I wanted to compare two files, each of which has a set of numbers separated by "|". I set up an appropriate file format.
I expected a line by line comparison of each column. However BC simply assumed the lines were new in the second file and the first file lines were missing from it. I.e.
x|x|x ...
... x|x|x
I realised it had done this because the first column was the key and all the numbers in the first column were different in each file. I found a column where the numbers were the same in both files, made that the key column and everything lined up.
My question is: why does there have to be a key column? Could I suggest that you remove this necessity. BC can simply use the line number as the (hidden) key. This would be a user choice along the lines of "use line number as key?".
I expected a line by line comparison of each column. However BC simply assumed the lines were new in the second file and the first file lines were missing from it. I.e.
x|x|x ...
... x|x|x
I realised it had done this because the first column was the key and all the numbers in the first column were different in each file. I found a column where the numbers were the same in both files, made that the key column and everything lined up.
My question is: why does there have to be a key column? Could I suggest that you remove this necessity. BC can simply use the line number as the (hidden) key. This would be a user choice along the lines of "use line number as key?".