MS-DOS 2.11 (e.g. on the 1984/85 DEC Rainbow release)^[3] and is included in all versions of Microsoft Windows.^[4] fc has also been included in IBM OS/2 Version 2.0.^[5]

DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of the fc command.^[6]

The command is also available in FreeDOS. This implementation is licensed under the GPLv2+.^[7]

Functionality[]

fc can compare text files as well as binary files.^[8] The latest versions^[which?] can compare ASCII or Unicode text. The result of comparisons are output to the standard output. The output of fc is intended primarily to be human readable and may be difficult to use in other programs.

See also[]

• Data comparison
• comp (command)
• List of DOS commands

References[]

Further reading[]

• Cooper, Jim (2001). Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition. Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789725738.
• John Paul Mueller (2007). Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470165799.

External links[]

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Guide to Windows Commands

• fc | Microsoft Docs
• Open source FC implementation that comes with MS-DOS v2.0