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Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:09 am
by lwoods
What are all of these non-existent 'dwsynch.xml' files that are displayed as part of my compare, and why can't I get rid of them from the display? I am guessing that they are part of the ExamDiff compare process, but why do I care about them?

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:38 am
by psguru
They are not part of the comparison process, and I've never encountered dwsynch.xml files. Could you provide more details, a screenshot perhaps?

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 7:56 am
by lwoods
After getting your response I thought about this and I am using Adobe Dreamweaver (dw?) but here is the kicker. These files don't exist! I am going to attach a part of a compare and a Windows Explorer of the same folder and notice that I have "hidden" turned on. I guess the question is, why is ExamDiff finding these---and where are they? Also notice that there are some nonexistent folders ( _notes ).

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 8:23 am
by psguru
These files are indeed artifacts of DreamWeaver: https://macromedia.dreamweaver.narkive. ... -endlessly

What happens when you right-click on one of these files ans select Properties? Your screenshot of Explorer doesn't seem to match in its path any of the dwsynch.xml paths I see in the EDPro screenshot.

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:02 am
by lwoods
Yes and no. There is an "_notes" directory shown in the compare. But, in any case, I have attached a Win Ex of a child directory.

Interestingly, when I view Properties it shows the file that I looked at as "hidden", but the Win Exp doesn't show them.

I guess the final thing is that I have selected to exclude '*.xml' from the compares. I do see the note that I should use the Tools are to define these includes/excludes but I have to admit that I can't figure out what all of the "Add Ons" are all about!

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:13 am
by psguru
You can be more specific and exclude dwsynch.xml files, not all *.xml files. Just add dwsynch.xml to your Exclude filter after your existing filter and a comma.

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:15 pm
by lwoods
Can you give me a little more on the "comma" suggestion? I am putting each include and exclude on a separate line in the dropdown. Where does the comma come in?

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:16 pm
by psguru
Filters are comma-delimited, like

Code: Select all

*.aps,*.bak,*.bsc,*.clw,*.dll

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:00 pm
by lwoods
Last question and then I will leave you alone....

Then why are the filters shown as dropdowns?

BTW, you have been GREAT!

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2021 2:04 pm
by psguru
It's just for convenience, to keep the history of filters, so that you could easily go back to one of the previous ones.

Re: Nonexistent XML files. Why?

Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 4:01 am
by JeremyNicoll
lwoods wrote: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:02 am Yes and no. There is an "_notes" directory shown in the compare.
Your Windows Explorer screenshot showed the contents of

... wp-content\plugins\complex-ticketing\public

one of whose sub-folders is shown to be "_notes". But in the EDP screenshot the fourth dwsync.xml file is shown to be inside "\public\_notes\" not inside "\public\". You need to pay more attention to the "Relative path" column.


lwoods wrote: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:02 am But, in any case, I have attached a Win Ex of a child directory.
You may have intended to but I don't see that.

lwoods wrote: Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:02 am I guess the final thing is that I have selected to exclude '*.xml' from the compares. I do see the note that I should use the Tools are to define these includes/excludes but I have to admit that I can't figure out what all of the "Add Ons" are all about!
Add Ons (plugins) are for preprocessing files (or directory listings) so that when eg two files are compared, each one is first processed by a plugin, then the results of that processing are compared rather than the original files. That can be used for example to extract plain text from something like a PDF file (so binary content is ignored when the plain text part only is compared). Or, you might have some files whose layout is complex and a line by line comparison is never going to show anything sensible, so you write a preprocessor that revises such files' layout in some sensible way then use that as a plugin before comparing examples of those files.