Copyright: Copyright © 1996-2000 Scooter Software


"Sync-it-yourself" Feature

This feature manually links up lines in the side-by-side file viewer, overriding the built-in synchronization algorithm.

Right-click over each of the the lines you would like to line up, selecting Link from the popup menu.  The two lines that you select are forced together, and following lines are re-synchronized.  The spacebar is the keyboard shortcut for Link.

Click here for an example

You can use this feature several times to link up different parts of the files, as long as you work in a downward direction.  Each manual link causes a re-synchronization of the text below it, which will undo any manual links in that area.  Links are not saved when you exit the viewer.


Displays the program's About dialog, containing your registration info and the program's version number.


Selecting Acquire Cutoff sets the cutoff date for the "Older than cutoff" filter to that of the selected file.


Backup Files Before Copy option
Backup Files Before Copy

When selected, this option instructs Beyond Compare to rename the file in the target directory before copying over it.

Button	Menu equivalent

File | Backup Files Before Copy

Backup files have a tilde (~) character added to them.  Depending on the Backup Naming Style option selected under View | Main Window Options, the backup filename will take one of these formats:

Original name	Backup name	Explanation

Beyond32.exe	Beyond32.~ex	Extension is limited to 3 characters

Beyond32.exe	Beyond32.~exe	Extension is not limited

Beyond32.exe	~Beyond32.exe	Extension is not modified

Beyond32.exe	Beyond32.bak	Extension is replaced with .bak


Backup Files Before Save option
Backup Files Before Save

When selected, this option causes the file viewer to keep a copy of the original file before saving changes.  The name of the backup file depends on the Backup Naming Style option selected under View | Main Window Options.  For example, the backup of FOOBAR.TXT would be one of:

FOOBAR.~TX

FOOBAR.~TXT

~FOOBAR.TXT

FOOBAR.BAK

Button	Menu equivalent

(none)	File | Backup Before Save


Bookmark

Use the bookmark feature to save your position in the File Viewer for quick return.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

(none)	Search | Set Bookmark	Ctrl+K

(none)	Search | Go To Bookmark	Ctrl+Q


Collapse All feature
Collapse All

Close all subdirectories in the directory comparison.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Collapse All


Command Line Parameters

You can run Beyond Compare with command line parameters to speed access to your favorite directories.  You can specify:

a session name

a pair of directories, or

a pair of files.

If you specify an existing session name, that session will be loaded when Beyond Compare starts.  For example:

BEYOND32.EXE "My Application <-> Floppy"

You can specify two directories on the command line:

BEYOND32.EXE C:\ALPHA C:\BETA

Note:  If you specify directories on the command line, the filename filter will be "*.*".

You can also specify two files on the command line and Beyond Compare will compare these files, skipping the main (directory compare) window altogether.

BEYOND32.EXE APPLES.TXT ORANGES.TXT

In this case, Beyond Compare starts with a quick compare of the two files.  A dialog box will display the results.  Click the "View Files" button to display the files side-by-side in the file viewer.  If you would prefer to skip the quick compare and always go straight to the file viewer, select View | Main Window Options and disable the "Confirm File Viewing" option.

You can further control Beyond Compare by using command line switches.

Windows95/98/NT Shortcuts

To place a shortcut to a specific session on your desktop, start up the Windows Explorer, then locate the Beyond Compare program and drag it to a blank area of the desktop.  Then, right-click on the shortcut, select Properties from the popup menu, select the Shortcut tab and add edit the Target field to include the session name.

Notice that if the path to the Beyond Compare program contains spaces, there will be quotation marks around the path.  Add the session name after the quotes.  For example:

"C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare\1.9b\beyond32.exe" "My Application <-> Floppy"

Or, specify a pair of directories:

"C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare\1.9b\beyond32.exe" C:\ALPHA C:\BETA

Or, specify a pair of files:

"C:\Program Files\Beyond Compare\1.9b\beyond32.exe" C:\ALPHA\A.TXT C:\BETA\B.TXT

If the directories or files that you specify contain spaces, be sure to enclose them in quotes:

"C:\My Application\A Long Filename.PAS"

Windows95/98/NT Command Prompt

Another option in Windows 95/98/NT4 is to run Beyond Compare from a DOS prompt, or from the Start | Run command.  To simplify typing, consider adding Beyond Compare's program folder to your PATH definition.  Then, you could type simply:

BEYOND32 C:\ALPHA C:\BETA

Or,

BEYOND32 About.pas Save\About.pas

Batch Files

You can create a batch file to run multiple automated operations together.  Be sure to use the START /W command so that the command processor will wait for one instance of Beyond Compare to finish before starting the next.  For example:

START /W BEYOND32 C:\Project1 D:\Backups\Project1 /syncright /dor

START /W BEYOND32 C:\Project2 D:\Backups\Project2 /syncright /dor

START /W BEYOND32 C:\Project3 D:\Backups\Project3 /syncright /dor

(This example assumes that Beyond32.exe is in your path.)

See the topic Command Line Switches for a description of the various automation features.


Command Line Switches

These command line switches affect the behavior of Beyond Compare.

Switch	Function

/expandall	Expand all subfolders

/display=mismatches	Set initial display filter

/display=matches	"

/display=doubles	"

/display=mismatchdoubles	"

/display=singles	"

/display=older	"

/display=newer	"

/fileviewer	Start with file viewer, even if no files specified

/leftreadonly	Disable "copy left" operations

/readonly	Disable all copy, delete operations

/mergeoutput=<filename>	Save edited text in alternate file

/noedit	Disable editing functions in the file viewer

/configpath=<path>	Specify alternate folder for Beyond32.ini file

/configpath=exepath	Look for Beyond32.ini in the same folder as Beyond32.exe

The following switches perform automated operations without user interaction:

Switch	Function

/syncright	Automatically copy newer and missing files from left to right

/syncleft	Automatically copy newer and missing files from right to left

/dor	Delete orphaned files on right

/dol	Delete orphaned files on left

/out=<command>	Produce Directory Comparison or File Differences report

If you want the automated switches to affect files in subfolders, include the /expandall switch also.  You can combine switches on one line.  For  instance, combining /syncright and /dor will copy updated files to the right and also delete any orphaned files on the right.

Warning:  The above switches are designed to run from batch files with no user interaction.  All confirmation dialogs are suppressed.  If either base folder does not exists, the operation is ignored.


Comparing .DFM Files.

Borland Delphi's .DFM files are binary files, but Beyond Compare automatically converts them to text for viewing and editing.  They are displayed side-by-side so you can identify form properties that have changed.


Comparing Directories
Overview

Our biggest challenge in developing Beyond Compare is to provide a wide range of powerful features and options, yet keep the program easy to use.  While the number of options may seem overwhelming at first, these are the most important parts of the program:

Beyond Compare's main window presents a side-by-side view of two directories.  Click here for a screen shot image with embedded descriptions of the various interface elements and features.

Before comparing folders, you need to pick them.  The Session Settings dialog lets you specify the base folders for comparison, as well as file filters to limit the comparison.  This is also where you can manage saved sessions.

