Ignore differences using regular expression in a column range

[jreynold]

The files I want to compare have text in columns 64-71 that I want to ignore if both match a regular expression. If one doesn't match, then I want to detect as an important difference. I can ignore all text by column range or text appearing anywhere by regular expression but can't seem to combine the two.

If the data within the column range in both files is of the form '@xxxxxxx' then I want that to be an unimportant difference. If one has '@xxxxxxx' but the other has other text, then that is an important difference. Each of the 'x's can be anything so a regular expression is needed. I have been using @{7}.

Is this possible?

[Aaron]

Multi-level logic is not possible, but you can define a couple of different grammars which may work for your files.

First: define a set of grammars that set 1-63 and 72-EndOfLine as Unimportant.
Next: define a grammar that matches and marks @xxxxxxx as Unimportant.

With this combination, it should ignore anything in the unimportant range, as well as @xxxxxxx. If both match @xxxxxxx formatting then they are both unimportant. If only one side matches @xxxxxxx then that would be unimportant, but the other side would be important and be found as a difference.

We have a KB article and video available here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo..._unimportantv3

Keep in mind to toggle off Ignore Unimportant Differences, so you can see them as Blue (instead of hidden as black). And also, you can click into the text with the blinking cursor (say, at position 20) and note the grammar element name in the bottom status bar to verify the elements are defined and matching as you expect.

Is @xxxxxxx literal, where "x's" are digits or any character? If so, I can help with more specific element definition, such as:
@.{7}