Synchronize directories vs Compare content

[Thany]

I just found that while trying to synchronize directories, there are a whole bunch of files that are different. So far so good. Then when I doubleclick on a differing file, the "Compare content" window opens, *showing no differences*, while I would absolutely expect "Compare contents" to show the differences that "Synchronize directories" apparently does see.

Isn't that odd, to say the least? Apparantly the two features do not share a common comparison algorithm. I think this should be corrected. I don't know which way - one using the other's algo, or the other way round.

I suspect it's line endings that are different. And I suspect "Compare content" ignores them. But in "Synchronize directories" there no option to ignore them or not. It does have a feature to add plugins, but I'm not sure what it expects from me there, as the UI is confusing.

I think it would be best if "Synchronize directories" follows the same principles are "Compare content" in such cases where it's desired to only see meaningful changes, where I would not consider line endings to be meaningful differences. And how should "Synchronize directories" decide when line endings are a thing in a particular file (i.e. whether or not it's a text file)? I dunno. Same as how "Compare content" decides this. Otherwise just follow how source control systems do it, like git.

[ghisler(Author)]

When "Compare by content" opens but shows 0 differences, it means that
1. The two files are in fact different (there are bytes which are different),
but
2. the currently chosen comparison criteria do not result in any relevant differences.

This can be e.g. when
- ignoring upper/lowercase
- ignoring repeated spaces
- ignoring different types of line breaks (Windows / Linux / MacOS), which can't currently be disabled.

Moderator message from: ghisler(Author) » 2024-11-06, 08:44 UTC

Moved to will not be changed