We've grouped the various options that control how folders and files are compared into File Comparison Rules (or simply "Rules").  There are predefined sets of Rules such as <default>, Quick,  C/C++, and Pascal.  You can add, delete or customize Rules as desired by opening Main Window Options and selecting the Rules tab.  Saved sessions include the name of the Rules that should be loaded with the session.

For comparing files side-by-side you will use the built it File Viewer, or possibly one of the plug-in viewers (available to registered users).  Here's a screen shot image of the File Viewer with descriptions of its various features.  Simply double-click on a line in the directory comparison to call up the appropriate viewer.  To view and compare files with different names, use the Link feature.


Comparing Files
The Default File Viewer

The File Viewer displays two text files side-by-side with differences highlighted.

Click here for a screen shot.

Both panes scroll together, either vertically or horizontally.  In addition to using the scroll bars, you can scroll to the right by pressing Ctrl+RightArrow or to the left with Ctrl+LeftArrow.

You can make one side or the other wider by dragging the splitter bar that separates the two panes.  Or, you can move the splitter with Alt+RightArrow and Alt+LeftArrow

Use these features to peruse your files:

Next, Previous Difference

Difference Filters

Find Text

Go To Line

You can produce a report of the differences between the files by selecting File | Differences Report.  A dialog box appears, allowing you to send the report to your printer, a disk file, or the clipboard.

Under Windows3.x/95/98, the File Viewer window is limited to comparing the first 32,500 lines of huge files.  This limitation does not apply to the Quick Compare function, which compares entire files.

WARNING:  You can view binary files if you like, but do not try to edit or save them!  If you do, they will be truncated at the first occurrence of an end-of-file mark (Ctrl+Z), and may have CR/LFs inserted!


Comparing Subdirectories

If the Show Folders option is selected (under View | Main Window Options), all subdirectories will appear with folder icons in the main window (no matter which file filters or display filter are specified).

You can double-click on the folders to "open" them and view their contents, or to "close" them.

File operations such as copy, delete and Quick Compare will work on entire subdirectories.  A folder needs to be "closed" to perform an operation on the entire folder.

You can open all folders with the Expand All function, or close them all with Collapse All.  Additionally, you can right-click over a folder and select Expand Subfolders to open all folders within the selected folder.

Using the keyboard, Enter will open or close a folder while Ctrl+Enter will open a folder and all its subfolders.


Comparison Criteria
Folder Comparison Criteria

The side-by-side folder compare window visually identifies matching and mismatching files.  By default, Beyond Compare just considers the files' date and time (timestamp), and size.  This information is quickly read from directory entries, so folder comparisons can be very fast.

You can change the rules for folder comparison by selecting View | File Comparison Rules and editing the options under the Criteria tab.  These options let you define what criteria is used to consider files as mismatches.

Deselect the Timestamp option if you would like to ignore differences in file timestamps.  If you deselect this option, you will probably want to enable the Contents option.

The At Least 2 Seconds Apart option is useful for comparing directories between computers with different file systems.  For instance, the DOS FAT file system only stores file timestamps to the nearest 2 seconds, while NTFS and HPFS systems can represent timestamps to the nearest 100 nanoseconds.  Copying across a network, between file systems, can result in files with slightly different timestamps.  If this option is selected, those files would be treated as if they had the same times.

Use the Ignore 1 Hour Differences option when dealing with discrepancies in how file servers and workstations handle Daylight Saving Time.  When enabled, timestamps that are exactly 1 hour apart are considered matching.

Generally speaking, files of differing size must be mismatches.  However, if you are comparing directories containing text files with mixed line termination and you want to use text-based content comparison, disable the Size option.

Normally, Beyond Compare lines up files with the same filename and extension.  Disable the File Type option if you would like to compare a directory with, for instance, ".txt" file extensions with another directory containing corresponding files with ".bak" file extensions.

Enable any of the Attribute options to flag differences in file attributes.

Enable the Contents option to automatically read and compare file contents when the directory is accessed.  Notice that this option may considerably slow the loading of directories.

The Use Text-Based Content Comparison option modifies the behavior of the Quick Compare function and the automatic content comparison criteria.  Instead of a straight binary comparison, a text-based compare assumes the files are text files and compares them line-by-line.  Differences in line termination are ignored, so you can compare a DOS style text file with a Unix style file.  The comparison stops on an end-of-file mark (Ctrl-Z).  WARNING:  If you compare binary files with this option selected, mismatched files may be erroneously displayed as exact matches.


Comparison Info

Displays a dialog box containing statistics for the currently displayed comparison.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Comparison Info	Ctrl+I


Configuring the Toolbar

You can change the toolbar layout by right-clicking over it and selecting "Configure Toolbar" from the pop-up menu.  Or, select View | Configure Toolbar from the main menu.

In the Configure Toolbar dialog box, drag buttons to or from the "currently on toolbar" list.  You can also rearrange the buttons by dragging them to different positions.


Contents

Welcome to Beyond Compare

What is Beyond Compare?

Features

Who is Scooter Software?

What Do You Want to Compare Today?

Keeping folders in sync

Merging changes to source code

Verifying CD copies

Dealing with Daylight Saving problems

How to Compare Folders

Overview

What's a session?

What are rules?

Criteria for mismatched files

Controlling what displays

Including subfolders

Sorting the display

Finding a filename quickly

Comparing files with different names

Adjusting for different time zones

Quick compare of file contents

Printing a comparison report

How to Synchronize Folders

Synchronize folders

Copying files and folders

Deleting files and folders

Renaming files

Touching files

How to Compare Files

The default file viewer

Plug-in file viewers

Visualizing whitespace

Controlling text synchronization

Sync-it-yourself

Editing files

Printing a differences report

Line termination issues

Comparing .DFM files

Ignoring leading, trailing columns

Miscellaneous Topics

Customizing program behavior

Open with...

Drag and Drop

Keyboard shortcuts

Command line parameters

Command line switches

Sharing Beyond Compare on a network

Direct Cable Connection (DCC)

Error codes

Ordering, Support

License Agreement

Pricing

Where's the disk?

How to order Beyond Compare

How to contact us


Copy to Clipboard

This command copy text from the selected lines to the Windows clipboard.  A dialog will appear, allowing you to chose just the right side, the left side, or both sides.  If you choose both sides, the text from each side will be separated by a tab character.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	Edit | Copy to Clipboard	Ctrl+C


Copy to Folder

This function copies selected files to a specified folder.  A dialog will prompt you to select which side of the directory comparison to copy from, and allows you to specify a folder to copy to.

Only selected files are copied - not folders.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Copy to Folder	(none)


Cutoff Date, Time

This feature allows you to ignore files that are beyond a specified cutoff date.  From the main menu select Display Filter | Set Cutoff and enter a date.  You can pick either older or newer files to ignore.  The "Today" or "This Week" buttons are shortcuts.

If you have the legend bar enabled, the cutoff date/time will appear on it as a reminder.  (You can also double-click over the legend bar to edit the cutoff date.)  You can quickly set the cutoff date to match a file or directory date by right-clicking over the appropriate entry and selecting Acquire Cutoff from the popup menu.

