How to compare two txt files to see if they are the same?

[anderson1373]

I am trying to write a program that compares two txt file to see if they are the same. The program is to promt the user for two txt files and then compare them. If they are the same it should print yes but if not it should print no followed by the first line of each file that is diffeent. I know how to promt the user for the filename but i do not know how to compare them.

[bvdet]

For small files, both could be read into memory as strings and compared for equality as in:

>>> s1 = "abcdef"
>>> s2 = "abcdef"
>>> s1 == s2
True
>>> s3 = "xyz"
>>> s1 == s3
False
>>> 

Alternatively, you can use module filecmp to compare files.

[anderson1373]

i have import them in and then comare them! How do i do that?

[bvdet]

s1 = open(file_name1).read()
s2 = open(file_name2).read()
if s1 == s2:
    print "File contents are identical"
else:
    print "File contents are different"

[anderson1373]

I actually got that far on my own but thanks anyways. Can you help me figure out how to make it print the first line in each file that is different?

[anderson1373]

to open the file is what you have the same as:
infile = open ("filename" , "r")

[anderson1373]

This is what i have, but it won't run right.

file1 = raw_input("What is the name of the first sile including the .txt?")
file2 = raw_input("what is the name of the second file including the .txt?")
 
file1 = open("file1" , "r")
file2 = open("file2", "r")
 
if file1 == file2:
    print("Yes")
else:
    print("No")
 

[dwblas]

For opening and reading files with a for() loop, read section 9.1 here.

[anderson1373]

The way i have it it says no such file or directory on line 4. How do i fix it?

[bvdet]

fn1 = raw_input("Enter file name.")
fileobj1 = open(fn1, 'r')

The file name is a text string and is assigned to the identifier fn1. An open file object is returned by built-in function open() and assigned to identifier fileobj1. Notice the identifier fn1 is the argument representing the file name.

[anderson1373]

I tried this and it still says no such file or directory

[anderson1373]

Here is what i have:

fn1 = raw_input("What is the name of the first file (be sure to include .txt after the filename)?")
fn2 = raw_input("What is the name of the second file (be sure to include .txt after the filename)?")
fileobj1 = open("fn1", "r")
fileobj2 = open("fn2", "r")
if file1 == file2:
    print ("Yes these files are the same.")
else:
    print("No these file are not the same.")
 

[dwblas]

You have to supply the complete path to the file, unless it is in PYTHONPATH, see here.

import sys
print sys.path
##
## if the path to the file is not in the above then you have to provide the path
fileobj1 = open("/path/to/fn1", "r")
##
## or add it to sys.path
sys.path.append("/path/to")
fileobj1 = open("fn1", "r")