(coreutils.info)comm invocation

7.3 `comm': Compare two sorted files line by line
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`comm' writes to standard output lines that are common, and lines that
are unique, to two input files; a file name of `-' means standard
input.  Synopsis:

     comm [OPTION]... FILE1 FILE2

   Before `comm' can be used, the input files must be sorted using the
collating sequence specified by the `LC_COLLATE' locale.  If an input
file ends in a non-newline character, a newline is silently appended.
The `sort' command with no options always outputs a file that is
suitable input to `comm'.

   With no options, `comm' produces three-column output.  Column one
contains lines unique to FILE1, column two contains lines unique to
FILE2, and column three contains lines common to both files.  Columns
are separated by a single TAB character.

   The options `-1', `-2', and `-3' suppress printing of the
corresponding columns.  Also see Note: Common options.

   Unlike some other comparison utilities, `comm' has an exit status
that does not depend on the result of the comparison.  Upon normal
completion `comm' produces an exit code of zero.  If there is an error
it exits with nonzero status.