Assuming you have selected the "exclude older than" option, files will not appear in the directory comparison unless at least one of the pair is newer than the cutoff.  Therefore, if files (matched or mismatched) are both the same as or older than the cutoff, they do not appear.  If a file is on one side but not the other (orphaned) and is the same as or older than the cutoff, it will not appear.  These rules are followed regardless of the Display Filter selection in effect.

Files older than or equal to the cutoff will only appear if there is a newer (than cutoff) version in the other directory.  The older file will appear in a different color.

The oldest cutoff date you can specify is January 1, 1980.


Delete feature
Delete Files or Folders

This function deletes the selected files or folders after appropriate confirmation.  Since items from both side may be selected at a time, a confirmation dialog is displayed allowing you to delete just left side, right side or items from both sides.  BE VERY CAREFUL with this function, particularly when deleting entire folders.  Currently, the delete function DOES NOT use the recycle bin.

To delete a folder and all its contents, it must be "closed".

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

File | Delete	Del


Difference Filters

Select one of these options to control the file viewer display.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Show All

View | Just Differences

View | Just Major Differences

View | Just Matching Text


Differences report
File Differences Report

This feature produces a report of the differences between the files.  A dialog box appears, allowing you to send the report to your printer, a disk file, or the clipboard.  When selected from the main folder compare window, a composite report is produced for all selected files.

Button	Menu equivalent

File | Differences Report


Direct Cable Connection (DCC)

Windows' Direct Cable Connection offers a convenient way to compare and move files between computers that are not otherwise networked.  DCC is part of Windows95/98/NT and uses printer or COM ports, connected with special cables, to transfer data.  The special cables are readily available at computer retail stores.

If installed, DCC is found in the Start menu under Programs | Accessories.  If you have trouble connecting with DCC, you may need to install the NetBEUI protocol in your Network configuration.  Look up Direct Cable Configuration in Windows Help for assistance.

To use Beyond Compare over DCC, use the UNC path name for the remote folder.  For instance, if connected to a computer named "Leslie" with its C: drive shared as "C-Drive", you could access the Program Files folder by specifying this base folder name:

\\Leslie\C-Drive\Program Files

Notice that Windows does not support browsing the Network Neighborhood to locate a DCC connected computer.


This header area displays the base folders of the directories being compared.  It also identifies the "active" side for operations that act on one side only (such as the "Open With" function).


This optional status bar provides information about the files displayed above.  You can disable by clearing the View | Statusbar option on the main menu.


Display Filters

In addition to file filters which limit comparison to types of files, you can filter the directory display based on how the directory entries match.

Note that matches and mismatches are determined by the folder comparison criteria in the current Rules.  For instance, you can instruct Beyond Compare to ignore the file date/time and compare file contents instead.

The display filter buttons on the toolbar let you quickly switch between viewing any files, matching files, or mismatched files.  The Single Side filter displays "orphaned" files - files that are on one side but not the other.  This filter is useful for isolating missing or obsolete files.

The Cutoff Date, Time feature can further limit the display of files.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Any Matches

Display Filter | Show Mismatched Files

Display Filter | Show Matching Files

Display Filter | Show Double Sides

Display Filter | Show Mismatched Double Sides

Display Filter | Show Single Sides

Display Filter | Show Left Side Older Files

Display Filter | Show Left Side Newer Files


Distribution
Where's the Disk?

The Beyond Compare program is distributed electronically, available from a variety of on-line locations.  In today's "connected" world, this is the fastest method of distribution and the easiest way to provide you with program updates.  As such, there are no diskettes or printed manual (although the program has this extensive help file).

When you register, we send you a registration code that you key into the program, converting it from an evaluation copy to a registered copy.

For the latest version of the program, current pricing, and other news, please visit our web site.


Drag and Drop

You can use the Windows "drag and drop" facility with Beyond Compare to compare files or directories.  Drag a pair of files or folders from programs such as the Windows Explorer and drop them on Beyond Compare for comparison.

If Beyond Compare is not already running, drag the items over the Beyond Compare program icon.

If Beyond Compare is running, you can drop a folder onto the left or right pane of the main directory comparison window to open the folder there.  Or, drop a pair of folders anywhere over the main window to open them both.

For text files, drop one on either the left or right pane of the File Viewer window, or drop a pair of files anywhere over the window.

If you drop more than two files or folders, only the first two are recognized.

In Windows95/98/NT, if Beyond Compare is running but minimized or in the background,  you can drag the items over the Beyond Compare button on the taskbar, wait a moment (without releasing), and Windows will bring Beyond Compare to the foreground for you.

Speed Tip:  In your "Send to" menu add a shortcut to Beyond Compare, and you'll always have it handy for comparing folders or files.


These lines have been edited by copying the contents of the left file to the right.


Editing Files

You can selectively reconcile differences between text files by copying, inserting, deleting or editing lines.

In the Viewer window, select the lines you would like to edit.  To select an entire section of mismatched text, double-click over it.  Or, hold down the Ctrl key while double-clicking to add the section to your current selection.  Then pick a copy, insert, or delete operation.

Deleted text is changed to gray with a strike-through line.  Copied text is colored teal in the target file, and a small red arrow indicates the direction of the copy.  Here's a sample.

If the Line Details option is enabled (View | Line Details), you can also edit individual lines.

The status bar shows a reminder that a file has been modified.  You can cancel editing by selecting lines and picking Undo Edit from the popup menu.  Or, you can select Reload Files to revert to the stored version of the files.

Select Save to save your modifications.  If the File | Backup Before Save option is selected, Beyond Compare will keep a copy of the original file, adding a tilde "~" to the file extension.

Or, you can select Save As to save the modified file under a different filename.

WARNING:  The File Viewer can open binary files, but do not try to edit or save them!  If you do, they will be truncated at the first occurrence of an end-of-file mark (Ctrl+Z), and may have CR/LFs inserted!


Editing Files Screen Shot
This is a sample of a file viewer editing session.


Editing buttons
File Editing Commands

You can selectively reconcile differences between text files by copying, inserting, or deleting selected lines.  First, select a line or lines.  Then, right-click over the selection and pick one of the following commands from the popup menu.  If you select an Insert command, the cursor will change to an insert pointer and you can click on the line that you want to insert text in front of.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

Edit | Copy Right ->	Ctrl+R

Edit | <- Copy Left	Ctrl+L

Edit | Delete Left

Edit | Delete Right

Edit | Insert Right ->

Edit | <- Insert Left

If the Line Details option is enabled (View | Line Details), you can make changes to specific lines.  The current line in the File Viewer is also displayed in the Line Details area, with the line from the left file appearing on top of the line from the right file.  Double-click on either line in the Line Details area to open the line for editing.  Press Enter to save or Esc to cancel your changes.  You can also edit a line by selecting one of these commands from the menu:

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

Edit | Edit Left

Edit | Edit Right

You can  cancel any of the above editing commands by selecting a line or lines with modifications and then picking the Undo command:

Edit | Undo Edit

Please Note:  Only one editing command can be used on one line, so for instance you can't move a line by copying right and deleting left.  These editing commands don't actually take effect until the file is saved.  If you reload either file, or refresh the comparison, all editing changes will be lost.  If you manually resynchronize text, all editing changes below that point will be lost.


