How to compare 2 text files using powershell - powershell

Question

I want to be able compare the contents of 2 text files and see if the contents of those files are the same. If the contents of the 2 files are different, I need this powershell script to send me an email with a list of differences from the 2 files. Here is my code:
$fromaddress = "noreply#xy.com"
$toaddress = "me#xy.com "
$Subject = "Comparing 2 text files"
$login = "abc"
$password = "12345" | Convertto-SecureString -AsPlainText -Force
$smtpserver = "smtp.office.com"
$message = new-object System.Net.Mail.MailMessage
$message.From = $fromaddress
$message.To.Add($toaddress)
$message.IsBodyHtml = $True
$message.Subject = $Subject
$attach = new-object Net.Mail.Attachment($attachment)
$message.Attachments.Add($attach)
$message.body = $body
$message.Priority = [System.Net.Mail.MailPriority]::High
$smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpserver, 587)
$smtp.EnableSsl = $true
$smtp.Credentials = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential($login, $password);
IF (Compare-Object -ReferenceObject (Get-Content $dir\file1.txt) -DifferenceObject (Get-Content $dir\file2.txt)){
Write-Output "The files are different "
$smtp.Send($message);
}
Else {
Write-Output "The files are not different"
}
I have looked at different online resources that suggested the use of Compare-Object cmdlet but it doesn't seem to work in my situation. The problem with my code is that, its returning everything from file1. Any one who knows why this is not working for me?

Answer 1

To compare two file and determine if they are identical use a file hash:
$hash1 = Get-FileHash $dir\file1.txt
$hash2 = Get-FileHash $dir\file2.txt
if($hash1 -eq $hash2){
'They are the same'
}else{
'They are NOT the same
}

Answer 2

This scans the 2 text files for differences and pipes it to a third File
$File1 = "C:\Scripts\Txt1.txt"
$File2 = "C:\Scripts\Txt2.txt"
$Location = "C:\Scripts\Txt3.txt"
compare-object (get-content $File1) (get-content $File2) | format-list | Out-File $Location
Output:

Answer 3

You're almost right with your initial script. You just need to add -IncludeEqual
See below. Text files 1 & 2 are just "hi there." Text file 3 is "hi there2"
$1 = gc 'H:\Skype Migrations\file1.txt'
$2 = gc 'H:\Skype Migrations\file2.txt'
$3 = gc 'H:\Skype Migrations\file3.txt'
IF ( ( Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $1 -DifferenceObject $3 -IncludeEqual ).sideindicator -ne "==" )
{ Write-Output "The files are different " }
Else
{ Write-Output "The files are not different" }
Edited to showcase how to use the IncludeEqual