diff -r 01da7bf11ca1 Doc/library/filecmp.rst
--- a/Doc/library/filecmp.rst	Fri Jun 14 15:04:26 2013 -0400
+++ b/Doc/library/filecmp.rst	Fri Jun 14 17:16:50 2013 -0400
@@ -53,15 +53,15 @@
 The :class:`dircmp` class
 -------------------------
 
-.. class:: dircmp(a, b, ignore=None, hide=None)
+.. class:: dircmp(a, b, ignore=None, hide=None, shallow=True)
 
    Construct a new directory comparison object, to compare the directories *a*
    and *b*.  *ignore* is a list of names to ignore, and defaults to
    :attr:`filecmp.DEFAULT_IGNORES`.  *hide* is a list of names to hide, and
    defaults to ``[os.curdir, os.pardir]``.
 
-   The :class:`dircmp` class compares files by doing *shallow* comparisons
-   as described for :func:`filecmp.cmp`.
+   The *shallow* parameter has the same meaning and default value as for
+   :func:`filecmp.cmp`.
 
    The :class:`dircmp` class provides the following methods:
 
diff -r 01da7bf11ca1 Lib/filecmp.py
--- a/Lib/filecmp.py	Fri Jun 14 15:04:26 2013 -0400
+++ b/Lib/filecmp.py	Fri Jun 14 17:16:50 2013 -0400
@@ -81,12 +81,15 @@
 class dircmp:
     """A class that manages the comparison of 2 directories.
 
-    dircmp(a, b, ignore=None, hide=None)
+    dircmp(a, b, ignore=None, hide=None, shallow=True)
       A and B are directories.
       IGNORE is a list of names to ignore,
         defaults to DEFAULT_IGNORES.
       HIDE is a list of names to hide,
         defaults to [os.curdir, os.pardir].
+      SHALLOW specifies whether to just check the stat signature (do not read
+        the files).
+        defaults to True.
 
     High level usage:
       x = dircmp(dir1, dir2)
@@ -112,7 +115,7 @@
      subdirs: a dictionary of dircmp objects, keyed by names in common_dirs.
      """
 
-    def __init__(self, a, b, ignore=None, hide=None): # Initialize
+    def __init__(self, a, b, ignore=None, hide=None, shallow=True): # Initialize
         self.left = a
         self.right = b
         if hide is None:
@@ -123,6 +126,7 @@
             self.ignore = DEFAULT_IGNORES
         else:
             self.ignore = ignore
+        self.shallow = shallow
 
     def phase0(self): # Compare everything except common subdirectories
         self.left_list = _filter(os.listdir(self.left),
@@ -175,7 +179,7 @@
                 self.common_funny.append(x)
 
     def phase3(self): # Find out differences between common files
-        xx = cmpfiles(self.left, self.right, self.common_files)
+        xx = cmpfiles(self.left, self.right, self.common_files, self.shallow)
         self.same_files, self.diff_files, self.funny_files = xx
 
     def phase4(self): # Find out differences between common subdirectories
@@ -186,7 +190,7 @@
         for x in self.common_dirs:
             a_x = os.path.join(self.left, x)
             b_x = os.path.join(self.right, x)
-            self.subdirs[x]  = dircmp(a_x, b_x, self.ignore, self.hide)
+            self.subdirs[x]  = dircmp(a_x, b_x, self.ignore, self.hide, self.shallow)
 
     def phase4_closure(self): # Recursively call phase4() on subdirectories
         self.phase4()