Error Codes

If you get an error message in Beyond Compare, hopefully it will be self-explanatory.  If not -- if you see a blunt message such as "I/O Error 3" or "Access Violation" -- it means we have failed to properly identify and handle a special condition.  Please let us know when this happens so we can improve the program.

Access Violation at xxxxxxxx

This is a serious failure in the program.  To make sense of the error address, we need to know the specific version of the program.

I/O Error Codes

These DOS error codes might help you understand or work around an error condition.

2	File not found

3	Path not found

4	Too many files open

5	Access denied

19	Disk write-protected

21	Drive not ready

23	Uncorrectable data error on disk

25	Seek error

28	Printer out of paper

29	Write fault

30	Read fault

31	General failure

32	Sharing violation

33	Lock violation

53	Network name not found

55	Device no longer exists on network

59	Unexpected network error


Expand All button
Expand All

Open all subdirectories in the directory comparison.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Expand All


Features
Folder Compare Features:

Side-by-side comparison of two folders

Explorer-style tree of embedded folders

Color highlighting of newer files, mismatched files

Multiple filename/extension filters

Saves your favorite "sessions" for fast repositioning

Compare, copy, delete, rename, or touch files

Sort the comparison by file name, type, date or size

Fast byte-by-byte compare of files - are they really the same?

Detect or  ignore differences in file types, timestamps, attributes, etc

Recursive binary comparison of directory trees

Drag and drop support for folders and files

Adjusts for different timezones, Daylight Saving Time

File Compare Features:

Side by side comparison of two text files

Color highlighting of mismatched, inserted lines

Thumbnail view of all differences

Edit, copy, or delete lines

Unique "Sync-it-yourself" manual synchronization override

Can ignore differences in whitespace, programming comments

Compares Delphi form files (.dfm) as plain text

Handles large files, long lines

Registered Users Only:

Open files with your favorite editors

Specialty plug-in viewers, such as Hex viewer for binary files


File Copy buttons
Copy or Move Files or Folders

Use the Copy Right and Copy Left functions to copy selected items from the left directory to the right, or vice versa.

Use the Move Right and Move Left functions to move rather than copy the items.

A dialog box prompts you to confirm the operation (unless you turn off the Confirm File Copy or Move option).  If you attempt to replace a newer file with an older one a larger warning box appears.

To copy or move a folder (and all its contents), first make sure the folder is "closed".

If the Backup Files Before Copy option is selected, Beyond Compare will rename the file in the target directory before replacing it.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

File | Copy Right	Ctrl+R  (also  Ctrl+RightArrow)

File | Copy Left	Ctrl+L  (also  Ctrl+LeftArrow)

(none)	File | Move Right	(none)

(none)	File | Move Left	(none)


This header area identifies the files being compared.  One side is highlighted to identify the selected side for certain operations.


File Viewer Options button
File Viewer Options

This command calls up the options dialog for the file viewer.  Use it to configure the appearance of the File Viewer and Difference Report.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Options | File Viewer Options


File Viewer Screen Shot
This is the File Viewer window, highlighting the differences in text files side-by-side.  Click on any area in the figure below for further explanation:


Find Filename

To quickly find a specific file in a long directory display, simply type the first few letters of the filename.  The display will scroll to matching entries as you type.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	Search | Find Filename	Ctrl+F


Find Text feature
Find Text, Find Text Again

These buttons let you search for specific text in either file.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

Search | Find	Ctrl+F

Search | Find Again	F3


Go To Line feature
Go To Line

This feature lets you go to a specific line number.  A dialog box will appear, allowing you to specify the line number and which side it applies to.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

Search | Go To Line	Ctrl+G


Displays this help file


How To Contact Us

Registered users are entitled to prompt e-mail support.  We are also happy to support unregistered users while they are evaluating the software.

Please send any comments, suggestions or bug reports to:

support@scootersoftware.com

If you need help ordering Beyond Compare, contact:

sales@scootersoftware.com

Our mailing address is:

Scooter Software

2828 Marshall Court, #208

Madison, WI  53705-2276

USA

For the latest version of Beyond Compare and for other news about the program, visit our web site at:

www.scootersoftware.com


Ignoring Leading, Trailing Columns

If your text files contain line numbers at the beginning or end of each line (such as COBOL source), you may want to ignore them for the purpose of comparing text.

In the File Comparison Rules dialog under the Miscellaneous tab, you can specify the first and/or last significant column.

The ignored columns are displayed in gray.


Keeping Folders in Sync

Beyond Compare is great for keeping two folders in sync with each other.  If you sync a pair of folders often, you can create a shortcut to speed the process:

1.	In the Session Settings dialog, create a named session with the two folder names, specify file filters if desired, and set the initial condition "Only Show Mismatched Files".

2.	Create a new shortcut to Beyond Compare on your desktop.

3.	Right-click on the shortcut, select Properties, and go to the Shortcut tab.

4.	In the Target field, add the name of your session in quotes at the end of the line.  For instance:

C:\Beyond Compare\beyond32.exe "Daily Correspondence"

To sync the folders, double-click on the new shortcut and then select Synchronize Right and/or Synchronize Left.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Here's a summary of the various keyboard shortcuts in Beyond Compare.

In the main Folder Compare window:

Shortcut	Action

Spacebar	Compare to...

Ctrl+R or Ctrl+RightArrow	Copy right

Ctrl+L or Ctrl+LeftArrow	Copy left

Del	Delete

Alt+F4	Exit program

Ctrl+F	Find filename

RightArrow	Focus right pane

LeftArrow	Focus left pane

Ctrl+I	Information

Enter	Open

Ctrl+P	Produce Directory Comparison report

Ctrl+Q	Quick Compare

F2	Rename

Ctrl+A	Select all

Ctrl+S	Session settings

Ctrl+T	Touch

F5	Refresh

In the File Viewer:

Shortcut	Action

Ctrl+K	Bookmark, Set

Ctrl+Q	Bookmark, Go to

Esc or Alt+F4	Close viewer

Ctrl+V	Compare clipboard

Ctrl+R	Copy right

Ctrl+L	Copy left

Ctrl+C	Copy selection to clipboard

Ctrl+F	Find text in file

F3	Find same text again

RightArrow	Focus right pane

LeftArrow	Focus left pane

Ctrl+N	Go to next difference

Ctrl+P	Go to previous difference

Ctrl+G	Go to specific line number

Ctrl+I	Information

Spacebar	Manually sync lines

Alt+RightArrow	Move splitter right

Alt+LeftArrow	Move splitter left

Ctrl+O	Open file

Ctrl+D	Produce File Differences report

F5	Refresh

Ctrl+S	Save file

Ctrl+RightArrow	Scroll right

Ctrl+LeftArrow	Scroll left

Ctrl+A	Select all


The optional legend bar identifies the current color scheme.  It can be enable or disabled by toggling View | Legend on the main menu.


