NAME

       srec_cmp - compare two EPROM load files for equality

SYNOPSIS

       srec_cmp [ option...  ] filename...
       srec_cmp -Help
       srec_cmp -VERSion

DESCRIPTION

       The  srec_cmp  program  is  used  to  compare  two  EPROM  load  files for equality.  This
       comparison is performed irrespective of the load order of the data in each of the files.

INPUT FILE SPECIFICATIONS

       Input may be qualified in two ways: you may specify a  data  file  or  a  data  generator.
       format  and  you  may specify filters to apply to them.  An input file specification looks
       like this:
              data‐file [ filter ... ]
              data‐generator [ filter ... ]

   Data Files
       Input from data files  is  specified  by  file  name  and  format  name.   An  input  file
       specification looks like this:
              filename [ format ][ -ignore‐checksums ]
       The default format is Motorola S‐Record format, but many others are also understood.

   Data Generators
       It  is  also  possible  to  generate data, rather than read it from a file.  You may use a
       generator anywhere you could use a file.  An  input  generator  specification  looks  like
       this:
              -GENerate address‐range -data‐source
       Generators include random data and various forms of constant data.

   Common Manual Page
       See  srec_input(1)  for  complete  details  of input specifiers.  This description is in a
       separate manual page because it is common to more than one SRecord command.

OPTIONS

       The following options are understood:

       @filename
               The named text file is read for additional command line arguments.  Arguments  are
               separated  by  white  space  (space,  tab,  newline,  etc).   There is no wildcard
               mechanism.  There is no quoting mechanism.  Comments, which  start  with  '#'  and
               extend to the end of the line, are ignored.  Blank lines are ignored.

       -Help
               Provide some help with using the srec_cmp program.

       -IGnore_Checksums
               The  -IGnore‐Checksums  option may be used to disable checksum validation of input
               files, for those formats which have checksums at  all.   Note  that  the  checksum
               values  are still read in and parsed (so it is still an error if they are missing)
               but their values are not checked.  Used after  an  input  file  name,  the  option
               affects that file alone; used anywhere else on the command line, it applies to all
               following files.

       -Enable_Sequence_Warnings
               This option may be used to enable  warnings  about  input  files  where  the  data
               records  are  not in strictly ascending address order.  Only one warning is issued
               per input file.  This is the default.

               Note: the output of srec_cat(1) is always in this order.

               Note: This option must be used before the input file.  This is  because  if  there
               are  several  files  on  the  command line, each may need different settings.  The
               setting remains in force until the next -Disable_Sequence_Warnings option.

       -Disable_Sequence_Warnings
               This option may be used to disable warnings  about  input  files  where  the  data
               records are not in strictly ascending address order.

               Note:  This  option must be used before the offending input file.  This is because
               if there are several files on the command line, each may need different  settings.
               The setting remains in force until the next -Ensable_Sequence_Warnings option.

       -redundant‐bytes=value
               Use  this  option  to  permit  a  file to contain redundant values for some memory
               locations.  The default is for this condition to be a warning.

               ignore
                   No warning or error is issued whena redundant settings are detected.

               warning
                   A warning is issued when  a  redundant  settings  are  observed,  the  warning
                   includes the problematic address.

               error
                   A  fatal  error  is  issued  when a redundant settings are observed, the fatal
                   error message includes the problematic address and byte value.

       -contradictory‐bytes=value
               Use this option to permit a file to contain contradictory values for  some  memory
               locations.   The last value in the input(s) will be used.  The default is for this
               condition to be a fatal error.

               ignore
                   No warning or error is issued when contradictory setting is detected.

               warning
                   A warning is issued when a vontradictory settings are  observed,  the  warning
                   includes the problematic address, and values.

               error
                   A  fatal  error  is issued when contradictory settings are observed, the fatal
                   error message includes the problematic address and byte values.

       -VERSion
               Print the version of the srec_cmp program being executed.

       -Verbose
               This option may be used to obtain more information about how  and  where  the  two
               files  differ.   Please  note  that  this  takes  longer,  and  the  output can be
               voluminous.

       All other options will produce a diagnostic error.

       All options may be abbreviated; the abbreviation is documented as the upper case  letters,
       all  lower  case  letters  and  underscores  (_)  are  optional.  You must use consecutive
       sequences of optional letters.

       All options are case insensitive, you may type them in upper  case  or  lower  case  or  a
       combination of both, case is not important.

       For  example: the arguments “-help”, “-HEL” and “-h” are all interpreted to mean the -Help
       option.  The  argument  “-hlp”  will  not  be  understood,  because  consecutive  optional
       characters were not supplied.

       Options and other command line arguments may be mixed arbitrarily on the command line.

       The  GNU  long option names are understood.  Since all option names for srec_cmp are long,
       this means ignoring the extra  leading  “-”.   The  “--option=value”  convention  is  also
       understood.

EXIT STATUS

       The srec_cmp command will exit with a status of 1 on any error.  The srec_cmp command will
       only exit with a status of 0 if there are no errors.

EXAMPLE

       A common use for the srec_cmp command is to verify that a particular signature is  present
       in  the  code.  In this example, the signature is in a file called “signature[rq], and the
       EPROM image is in a file called “image[rq].  We assume they  are  both  Motorola  S‐Record
       format, although this will work for all formats:
              srec_cmp signature  image -crop -within signature
       The  signature  need  not  be at the start of memory, nor need it be one single contiguous
       piece of memory.  In the above example, the portions of the  image  which  have  the  same
       address range as the signature are compared with the signature.

COPYRIGHT

       srec_cmp version 1.64
       Copyright  (C)  1998,  1999,  2000,  2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
       2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Peter Miller

       The srec_cmp program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY;  for  details  use  the  'srec_cmp
       -VERSion  License'  command.  This is free software and you are welcome to redistribute it
       under certain conditions; for details use the 'srec_cmp -VERSion License' command.

MAINTAINER

       Scott Finneran   E‐Mail:   scottfinneran@yahoo.com.au
       Peter Miller     E‐Mail:   pmiller@opensource.org.au