PrestoSoft Community

Hello there,

I'm considering buying pro for our company to filter changes in CSV files.

I have the problem that sometime new and deleted lines are shown as changed, although they are very different.

Please see the example screenshot attached. Line 54/55 old and 52/53 new should not match.

Can somebody help me? I couldn't find any setting do fix that (e.g. fuzzy on/off). Generally, if the numbers at the beginning of the line (e.g. 547381 and 540069) are different, it should never match.

Thank you very much!
Tim

Hi Tim,

It sounds like what you're asking for is a mode in which there are no "changed" blocks — only added and deleted blocks.

ExamDiff Pro doesn't currently have this feature, but it is something that may be added in a later version.

For now, you can manually "split" changed blocks into pairs of added and deleted blocks by right clicking and selecting Split Block in the context menu. Please make sure to get the latest build of ExamDiff Pro as the Split Block feature had a minor bug that was recently fixed.

How does EDP decide that a block is sufficiently different to be flagged as 'changed' but not so different that it contains added lines, then?

The decision about Added/Deleted/Changed blocks is made based on lines that match. Diff blocks are isolated by identical (matching) lines, and if there are diffs in both files between matching lines, they are marked as Changed blocks. Otherwise, Added/Deleted.

OK; I /think/ that makes sense. I made four tiny text files with very small differences and I can see why with those one pair has a change whereas the other pair has an add and a delete.

Maybe what really puzzles me is what the OP's picture actually shows? How is it possible to have (in the lefthand view) lines whose line numbers jump from 18,19 to 54,55 and then the next numbered line clearly has 3 diigits?

He only shows diffs (using the view filter).

psguru wrote: ↑Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:47 pm Hi Tim,

It sounds like what you're asking for is a mode in which there are no "changed" blocks — only added and deleted blocks.

ExamDiff Pro doesn't currently have this feature, but it is something that may be added in a later version.

For now, you can manually "split" changed blocks into pairs of added and deleted blocks by right clicking and selecting Split Block in the context menu. Please make sure to get the latest build of ExamDiff Pro as the Split Block feature had a minor bug that was recently fixed.

Ok, I understand how the logic is.

Thank you, the "split" does somehow help but not really...

• 1. The split-function is only enabled in "Show All" mode, but not in "Show only differences", why ?
  
  2. If I split in "Show all" and switch back to "Show differences", it resets the split i just have done? I have to show differences only.
  
  3. If I split it, some other completely identical lines are shown changed, but only on one side, is this a bug??? (see screenshot lines 56-58)
  
  4. The "Save Diff File" does also ignore the split I have done.

Any ideas how I can solve this problems?

Thanks
Tim

1. The split-function is only enabled in "Show All" mode, but not in "Show only differences", why ?
2. If I split in "Show all" and switch back to "Show differences", it resets the split i just have done? I have to show differences only.

Yes, it's a design limitation. Split Block is designed to be used only for Show All, and it's not remembered between comparisons. It's an interactive tool, and what you really need is a way to "pre-split" all blocks automatically, which EDPro does not offer.

3. If I split it, some other completely identical lines are shown changed, but only on one side, is this a bug??? (see screenshot lines 56-58)

Are you using the latest build? This has been fixed there.

I'm guessing there are no plans to make it somehow remember between comparisons, Psguru?

No. Split Block command is a one-off operation to allow the user to view the diff block differently and possibly copy the added/deleted part of the block individually.

What would make more sense, and help the OP, is to add a new comparison option to treat all diffs as added/deleted, and thus not have changed blocks at all. We may introduce this feature in the next version if more users express the need for it.