License Agreement

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using Beyond Compare for Windows. Unless you have a different license agreement signed by Scooter Software, your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty. If you do not accept these terms you must cease using this software immediately.

Copyright

Beyond Compare for Windows ("the Software") is copyright © 1996-2000 by Scooter Software, all rights reserved.

Evaluation and Registration

This is not free software. You are hereby licensed to use the Software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 30 days. If you use the Software after the 30 day evaluation period a registration fee as described in the documentation is required. Unregistered use of the Software after the 30-day evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws.

One registered copy of the Software may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more workstations, or installed on a single workstation used by multiple people, but not both.

An organization may purchase a multi-user license amounting to either the number of individuals who have access to the Software on any number of workstations, or the number of workstations that will access the Software by any number of individuals.

Distribution

Provided that you do not include your Registration ID Number (stored in the .INI file) you are hereby licensed to make copies of the Software; give exact copies of the original to anyone; and distribute the Software in its unmodified form via electronic means. You are specifically prohibited from charging for any such copies.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.


Line Details

The optional Line Details area "zooms in" on the current pair of lines selected in the File Viewer.  It uses the entire width of the viewer window to display each line, one on top of the other.  You can click on a character to determine its column number.

Use the following command to show or hide the Line Details area:

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Thumbnail View

You can edit lines by double-clicking them in the Line Details area.  The following image shows the top line (from the left side file) open for editing:


Line Termination

Text files normally contain invisible control characters that mark the end of each line.  Different operating systems and applications use different conventions for these control characters.  For example, DOS and Windows text files normally have a carriage return (ASCII code 13) and a line feed (ASCII code 10) at the end of each line.  But Unix uses line feeds alone for line terminators.  Some applications produce output files that use a carriage return alone, or in some obscure cases a line feed followed by a carriage return.

The situation is further complicated when a file originally from a Unix system is changed by a Windows workstation and ends up with a mixture of different line terminations in the same file.

Beyond Compare is designed to be tolerant of different line termination styles.  In the file viewer you can compare a file using one style side-by-side with a file using a different style.  Also, the "text-based content comparison" option lets you do Quick Compares of text files ignoring differences in line termination.

In the File Comparison Rules dialog under the Miscellaneous tab, you can select one of these two modes:

Consistent

Each file can use any combination of carriage return and line feed control characters, but it must be consistent throughout a single file.  Control characters that don't fit the pattern used on the first line of the file are displayed as rectangular boxes and don't cause a line break.

Flexible

The file can use any mix of the standard DOS/Windows or Unix styles of line termination.


Line Weights

Line Weighting lets you assign higher or lower synchronization priority to lines that contain key text.  For instance, for Delphi code you may want to give precedence to lines that match AND contain the word "procedure" or "function".  This would tend to line up routines of the same name even if their contents had changed substantially.

Likewise, you may want to give a lower priority to matching lines with commonly occurring text, such as "begin" and "end".

In the Line Weights memo box, enter numeric weights followed by a slash and a key word or phrase.  A "normal" match is given a weight of two (2), so use a weight of one (1) for trivial matches and larger values for more important matches.


Link Files feature
Compare To

This function lets you compare two files with different names.  Right-click over the first file and select Compare To from the popup menu.  Then select the second file.  The files can be in the same directory or different directories.

If you right-click over the second file, you can optionally perform a Quick Compare of the two files.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Compare To...	Spacebar


Main Window Options button
Main Window Options

This command opens the Main Window Options dialog.  Use it to customize the appearance and functionality of directory comparisons.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Main Window Options


Main Window Screen Shot
This is Beyond Compare's main window.  You may have more or fewer buttons on the toolbar depending on your current toolbar configuration.  Click on any area in the figure below for further explanation:

Colored text highlights changed files (based on file dates, sizes).  The small rectangular color spots hold their color when a line is highlighted, allowing you to clearly read highlighted text without losing the color cues.

If you have long filenames that are chopped off, drag the edge of the window for a wider display or select a smaller font.


Managing Sessions
What is a Session?

A unique feature of Beyond Compare is its use of named "sessions" to remember what and how you want to compare.  Sessions are quickly retrieved from the Sessions Settings dialog or the list of most recently used sessions.  Sessions are stored in the BEYOND32.INI (or BEYOND16.INI) file located in your Windows directory.

For example, you might save a session called "My Application <-> Floppy" that helps you transport Delphi source code via diskette.  This session could identify C:\DELPHI\MYAPP as the left-hand directory; A:\ as the right-hand directory; and *.pas, *.dfm, *.dpr, *.bmp as the file filters.  You can leave out other files such as *.dcu, *.dsm and *.dsk which you probably don't want to copy to a different Delphi installation.

Alternatively, you can include all files (*.*) and then specify files to skip.  Use a hyphen in front of a file filter to exclude that class of files.  For instance, the filter -*.~?? will suppress the display of the "backup" files that Beyond Compare creates.  Exclusion filters should come after filters that include the files that you want to exclude.  Clear?

The <untitled> session refers to the last time you used Beyond Compare without using or saving a named session.

To return to a recent saved session, select File from the main menu and pick from the 9 most recently used sessions.  If you typically pick a session from the File menu you may want to disable the Session Settings Dialog on Startup option.

Sessions are managed from the Session Settings dialog box, which is accessed by:

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard Shortcut

File | Session Settings	Ctrl+S

Speed Tip:  You can create an icon to run Beyond Compare with a particular session name on the command line.


Matching directory entries are shown in black by default.


Lines that are identical are displayed in black by default.


MatriDigm

This copy of Beyond Compare has been customized for the MatriDigm corporation.  Please note that some of the functions described in these help topics are not present or may work differently.

In particular, functions that copy, delete or edit files have been removed so as to not interfere with batch controlled operations.


Merging Changes to Source Code

Whether you program in C++, VB, Delphi, HTML or any other language, Beyond Compare can help you manage changes to your source code.  The side-by-side directory comparison quickly isolates files that have changed, and the file viewer lets you analyze the differences.  You can easily merge changes made by independent work on the source code - perhaps by programmers in different locations.  It also works for keeping code in sync that is maintained for different platforms.


Mismatched lines are displayed in color.  One color is used for "similar" text and another is used for different text.

"Similar" text is defined as differing only in leading or trailing whitespace, or upper vs lower case.  Lines are scanned from their ends towards the middle until different (non-similar) text is found.


This section represents missing text - perhaps lines that were deleted from this file or lines that were inserted in the opposite file.  You can control how missing text is displayed by setting options in View | Viewer Options..


Files with newer date stamps are shown in red by default.  Also, files with matching date stamps but differing sizes are shown in red in both directories.


Next, Prev buttons
Next Difference, Previous Difference

These buttons jump to the next or previous section of mismatched text.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

Search | Next Difference	Ctrl+N

Search | Previous Difference	Ctrl+P


Older files are shown in gray by default.


Open With
Open With...

The Open With feature allows you to open files with other applications, such as your favorite text editor.  Right-click over a file in the Main Window, select Open With and the appropriate application, and that application will be run on the file selected.  Although both side-by-side files may be highlighted, Beyond Compare is sensitive to which one was clicked over.

