Compare all contents of 2 folders including subfolders?

[richardk]

Is there a way to sync (such as with Sync Wizard) two folders including all their files that are in subfolders, so I can see every unique file? In other words sync two browsed-flat folders?

I tried this and it didn't work:

- Browse folder #1 flat with shift-enter
- ctrl-O in the resulting scrap container so it has a second, empty pane
- Browse folder #2 flat with shift enter, then select all items and ctrl-C to copy, then paste those into the scrap container's empty pane
- Run Sync Wizard in the scrap container to search for unique files

I get a message, "The contents of the two folders seem identical (undetermined items exist)"

One folder has 3063 items / 23 Gb and the other has 5,064 items / 43 Gb.

2.5.0.2 Pro, Win 7

[nikos]

see here for more information www.zabkat.com/blog/21Oct07.htm

[Kilmatead]

If you're looking for instant overview-granularity such as finding/viewing orphans in subfolders (as unique files), etc, then no, the inbuilt sync-wizard isn't practical for this. There are many 3rd-party utilities which interface well with x2, such as WinMerge, WinDiff, Beyond Compare, ExamDiff, or any of a hundred others.

My personal favourite (the one I cannot live without) is Beyond Compare, which is simply fantastic.

Most of these are professional-level applications and so may be overkill for your situation (and not all are free), but once you learn to use them you begin to wonder how you ever managed without them; they are capable of comparing (and displaying deltas in convenient trees/tables) the contents of everything from entire volumes to the formatted textual/binary-contents of single files if necessary.

[richardk]

If you're looking for instant overview-granularity such as finding/viewing orphans in subfolders (as unique files), etc, then no, the inbuilt sync-wizard isn't practical for this.

Doesn't Tools > Compare subfolders (which I didn't know about until the previous reply) do that? It seems to. Or am I missing something?

However -

Tools > Compare subfolders is finding 450 Mb of files in the larger folder (43 Gb) that aren't in the smaller one (23 Gb), and 20 Mb in the smaller that aren't in the larger. How can this be? I see how this could happen if there were situations where there were some filenames common to both folders but the sizes were a lot bigger in the larger folder (like if you edited a Word doc to make it vastly larger). But the files are all photos and videos from my camera and I haven't altered/edited any of them so this shouldn't be the case -?

[nikos]

tools > compare subfolders is working but the information can be overwhelming. I am not sure what you mean about "big and small files", you must give us a detailed example

if you just want to synchronize the folders without manually checking the differences, use robust copy with "overwrite if newer else skip" option

[Kilmatead]

Doesn't Tools > Compare subfolders do that? It seems to. Or am I missing something?

That's why I said it wasn't practical (not that it doesn't work)... as Nikos pointed out, the information returned can be difficult to sift through. That's why dedicated comparison programmes are so handy - they colour-code and blank/separate matching from unmatching content in clickable trees for simpler browsing than just a wall of text, allowing you to see immediately what the deal is by going in and out of filtered subfolders yourself without the mess of flattening.

I know people don't like having 3rd-party suggestions pushed at them, but there's a reason complex operations like these which require a whole separate display paradigm are best handled ex parte.

Just sayin'.



It's a matter of having complete confidence in exactly what you're syncing or deleting before you commit to blind multi-structured and multi-GB copy/delete operations.

[Kilmatead]

Hey, wait a minute dummkopf! - I actually gave you a valid copy/license of Beyond Compare 3 last year! Apparently you didn't like the free gift!

(Re: this.)

What's the world coming to? You try and give them the best education and tools you can before you let them loose in the world and prepare them for the evils that may befall them in the future, but what do they do? They throw it all back... <sigh>.

[otlaolap]

I actually gave you a valid copy/license of Beyond Compare 3 last year!

Please, sir, may I have one?

Ten or so years ago I wrote a VB6 program that gets, via GUI, folders or groups of folders to search for duplicates using file contents only, not file names, to determine duplications. Searches subfolders too, of course. Has a few nice bells and whistles (search only within a group, compare group A to group B; show singletons (in either or both groups), show duplicates with equal or unequal counts in either or both groups). Can select found files in various ways and then delete them. This kind of utility is essential after large-scale maintenance and reorganization efforts.

Probably would not have had to do this if I'd known about (and had been willing to cough up the dollars for) Beyond Compare. Am still tempted, from time to time, but don't really have a good use case for it. Nonetheless, I too think it a great program.

[Kilmatead]

Arsenic cookies. From now on, everyone gets biscuits laced with arsenic for Christmas. Once bitten, twice shy, and other clichés.

Seriously though, if I had my way, everyone would be issued with BC licenses as tax rebates or something. The true irony is that if you look at their forums many of their users (due to its dual-pane layout) keep asking for features which have nothing to do with delta-seeking and everything to do with general file-management (too many grooms, too many brides, and not enough happy marriages in this world). You can't win for losing. Nice thing is, they support Linux these days too as part of the normal license, so given the inevitable death of Windows as a viable desktop platform, that safe-haven is available.

When I first started using it, I too didn't think I would have much need for it - but like many such 3rd-party playthings (x2 included), they have a way of getting under the skin and saving the day when you least expect it, and then there's no turning back.

[RightPaddock]

I know [SOME] people don't like having 3rd-party suggestions pushed at them, but there's a reason complex operations like these which require a whole separate display paradigm are best handled ex parte.

I for one prefer a single purpose tools rather than multi purpose tools, that's not to say I don't have any of the latter, but I only use a subset of all of them. EG I have three MPT with 'advanced' renamers, but for anything non trivial I use BRU, same with symlinks etc where I use LSE.

In part that's why I haven't upgraded X2 since 2.5, nothing has been added that I would use that I don't already have. I might be tempted to upgrade if X2 included a context menu manager a'la the old Moo+, and if X2 functions could be added to the main context menu rather than in a secondary menu.

Beyond Compare is Incomparable - is that their slogan or did I just make it up.

RP

[Kilmatead]

...is that their slogan or did I just make it up?

Actually their slogan is "Reconcile Your Differences" which is either rather clever or rather droll depending on your mood of the moment.

...nothing has been added that I would use that I don't already have.

There have been a few programmes I regularly use that I made a concious choice not to upgrade largely due to all the stuff added (or removed) that was done just for the sake of developer make-work (one could file the whole of Win7 vs. Win10 under that umbrella). Thankfully, x2 has not done that... true, Nikos could pull his finger out a bit more, but the vision of conservatives t'was ever thus. I'm happy enough with DEELX and a few TC Plugins which are simply indispensable. Sooner or later I'll pull my own finger out and write my own, but my brain seems to have gone walkabout since the once-a-decade hardware focus kicked in. I now have the world's most powerful machine... for... um... playing... games and stuff. Just like driving the Maserati to the local shop just to buy a packet of fags; there's a lot to be said for decadence.

To a certain degree, I consider Beyond Compare somewhere between a half necessary expense and half-decadent one... either way, considering it's been in development for 20 years, Nikos could dedicate the rest of his life to nothing other than upgrading x2's compare/sync system, but he wouldn't come close until we were too old to appreciate it. I dislike half-measures and compromises. Thus, I'm a big fan of third-party suggestions (as long as they integrate).