Compare as Equal two files that have a character difference in the names

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  • BillDewey
    New User
    • Dec 2018
    • 2
    #1

    Compare as Equal two files that have a character difference in the names

    I have a requirement to compare large file structures, >80,000 files, which are moving from a file share into a document management system where certain characters are not allowed. The process we use to copy these files transforms the characters to a "--". What I need to do is to have:
    File_Name.txt in the source folder be seen the same as File--Name.txt in the target.

    In trying to utilize the Alignment Filter->Misc tab, and am having difficulty figuring out the correct syntax. I need to ignore the "_" and the "--" completely, just do my comparison without those characters at all. As if the names were "FileName.txt".

    Ideas on how to accomplish this? My Regex skills are quite rusty, I believe that I need to set up the correct set for the Align Left and then use something like $1 on the other side. Anyone have an example of something like this?

    Thanks in advance.
    Tags: None
    • Chris
      Team Scooter
      • Oct 2007
      • 5538
      #2
      Alignment overrides in Beyond Compare Pro should be able to do this.

      Example filenames:
      test_one.txt test--one.txt
      test_two.txt test--two.txt
      test_file_three.txt test--file--three.txt
      test_file_number_four.txt test--file--number--four.txt

      To align the differences in the Folder Compare, click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon).
      Go to the Misc tab.
      In Alignment Overrides, click +.
      Align left file (or folder): (.*)_(.*)
      with right file (or folder): $1--$2
      Check Regular expression.

      The above handles a single _ on the left to a single -- on the right.

      Repeat with the following alignment overrides for two and three _ to -- replacements:
      (.*)_(.*)_(.*)=$1--$2--$3
      (.*)_(.*)_(.*)_(.*)=$1--$2--$3--$4

      Regular expression explanation:
      () - group an expression and store it in the variable $1 through $9 for use in a replacement
      . - match on any one character
      * - match on 0 or more of the preceding character
      Chris K Scooter Software

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        • BillDewey
          New User
          • Dec 2018
          • 2
          #3
          I was closer than I thought yesterday, at least I was on the right track. Your reply is perfect, works like an absolute charm. The only other, so far the only other, wrinkle we had were a bunch of files with a " " (space) in the beginning. That was a simple one to add. The hardest part was building out the entire set of "left-side" characters, ones that our document management system does not allow, and then building out allowance for up to 5 occurrences. What is truly amazing to me is just how fast your product is in dealing with what is now a set of 6 Regex filters, plus a name and size filter.

          Thank you for your very thorough, and very timely, response.

          We will now become official users, this product will save us a lot of time and trouble.

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