You can also right-click over a file in the File Viewer window and select Open With from the popup menu.  And, if your editor supports it, you can have the editor jump to the same line as selected in the File Viewer (see Replaceable Parameters below).

The Open With menu will also automatically show any installed plug-ins, so you can override the assigned viewer selection for particular files.

The Open With feature is only available in the registered program.

Setting Up "Open With" Applications

From the Main Window menu, select View | Options, and then select the Open With tab.  In the memo field, enter the applications you would like to access.  Here are some examples:

Notepad=notepad.exe "%f"

Wordpad=write.exe "%f"

Hex Editor=C:\Program Files\HexEdit\HexEdit.exe "%f"

QuikView=c:\windows\system\viewers\quikview.exe "%f"

You do not need to specify the folder if the program is in the Windows folder.  Note that the WordPad program file is called write.exe.

Replaceable Parameters

The %f at the end of the example lines means "insert filename here".  If you leave if off, Beyond Compare simply adds the current filename at the end of the line before carrying out the operation.  The quotes around the filename parameter help insure that long filenames are passed correctly.

If you specify %f twice, the left and right filenames will both be sent to the application (although most applications don't support two filenames on their command lines).

In addition, you can use %l (lower case "L") to represent the current line number.  Some editors recognize a line number on their command line and go to that line automatically.

Suppose you are comparing two versions of the file "mouse.txt" and you wish to use your "Cat" editor to edit the left file.  You are positioned on line 75 in the left file.

"Open With" definition	Resultant operation

Cat=c:\util\cat.exe	c:\util\cat.exe mouse.txt

Cat=c:\util\cat.exe %f/L=%l	c:\util\cat.exe mouse.txt/L=75

Cat=c:\util\cat.exe "%f" -#%l -s3	c:\util\cat.exe "mouse.txt" -#75 -s3

Consult your editor's documentation for the proper command line syntax, and test the configuration with long filenames.


You can configure Beyond Compare to open files with your favorite utilities.

The Open With menu will also automatically show any installed plug-ins, so you can override the assigned viewer selection for particular files.

(registered program only)


Open File

Select this command to open a different file into the selected side of the file viewer.  First, select the appropriate side by clicking on it or using the cursor keys.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

File | Open	Ctrl+O


Beyond Compare 1.x Order Form	1.9b	Date: ______________

To:	Scooter Software	From:	__________________________________________

2828 Marshall Ct, #208	__________________________________________

Madison, WI  53705-2276	__________________________________________

USA	__________________________________________

Fax:  608-233-0246	__________________________________________

1)  Select One:     ___ Check is Enclosed            ___ Send Invoice (Purchase Order is Attached)

2)  Use the price list at the bottom of this page to fill in the appropriate amounts here:

Part# 	Description	# Users	Price	Total

______	Beyond Compare version 1.9 - ______ user license	_______	________

          International Bank Transfer	__$15__	________

          Sales tax (Wisconsin USA residents only)	__5.5%_	________

Total	________

3)  If you elect to pay by International Bank Transfer, please include the $15 charge in your order.  We will send you our bank details along with our invoice.

4)  If you send a check in "US$", then it must be from a US or Canadian bank.  We can also accept checks from many other countries, at the current exchange rate.  Contact us for a quote.

5)  Please indicate how you would like your license identified.  Use your organization's name, or your own name if you are ordering the license for personal use.

License Holder:	__________________________________________

6)  Specify a contact name and e-mail address for us to use to send your registration code and for program update notices.  (We will never use this data for any other purpose, or give it to anyone else.)

Contact:	__________________________________________

Email Address:	__________________________________________

Price List:

Part#	#Users	Price (US$)	Part#	#Users	Price (US$)

BC1X1	1	$30	BC1X128	128	$240

BC1X2	2	$60	BC1X256	256	$270

BC1X4	4	$90	BC1X512	512	$300

BC1X8	8	$120	BC1X1K	1024	$330

BC1X16	16	$150	BC1X2K	2048	$360

BC1X32	32	$180	BC1XU	unlimited	$390

BC1X64	64	$210	BC1XD	doubler	$30

If you want to add to your existing license, enter your current registration code here _________________ and order one or more "doublers".  Each doubler ($30) doubles your count of licensed users.

These prices are valid through June 30, 2000.  For current pricing information or other payment options, visit www.scootersoftware.com or contact sales@scootersoftware.com


Ordering Info
How to Order Beyond Compare

Step 1 - Evaluate the Program

You can use the program free for 30 days to see if it suits your needs.  If you use it beyond 30 days you are obliged to pay the license fee.  Please read the License Agreement for details.  If you do not register the program, it will stop functioning 45 days after it was first run.  If you need more time for evaluation, please e-mail us for an extension.

Step 2 - Purchase a License

The single user license fee for the full program is US$30.  We have discounted pricing for multi-user site licenses.

To pay by check, company purchase order, or international bank transfer, please fax or mail this Order Form.

You can also purchase a license using a major credit card, over the phone, by fax, or online from a secure web site.  For instructions, please visit our web site at:

http://www.scootersoftware.com/ordering.html

Step 3 - Unlock the Program

Once we receive your order, we e-mail you back with your registration ID that unlocks the program, usually within 24 hours.  If you register on-line or by phone and do not hear from us within 48 hours, please send us a message.

When you receive your registration ID, start up your copy of the program and choose Register from the "Thank you for trying Beyond Compare" screen (or, select Help | Register from the main menu).  Enter the registration data exactly as shown, since the registration ID is keyed to this information.

The registration ID disables the "nag" screen, removes the 45 day timeout, and unlocks support for plug-in viewers and the Open With feature.  Registered users also have access to bonus plug-in viewers from a special "members only" web page.

Your registration ID will work with both BEYOND16 and BEYOND32, as well as all subsequent minor version updates.


Output Options on Command Line

There are a variety of output styles and options available in Beyond Compare.  Output can be generated automatically by using the /out command line switch in shortcuts or batch file commands.

A Directory Comparison report can be generated for the base folders (or session) named on the command line.  A File Comparison report can be generated for a pair of files named on the command line.  If you specify base folders (or a session) along with a File Comparison report style, a File Comparison report will be generated for every file pair found in those folders.

Here is a sample /out switch:

/out=201dh:report.txt

The first digit controls where the report is sent (printer, file or clipboard); the next two digits represent the report style; and then a series of letters determine various options.  In this example, a side-by-side File Comparison report of "differences only" is stored in report.txt, in HTML format.

The easiest way to come up with the command line switch is to run Beyond Compare interactively, select the desired report options, and then notice the sample command line switch displayed in the lower right-hand corner of the dialog:


Plug-in viewers
Plug-ins

Plug-ins are add-on products that enhance and extend Beyond Compare's functionality.  For instance, the hex viewer plug-in displays binary files side-by-side in hexadecimal notation.

We also have a Plug-in Toolkit product that helps Delphi programmers produce custom plug-ins for Beyond Compare.

Support for plug-ins is only available when the program is registered.  See our web site for a list of available plug-ins.

