Larry Bates wrote: > If the files aren't terribly large (not tested): > > correct_lines=open(r"C:\Python25\Scripts\Output" \ > "\correct_settings.txt", "r").readlines() > > current_lines=open(r"C:\Python25\Scripts\Output\output.txt", > "r").readlines() > > for line in current_settings: > if line in correct_lines: > print line + " found"
You only have to read the "inner" file into memory, and a set is more efficient than a list here: current_settings = open(...) correct_settings = set(open(...)) for line in current_settings: if line in correct_settings: print line.rstrip(), "found" Of course your suggestion of difflib is spot-on. Peter -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list