Folder compare report that shows files that are different AND each files differences

[rmnrdi]

I need to do a folder compare report that shows files that are different AND each files differences.

Is this possible?

Right now, it only shows what files were different and not the content differences of the files. Basically, I want to create one big report that tell you what files are different and what's different about them.

Thanks,
Rob

[Aaron]

Hello,

One method is to set the Session menu -> Session Settings, Comparison tab, and enable Rules-based content comparison. Then use the Edit menu -> Expand All, and Session menu -> Folder Compare Report.

Select a Layout: Side by Side, Report Options of Differences, Output options as HTML, and enable "include links to file reports".

The HTML report will then have links to each file report internally.

Another method is to enable Rules-based content comparison as above, and Edit menu -> Expand All. Then set the Display Filters to Show Differences and Edit menu -> Select All Files, then Actions menu -> File compare report. This generates a report of the selected files content.

[rmnrdi]

Hey Aaron, thanks for the reply.

Here's my script:



criteria rules-based

expand all

load "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.9.8" "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.10"

folder-report layout:side-by-side &
options:display-mismatches,column-attributes,column-timestamp,column-size &
output-to:".\MyReport.html" output-options:html-color

I'm not using a session for these. Should I?

I tried adding a picture of the output, but it only asked me for a url?

[rmnrdi]

Got it!

FYI, I figured it out.

criteria rules-based

expand all

load "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.9.8" "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.10"

folder-report layout:side-by-side, include-file-links & <-----------added include-file-links.
options:display-mismatches,column-attributes,column-timestamp,column-size &
output-to:".\MyReport.html" output-options:html-color

The output is way cooler than what I had in mind! It's perfect!

Thanks,
Aaron

[Aaron]

Hello,

Sorry about that! I missed that you were working in Scripting instead of the graphical interface. Now we have both sets of instructions in this forum thread.

[rmnrdi]

Hey Aaron, since we're on the topic of reports.

Can I output a report that shows the same thing the html report did (mismatched files AND the mismatches) in a text report?

Basically, one big text report with all the information in the html report, but without having to click through?

[Aaron]

Yes, interactively that's what I describe with the "another method" section, and this can be done in scripting using similar steps.

You'll need to load the folders, expand them, select the different files, then generate the text-report command on that selection with something like:

criteria rules-based
load "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.9.8" "C:\Users\robert.minardi\Desktop\Comparison Files\RXI Regression\2.10"
expand all
select newer.files older.files diff.files
text-report layout:side-by-side options:display-mismatches output-to:".\MyReport.html" output-options:html-color

You might also want to select orphan.files, too, however this would include the full file's text (since all the text in an orphan is different compared to the other non-existent side).

[rmnrdi]

Thanks Aaron, that got me close, but I'm seeing results that I deemed unimportant.

It did it in the html report too.

I'd do a folder scan and the files that were not the same would show up as red. When I clicked into them, the mismatched values AND the ones I told it to ignore are shown.

This is happening with the html and text compare.

[Aaron]

Hello,

Is your Unimportance set as a default? If you launch a new, blank folder compare, then load these two file paths into it, and double click on the files, are the differences immediately/default Unimportant? If not, we'll need to set the defaults in the Session Settings, Importance tab, and before clicking ok change the bottom dropdown from Use only for this view to Also update session defaults.

Or, is the script/automation running with the same Windows user account as the graphical test? If the graphical interface is working but script is not, a different User account would explain it since each has its own set of settings.

[rmnrdi]

As it turns out, when I showed my bosses, they actually liked that. Ok by me.

Sorry, I forgot I had this question out there. I would have deleted when I found out.

Thanks Aaron

[Aaron]

No worries. Other users finding this post and question now have potential answers.