Installing Plug-ins

A plug-in is provided as a .DLL file.  To install:

1.	Copy the plug-in .DLL to the same directory as the Beyond Compare program.

2.	Start Beyond Compare and select View | Options.

3.	Under the Plug-ins tab, click the "Install New Plug-in" button and enter the name of the plug-in (the filename without the extension).

4.	Specify the file extensions you would like the plug-in to process.  If more than one, separate with spaces.  An asterisk ('*') refers to "all extensions", and a forward slash ('/') refers to files without extensions.

5.	Drag the new plug-in definition up through the list to an appropriate spot.

When viewing files, Beyond Compare will search down the Installed Plug-ins list and use the first one that matches the file extension being processed.  You can change the order in this list by dragging the plug-in names to different positions.

The built-in file viewer appears as "<default>".  You can't remove it but you can change which file extensions it handles, and you can change its order in the list.


Pricing

These prices are valid through March 31, 2000.  For current pricing information visit our web site.

Single-User Pricing

The single user license fee is US$30.

Licensee can use Beyond Compare on any number of computers.

Right to use both 16-bit and 32-bit products.

Free upgrades through version 1.9.

Multi-User Pricing

An organization can license its members or employees (but not its customers) using our heavily discounted pricing scheme.

For each additional $30 you double the number of licensed users within your organization.  We call these "license doublers".  You can extend your user count at any time by purchasing additional license doublers.

Redistribution

If you would like to resell Beyond Compare to your customers, or integrate Beyond Compare with your products or services, please contact us for more information.


Pricing Table
Beyond Compare Pricing Table

These prices are valid through June 30, 2000.  For current pricing information visit our web site.

Number of Users	Total Amount (US$)

1	$30

2	$60

4	$90

8	$120

16	$150

32	$180

64	$210

128	$240

256	$270

512	$300

1024	$330

2048	$360

unlimited	$390


Printing a directory comparison
Directory Comparison Report

The Directory Comparison report mimics the layout of the side-by-side folder compare window.  Use the display filter buttons to control both the main window and the report contents.

You can optionally send the report to a text file, or copy it to the clipboard.

Button	Menu equivalent

File | Directory Comparison Report


Quick Compare feature
Quick Compare

This function does a binary comparison of the selected files.  The files can be of any type.  A message informs you whether all files match or which files don't.

Button	Menu equivalent

File | Quick Compare


Read-only Attribute
Read-only

This feature of the main folder comparison window lets you set or clear the Read-only attribute on selected files.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Read-only	(none)


Refresh button
Refresh

Click this button to refresh the directory display.  This will reflect any changes made by other applications or other network users.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

View | Refresh	F5


Reload Files button
Reload Files

This feature reloads both files.  Use it to display any changes made to the files (by other applications) since the File Viewer was invoked.  You will lose any "sync-it-yourself" alignments or editing modifications you may have made.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

View | Refresh	F5


Remove Read-only

This feature of the File Viewer window lets you clear the Read-only attribute of the file on the selected side.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Remove Read-only	(none)


Rename feature
Rename

This function lets you rename the selected file or folder.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Rename	F2


Rules
What are Rules?

File Comparison Rules (or simply "rules") refer to sets of options that control how folders and files are compared.

Rules are made up of options that control:

what indicates a mismatch in the directory comparison window

tab stops

how hard the file viewer should work at lining up text

what makes up "minor differences" in text and whether they should be ignored

line weighting to assign higher priority to lines containing certain words

line termination handling options

starting, ending columns for comparison

Since you may use Beyond Compare for a variety of comparison jobs, you can maintain any number of rules.  Different rules are identified by a short name, such as "Pascal" and "C-C++".  In the Session Settings dialog you can pick which of these rules should be associated with the session.

Beyond Compare comes with several rules predefined, but you can change them and add your own.  To edit the collection of rules, select View | Main Window Options and pick the Rules tab.

Button	Menu equivalent	Purpose

View | Main Window Options	To edit the collection of rules

View | File Comparison Rules	To modify the currently selected rules


Rules button
File Comparison Rules

This command opens the File Comparison Rules dialog for the current rules.  Use it to control how text files will be compared.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | File Comparison Rules


Save As command
Save As

Select this command to save modifications under a new file name.  If both files were modified, you will get a separate Save As dialog for each file.

Button	Menu equivalent

(none)	File | Save As


Save Changes button
Save Changes

Select this command to save modifications to either or both files.  You will get a separate confirmation dialog for each file that was modified.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

File | Save	Ctrl+S


Scooter Software

...is a computer services firm located in Madison, Wisconsin.  We develop and support a wide variety of custom applications for small to medium size companies.

We've been doing business locally under the name Computations Unlimited, since our inception almost three decades ago as a service bureau, providing "computations" to engineers and accountants.

Throughout our history the defining thread has been custom software development -- specifically simple, cost-effective stuff that runs well.  So in light of that, we launched our Beyond Compare shareware product under a new company name -- Scooter Software.

How to contact us.


Scroll Right, Left buttons
Scroll Right, Scroll Left

These buttons scroll the file display to the right or left.  Both panes of the viewer scroll in tandem.

Buttons	Menu equivalents	Keyboard shortcuts

View | Scroll Right	Ctrl+RightArrow

View | Scroll Left	Ctrl+LeftArrow

Note:  You can move the splitter bar that separates the two panes with the keyboard also.  Press Alt+RightArrow or Alt+LeftArrow.


Select All Lines
Select All

This command selects all lines in the file viewer.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	Edit | Select All	Ctrl+A


Select All button
Select All

Click this button to select all the displayed files.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

Edit | Select All	Ctrl+A


Select Newer button
Select Newer

Click this button to select the files in the left pane that are newer than those in the right pane.  Click it again to select newer files in the right pane.

Button	Menu equivalent

Edit | Select Newer


Selected files are highlighted in the normal manner.  You can click and drag to select several adjacent lines, or you can hold the Ctrl key down while you click specific lines.

Select one or more lines before picking an operation to perform on them.


Session Settings button
Session Settings

This command opens the Session Settings dialog.  Use it to set or change the base directories to compare, the file filters to use, or other session settings.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard Shortcut

File | Session Settings	Ctrl+S


Setting Program Options
Customizing Program Behavior

There are several ways that you can customize the behavior of the program.  Beyond Compare's optional features are split between those relating to the Main Window (directory comparison) and the File Viewer window.

The resultant configuration is stored in the BEYOND32.INI file in your Windows folder.

Toolbar Buttons

To add, remove or rearrange the buttons on the toolbar, right-click over the toolbar and select Configure Toolbar.  It is a good idea to review the toolbar configuration every time you upgrade Beyond Compare to a new version, since any new buttons are not automatically added to your toolbar.

File Comparison Rules

Various options control how folders and files are compared.  They are grouped into sets of "rules" which can be stored under different names, and associated with different sessions.  To edit your collection of rules select View | Main Window Options and pick the Rules tab.  To modify the currently selected rules, select View | File Comparison Rules.

See also What are rules?

User Preferences

Select View | Main Window Options from the menu in the directory comparison window to edit:

general program options

the collection of rules

color scheme and other attributes of the folder compare window

report options

installed plug-in viewers

open with applications

Select View | Viewer Options from the File Viewer menu to control the appearance of the file viewer and the File Differences report.

