Compare folders and files in C++ app using 3rd party apps and log differences

[shm512]

Hi everybody,
first time writer, looong time follower.
I've been given an assignment to write simple c++ code and make exe app out of it.
It's purpose should be to check particular folder structure on running system and compare it to the some reference files and folders. Point is to see if current system configuration files are set up the way they're suppose to be according to the reference.
In other words: Reference files are bunch of xml, txt, cfg and bat files located in some folder structure. I need to see if these are present and set on the current system the way they are in my reference folder structure. This can be done manually, just by selecting two topmost containing folders in a comparing app like WinMerge. This would list all my differences in it's GUI very nicely, but I would need this results to be displayed in my c++ application, or some log file and NOT inside 3rd party app.
I assume this could be done over command line interface but I can't find any FREEWARE 3rd party app that accepts commands over command line interface and displays results in cmdpromt or prints them in some kind of log (I tried WinMerge, KDiff, xxdiff, tkdiff, Perforce P4Merge, ExamDiff...).
Please help! It's urgent and it's frustrating. I've even started writing my own file and folder comparing code but that isn't really going nowhere and is making small job - huge... Thanks in advance :)

[Salem]

What about just 'diff' ?

Or 'fc' if you're on the dark side.

[shm512]

Yeah, I also came across 'diff' as maybe the best possible solution. But thanks a lot for quick reply. Is there any way to compare files ignoring some parameters that ought to be different in some particular comparisons (using diff of course)? I don't want to go trough pages of same difference occurring hundred times and somewhere in there to lose track of differences I am looking for in the first place :)

[Salem]

cut / sed / awk / perl (in increasing complexity) for doing random things to the text files (say cutting timestamps) before you diff them.