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‎comparisonMethods.md‎

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---
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permalink: comparisonMethods.html
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layout: default
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title: Comparison method
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---
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Choose the method to compare folders and how to handle special files and metadata
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# Comparison method
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It is possible to choose which method to use to compare two folders.
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The method to use is strictly related to user needs, comparing source code (files large only few kilobytes) should use a content comparison but to find which movies (files larger than a gigabytes) are not present on right side is faster compare by file size or file timestamp.
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Every file is treated as binary and it is compared byte by byte, only 'Compare file content ignoring line ending differences' compares text.
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The complete list of supported comparison methods
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<table class="bordered">
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<tr>
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<th>Method</th>
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<th>Description</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file sizes
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<br/>Very quick</td>
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<td>Two file are identical if they have the same file size</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file timestamps
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<br/>Very quick</td>
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<td>two file are identical if they have the same timestamp.
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<br/>It is used the Unix <strong>last modified date</strong> for comparison.
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<br/>If file A timestamp is less than file B it is marked as <strong>older</strong> and it will be shown with different color.
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<br/>It is possible to set a span in seconds to consider two files with same timestamp, see below</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file timestamps and sizes
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<br/>Very quick</td>
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<td>Compare the files timestamp, only if it is different then compare the size.</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file content only
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<br/>Slow on large files</td>
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<td>Compare files as binary, byte by byte</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file timestamp, size and content
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<br/>Slow on large files</td>
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<td>Compare the file content, only if content is different compare the timestamp and only if timestamp differs compare size</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Compare file content ignoring line ending differences
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<br/>Slow on large files</td>
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<td>Compare file as plain text, read line by line and compare lines.
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<br/>The line ending character is ignored so a DOS file (with lines separated by CR+LF) matches an Unix file (with lines separated by LF) if, ignoring the newlines, the content is identical</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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# Compare Finder metadata
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It is possible to compare OSX Finder Metadata.
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When the metadata comparison mismatches, for example left file's label is red and right file's label is blue, the other comparison methods (size, timestamp, content) are not evaluated.
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The complete list of supported metadata
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<table class="bordered">
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<tr>
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<th>Metadata</th>
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<th>Description</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Label</td>
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<td>Compare all labels assigned to a file</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Tags
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<br/><strong>Available in OSX 10.9 or above</strong></td>
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<td>Compare all tags assigned to a file</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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</table>
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# Special files handling
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User can choose to not traverse special files like symbolic links and packages
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<table class="bordered">
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<tr>
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<th>File</th>
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<th>Description</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Follow Symbolic Links</td>
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<td>If checked the symbolic links will be traversed</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Skip Packages</td>
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<td>If checked special OSX files (so called bundle or packages)
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<br/>like Applications and Frameworks will not be traversed</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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</table>
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# Timestamp tolerance
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The timestamp comparison considers two files matching when the time (including the seconds) is identical but sometime it would be useful to have a range of tolerance for example when the difference is between 5 seconds.
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You can set this tolerance entering a positive integer number into the text field
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Ignore differences of X seconds or less
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# File to show
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After the comparison complete you can determine which files to show
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Definition: **Orphan** indicates a file present only on one side
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The complete list of show options
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<table class="bordered">
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<tr>
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<th>Choice</th>
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<th>Description</th>
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<tr>
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<td>Show All</td>
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<td>No matters which comaprison result, show files</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Only Mismatches</td>
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<td>Show only files with some mismatch (size, timestamp or content)</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Only Matches</td>
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<td>Show only identical files</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td>No Orphans</td>
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<td>Show files present both on left and right side</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<tr>
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<td>Only Orphans</td>
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<td>Show files present only on left or only on right</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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</table>
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‎index.md‎

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* [File Colors Legend](fileLegend.html)
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* [Unix Shell Scripting Support](unix_shell_support.html)
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* [Frequently Asked Questions](faq.html)
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* [Trusted Paths](trustedPaths.html)
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* [Integrate with OSX Finder context menu](https://github.com/visualdiffer/scripts)
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Application Features
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--------------------
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* [Comparison Methods](comparisonMethods.html)
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* [Trusted Paths](trustedPaths.html)
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Other sites
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===========
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