Compare Folders

This program will compare the contents of two folders and display a list of any differences. It will also make a list and save it to a disk file of the files in a folder that can be used to compare against later to see if any changes have been made.

The Window

The GUI window has a menubar, Source file input field, Target file input field, Filter input field, a row of control checkboxes and buttons and a results display area.

• Source: Enter the source directory here. This would hold the current versions of a development project.
• Target: Enter the target directory here. This would be the backup version of a project.
• Filter: List the extensions of the files to be looked at, separated by ;
• Listing control Radio buttons:
  • Both: Displays information about the files from both the Source and Target directories
  • Source only: Only files from the source folder are listed
  • Target only: Only files from the target folder are listed
• Compare|Crt List - Starts the compare|create step
• Clear - Clears the log display
• Stop - Stops the compare process

Following two buttons are only used when there are too many lines to fit in a standard TextArea.

• Up i/n - go up one TextArea section. Currently in i of n.
• Down i/n - go down one TextArea section.

Menu Items

File

• Open props... - Opens a selected properties file.
• Copy ... - Will copy the selected files to a folder, preserving folder structure
• Exit - exits

Edit

• Find - Finds a string in the console log
• Find Next
• Select All - Selects all lines in the console log
• Options... - Opens the Compare Folder Options selection box

  Compare Folder Options

  • Show Filname Only
  • Show FullPath
  • Include SubDirectory
  • Show subdirectories searched
  • Show different Dates only
  • Copy to matching subdirectories
  • Compare Files List to directory - Select when using a .cfl file as target to compare old contents of a directory to current contents.
  • Show only files modified after: - Select when only want to see files with last modified dates after entered date.
  • Mon Day Year - Enter date here to select what files to compare.

Help

Displays About information and this file.

Compare Folders List (CFL Ext = .cfl)

The current contents of a folder can be saved in a file for later comparison. In the Target filename enter a name with the extension .cfl. The Compare button label will change to Crt List. When that button is pressed, a file is created that lists the filenames and last modified dates for all the files in the Source folder.

To compare the current contents of a folder to what it was when a CFL was saved, enter the source directory in the Source filename and the saved filename in the Target filename and select the Option|Compare Files List to Directory checkbox. Press the Compare button to do the compare.

Last modified 1 November 2001