File Comparisons Never Match

[grahowler]

Hi

I've just downloaded BC and had a big play with it to consider buying it. The thing is I can't get the files to match up between a Win XP machine and an FTP/Linux location no matter what.

I can get the dates to match up, that's fine, but I just cannot get the file sizes to match up, no matter what. Even if I delete the entire contents of a directory on the Windows side and download it from the Linux side some files will show up as different file size.

Can anyone tell me what's going on here?

Thanks.

[Chris]

Are the files text files? If so, it is probably line terminator conversion.

Unix/Linux systems mark the end of line in text files with one character. Windows systems mark the end of a line of text using two characters. Some FTP servers support ASCII mode transfer so they convert the line endings when files are copied. To prevent the conversion you can transfer the files in binary mode instead (and preserve the size).

To force BC to transfer all files in Binary mode, select Tools|Options. Go to the FTP section. Change the Transfer Type to "Binary".

Some software is tolerant of line endings that don't match the OS (such as Unix line endings on a Windows system), but if your software doesn't support it you may still need to use ASCII mode transfers.

[grahowler]

Thanks Chris, that seems to have done the trick.

Ill go away and keep playing with it now. Only had it 24 hours so I'm looking forward to making it fit the bill for me!

Thanks again.

[kencl]

grahowler, you sound like me about a month ago. I think you'll end up buying it. I did, now I use it a lot and I still have a lot to learn about everything that is possible with it. It's great software, easily worth twice the price IMHO :)