Compare New Pair of Files/Directories
Default Shortcut
CTRL + E
Toolbar Button
Spawn a dialog box to select files and directories to compare.
This dialog box has many convenient features. The two combo boxes hold names
and paths of files and directories previously compared. You can drag-and-drop
files and directories from Windows Explorer into the dialog box making it much
easier to enter the appropriate paths and file names. You can also browse for
files and directories using the browse buttons.
The Compare dialog also has an Autopick feature: whenever you
choose a file (or directory) that you have compared before as the first
item to compare, the second item automatically changes to the last one
you compared the first item to. For example, if you compare test1 to
test2, then the next time you choose test1 as the first file, ExamDiff
Pro will remember and automatically switch the second file to test2.
If you don't specify one file's directory, ExamDiff Pro will use the other
file's directory to start a comparison. For example, selecting c:\test\a.txt
and b.txt will compare c:\test\a.txt with c:\test\b.txt. If
a directory name is provided instead of a file name, ExamDiff Pro will use the
other file name. E.g., you can select c:\test\a.txt and c:\test2
(where c:\test2 is a directory), and the software will compare
c:\test\a.txt with c:\test2\a.txt.
When specifying a file or directory, you can use an environment variable, such
as %WINDIR%.
For file comparison, the current Clipboard contents can be selected by
using an appropriate button to the right from the file name text field.
This will make ExamDiff Pro compare a file against Clipboard contents, or
compare two Clipboard fragments (if you select a text fragment to Clipboard,
then press the first Clipboard button (or use Ctrl + 1 keys), then select
another text fragment, then press the second Clipboard button (or use Ctrl + 2
keys)). Also, browsing for a file in file comparison mode allows selecting a
comparison plug-in that will be used for
the file during its comparison.
For directory comparison, a snapshot file can be
specified instead of a real directory. Note that all directory editing
features (delete, rename etc.) will be disabled if at least one of
compared directories is a snapshot.
File/directory names can be prefixed by plug-in names followed by >
separator (such plug-ins are referred to as inline plug-ins). Plug-in
name has to be one of those listed in Plug-in Options.
For example, assuming that Sort is the name of a plug-in, the following
name will cause the Sort plug-in to be used for file list.txt:
Sort>list.txt. Also note that when inline plug-ins are used,
file/directory names are not inspected for existence.
The following commands are available in the Compare dialog:
- Compare
Compare selected files or directories.
- Cancel
Open ExamDiff Pro with empty text file panes (when the program is just
started), or close the dialog box without comparison (when the Compare
dialog is launched after a comparison). The former is useful to compare two
text fragments by either typing text or pasting it into ExamDiff Pro editable
text panes.
- Options
Change comparison options. If sessions (see below) are used,
options saved will be applied to the selected session.
- Swap
Swap files or directories selected for comparison.
- Exit
Exit without comparison.
If the Show sessions option is disabled, the unnamed default
session will be used.
If the Show sessions option is enabled, the session combo box that
contains auto sessions becomes visible. The following session management commands
are available (when the arrow button on the right of the combo box is clicked;
for modified session the arrow becomes red):
- New Session
Create a new session, optionally by cloning an existing one.
- Save Session
Sessions are saved whenever the Compare button on the Compare Dialog
is used. Alternatively, you can use this command to save the current session without
comparison, and move on to modifying another session.
- Delete Session
Delete the selected session.
- Rename Session
Rename the selected session.
- Copy Session
Copy one session to another.
- Save Session to File
- Load Session From File
Load a session from a session file and set it as the current session.
Contents|Index | 
Features
