Subtracting numbers in two different txt files

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
3 replies · 3K views
Arjani
Messages
20
Reaction score
1
I have two .txt files with a bunch of numbers in them, below each other, like this:

File 1:

3
4
5

File 2:

1
2
1


Now I want to subtract the numbers in file 2 from the numbers in file 1 and get the results in a new .txt file:

File 3:

2
2
4

Very simple. I was going to do it in Excel, but I don't have that right now. Does anyone know another easy way?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Use OpenOffice then. Or write Python script. Or post your problem giving enough information about OS and tools available to get a meaningful answer.
 
If you've got Windows, try VBScript. Read the 2 files into an array, add the elements of the arrays and write the results back out. Here's a link showing how to read and write files: http://easyprograming.com/index.php/vb-script/13-open-an-existing-text-file-in-vb-script
 
Last edited by a moderator: