# How to use Beyond Compare in the Terminal

At the command line, the usual way to run Beyond Compare is 

in Windows: `bcomp.exe @nameofmyscript.bc  somefile.txt otherfile.txt`

in Linux or Mac: `bcomp @nameofmyscript.bc  somefile.txt otherfile.txt`

The easiest procedure is to go to Scooter's [support page](https://www.scootersoftware.com/v4help/index.html?sample_scripts.html) and shop around for a script that seems similar.  Here is a four line script, followed by the syntax for running it in Windows.

![](https://1446155253-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LXUX-uoaZJ8T4qyEc-x%2F-LXznCso4FPm64L34cFt%2F-LXzozLAHcVjNYmvp40F%2Fscript%20windows%20beyond%20compare.png?alt=media\&token=3e03046a-2636-458e-beb8-20448772e86b)

.In the example above, the ampersand is used to continue a long command on the next line.  The first line tells what we want to do (make a report of the differences in something), the second line is the report format, the third line says that we want the report to print to a text file called wipe.out.  The fourth line "tigers1 <--> tigers2"  indicates we have made this comparison before so the file specifics are in a saved session done earlier in the Beyond Compare GUI.&#x20;

Here is a five line script, followed by the syntax for running it in Linux.

![](https://1446155253-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LXUX-uoaZJ8T4qyEc-x%2F-LXznCso4FPm64L34cFt%2F-LXzot_36R6bZBkkQZMA%2Fkubuntu%20desktop%20beyond%20compare.jpg?alt=media\&token=ade5aefb-8d15-4708-9afe-870c823325cb)

In the example above we use %1, %2 to pass in command line arguments, in this case, the folders to be compared. &#x20;

One general caveat for command line scripting of Beyond Compare: not all features from the GUI are possible as a script.  BC was built to be a GUI program.  The scripting is a tiny subset of the BC GUI commands.

.


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://beyondcompare.gitbook.io/project/scripts-and-the-command-line/scripts-and-the-command-line-interface.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.