Compare Files with Matching First 8 Characters

[hulloswin]

Hello,

Can anybody tell me how to do an alignment override which will only compare files where the first 8 characters are the same.

Example:

N6546544.T6546544.PDF needs to be compared to N6546544.D9519511.PDF.

[Aaron]

Hello,

BC4 Pro's Alignment Override currently supports defining a matching regular expression or dos mask, but different text must be defined. Are the characters after the first 8 always the same difference that can be defined?

*.T6546544.PDF = *.D9519511.PDF

Expanding this is something on our wishlist.

[hulloswin]

The characters after the first 8 are always different. Its not really different in a definable way. It is a list of about 1,000 pdf files. The first characters are always the same in both folders though. It would really be helpful if there was a way to do this comparison. Is there not a way with beyond compare to do this?

[Aaron]

Hello

No, not in the current version. The Alignment Override mask can mask around the equal text, but the different text can't be strictly ignored. If it is randomly shifting, BC4 cannot define around it. And the Folder Compare requires equal names in order to align, so the constant shift would cause the files to not align and then not compare.