Directory Comparison - General Options
Dialog Box Options
Recursive Comparison
Set the level of recursive comparison. Alternatively, you can use the Recursion drop-down toolbar button  .
- Do not compare subdirectories at all
If this option is selected, ExamDiff Pro will not attempt to compare subdirectories.
- Compare subdirectories only to determine their status
If this option is selected, ExamDiff Pro will try to figure out whether
contents of two subdirectories differ, and the subdirectories will be marked
as identical or different.
- Compare subdirectories recursively
If this option is selected, ExamDiff Pro will compare files in subdirectories
recursively.
Type of file comparison
These options select what type of comparison of matching files should be performed.
For every "Consider" option that is selected, ExamDiff Pro will perform that
test, in order, until it can conclude that the files are either identical or
different. If none of these options are selected or if none of the tests gives
a conclusive result, ExamDiff Pro must perform full file comparison (comparison
based on file contents) on the pair of matching files. This type of file
comparison is always slower but is ultimately accurate; also, it will use all
file comparison options and
plug-ins (if they are enabled for directory comparison)
Note that enabling any of the "Consider" options risks inaccuracies in
comparison, because it is possible for two files to have identical attributes
but still be different (though the likelihood of this is infinitesimal if CRCs
are compared), and it is also possible for files to have different attributes
but still be considered identical (for example, if white space is ignored).
- Perform full file comparison
This option forces full file comparison for every pair of matched files
by disabling all of the "Consider" options.
To enable or disable this option, you can also use the Full File Comparison toolbar
button  .
- Consider files with same size and timestamp identical
Mark files as identical if their sizes and timestamps match exactly.
- Consider files with same CRC identical
Mark files as identical if their CRCs are the same.
- Consider files with different sizes different
Mark files as different if their sizes differ.
- Consider files with different timestamps different
Mark files as different if their modification times differ.
- Consider files with different attributes different
Mark files as different if any of their attributes (archive,
hidden, read-only, system) differ.
- Consider files with different CRCs different
Mark files as different if their CRC32 values differ.
- Consider files with different versions different
Mark executable and DLL files as different if their file
versions differ.
For faster comparison
These options will make directory comparison faster:
- Do not calculate directory sizes
If this option is not checked, ExamDiff Pro will recursively
calculate the size of all files in each shown directory (for
non-recursive subdirectory handling).
- Do not calculate number of differences
If this option is not checked, ExamDiff Pro will calculate the number
of differences for each file and directory (if Status Only
subdirectory handling is used). This calculation will be performed
only if Perform full file comparison option is used, and it
may significantly slow down directory comparison. For files, number of
differing lines will be shown only for changed files.
Initial Sorting
This option specifies the initial sorting (by pane, column, and direction)
of files in directory comparison. ExamDiff Pro uses these settings whenever
directories are compared or re-compared.
- Combine first and second directory sort results
If this option is enabled, as it is by default, files appearing only in the unsorted directory
are also sorted. If this option is disabled, only files that are in the sorted
directory are sorted, with the remaining files appearing at the end in no
specific order (or, more accurately, retaining the previous sort order for these items).
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