unimportant differences

[AndrewSutherland1]

Hi,

Beyond Compare 3 Pro Edition for Windows

I have a number of .sql files in a folder structure.
BC3 is already configured to ignore comments in my .sql files.
I have the 'Ignore Unimportant Differences' on.
When I compare two folder structures the files show as different (red).
When I double-click on the files to compare them, I see only the comment difference.
When I then close the file compare window the filename in the folder view turns black.

What do I need to do so that I don't have to open up and close each file to see whether it is different (i.e. contains non-comment differences)? Any help appreciated :-)

thanks,
Andy

[Chris]

Hi Andy,

BC defaults to comparing timestamp and size in the Folder Compare. When you open files in the Text Compare, it does a rules-based comparison of the file's text contents. When you exit the Text Compare, it shows the result in the Folder Compare.

To make BC compare the text contents of files in the Folder Compare without opening them first, select "Session > Session Settings". Go to the "Comparison" tab. Check "Compare contents", then select "Rules-based comparison".

[ahammond]

doing it from the command line?

How do I force comparison on contents from the command line? Please provide a pointer to an online manual.

[Michael Bulgrien]

In BC3 press F1 (or click Help in the menu bar) and look at the command line reference:

/qc=<type>
or
/quickcompare=<type>

where <type> can be size, crc, or binary, or can be left off to do a rules-based comparison.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Command line compares are file-based. I don't believe that it is possible to compare the contents of two folders from the command-line without writing a script to iterate through the files.

[Aaron]

From the command line you can write a script that will perform a series of steps such as load a session or generate a report.

If you are looking for a command line switch to load the GUI with those settings there is not one, but you can load a specific session with the Session name or a specific Workspace with the Workspace name. The Session can have the setting set.

Or you can update your defaults so it will always use that setting. In the Session Settings dialog, use the lower left dropdown to "Also Update defaults".