Other "Manual" Customizations

You can also manually edit the BEYOND32.INI file in order to manipulate some of Beyond Compare's more obscure options.

Section	Key	Action, Example

[Directory Window]	FlatButtons	Set "FlatButtons=False" to revert to Win95 style toolbar buttons.

  "	RetainSessionOrder	Set "RetainSessionOrder=1" to leave session order alone.

  "	SortSessions	Set "SortSessions=0" to disable alphabetic sorting of sessions.

  "	RulesQC	Set "RulesQC=0" to suppress minor difference settings during Quick Compares.

  "	MultiLineComments	Set "MultiLineComments=1" to support multi-line comments as "minor differences" during content comparisons (does not affect File Viewer).

  "	SuppressLFN	Set "SuppressLFN=1" to avoid long filename expansion in drag-drop operations.

  "	ClassicSS	Set "ClassicSS=1" to use old style Session Settings dialog.

  "	TimeButtons	Set "TimeButtons=1" to always display timezone buttons.

  "	MRU	Set "MRU=x" to show the "x" most recently used sessions in the menu.

  "	StripRTF	Use "StripRTF=abc  def" to strip rich text formatting from files with the .abc or .def extensions.  Only the plain text content will be compared.

  "	UnderscoreDot	Set "UnderscoreDot=1" to ignore underscore vs period differences in filenames.

[Viewer Window]	SoftColRange	Set "SoftColRange=1" to affect column limiting feature.

  "	DiffByCol	Set "DiffByCol=1" to colorize differences on a column-by-column basis.


Sharing Beyond Compare on a Network

If you are sharing a network copy of Beyond Compare between several workstations, you can avoid the need to enter registration data at each workstation.

1.	Enter your registration data at one workstation.

2.	Copy Beyond32.ini from your Windows folder to the network folder containing Beyond32.exe.

3.	Rename the network copy of Beyond32.ini to Beyond32.net.

4.	If you like, edit Beyond32.net and remove everything except the Registration section.

Now, when users access the network copy of Beyond Compare, the registration data should appear in the About box.


Show Any button
Show Any

Display all files in the directories, as long as they conform to the current session's file filters.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Any Matches


Show Double Sides Only button
Show Double Sides Only

Display files that are on both sides of the directory comparison.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Double Sides


Show Line Numbers button
Show Line Numbers

Enable this option to display line numbers for each file.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Show Line Numbers


Show Matches Only button
Show Matches Only

Display files with matching directory entries.  Note that their contents are not necessarily identical.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Matching Files


Show Mismatched Doubles button
Show Mismatched Double Sides Only

Display files that are on both sides of the directory comparison and have mismatched directory entries.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Mismatched Double Sides


Show Mismatches Only button
Show Mismatches Only

Display only those files whose directory entries differ.  Note that their contents are not necessarily different.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Mismatched Files


Show Newer button
Show Newer

Display files that are both directories but are newer in the left directory.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Left Side Newer Files


Show Older button
Show Older

Display files that are both directories but are older in the left directory.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Left Side Older Files


Show Single Sides Only button
Show Single Sides Only

Display "orphaned" files - those that are on one side of the directory comparison but not the other.  Useful for isolating missing or obsolete files.

Button	Menu equivalent

Display Filter | Show Single Sides


Show Whitespace button
Show Whitespace

Enable this option to visualize the "whitespace" in your files.  Spaces will be displayed using the tilde character ("~") and tabs will appear as rectangles.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Show Whitespace


"Single Side" or "orphaned" files are in one directory but not the other.  They are shown in blue by default.


Snapshot Feature

A Snapshot is a text dump of an entire directory structure, including CRC calculations on each file.  You can create Snapshots at different times, and then use Beyond Compare to compare them to see what's changed.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Save Snapshot	(none)


Sort By buttons
Sort By...

You can sort the directory comparison window by file name, extension, date or size.  When sorting by date or size, the file in the left pane takes precedence over the right.  Also, date and time sorts are in descending order.

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Sort by Name

View | Sort by Type

View | Sort by Date

View | Sort by Size


The optional Status Bar displays line numbers, file status (read-only or modified), and a scroll bar that scrolls left and right views simultaneously.  You can disable it by clearing the View | Statusbar option on the main menu.


Sync-it-yourself Screen Shot
In the following example, we would like to synchronize the "begin" lines.  First, right-click over the left pane and select Link:

Then do the same over the right pane:

The result:


Synchronize Folders
Synchronizing Folders

Use the Synchronize Right and Synchronize Left functions to keep your folders in sync.

These commands select the files that are newer or unique on one side and prompt to copy them to the other side.

Button	Menu equivalent

File | Synchronize Right

File | Synchronize Left


Text Synchronization Options
Text Synchronization Settings

Various settings under the View | File Comparison Rules control how side-by-side text files are lined up.

Initial Match Requirement represents the minimum number of lines that need to match before Beyond Compare will synchronize text.  Enter a number between 1 and 50.  A larger value helps prevent syncing on trivial matches, such as blank lines, or commonly repeated lines.  (You can further control how lines are counted against this value by changing line weights.)  If "recursion" is enabled, this value is used in the initial scan for matches.  The resulting mismatched sections are then scanned with half this value, then half again, and so on, to line up successively smaller matching sections.

Skew Tolerance is the number of lines Beyond Compare will search forward or backward in a file, looking for a matching sequence.  You can normally keep this value rather high (hundreds or thousands of lines) when working with small to moderately large text files.  However, comparing huge files with long sections of mismatched text can be quite slow.  Use a smaller number for higher performance, especially if large insertions or deletions of text are not likely.

The Never Align Mismatches option prevents mismatched lines from lining up.  Otherwise, mismatched text is sometimes lined up in order to save vertical space, and to compare lines that may have only slight mismatches.

Recursion improves the ability to match up larger as well as smaller sections if text, but it can take longer, particularly if many lines don't match.

Certain characteristics of text, such as spaces at the end of lines, may be considered unimportant when comparing lines.  You can define minor differences to help Beyond Compare synchronize lines in the side-by-side viewer display.

If the Ignore Minor Differences option is selected, lines with only minor differences will be considered exact matches.


The Daylight Saving problem
The Daylight Saving Time Problem

Beyond Compare can help if you need to synchronize folders across a network, after Daylight Saving Time has started or ended.  Windows 95 and Windows NT handle file dates differently.  Under Windows NT when DST starts or ends, file timestamps from before the transition will jump forward or backward one hour.  Windows 95 doesn't do this, so if you have a copy of a NT server's folder on your Win95 workstation, the dates will be out of sync by an hour.

There are two ways that Beyond Compare can help you deal with these differences.

You can enable the "Ignore 1 Hour Differences" option in the Criteria section of the File Comparison Rules dialog.

Or, you can use the Time Zone Adjustment feature to change the timestamps on the server:

1.	select Edit | Adjust Time Zone to adjust the server's timestamps by one hour

2.	use the "=" display filer to show files that are exactly one hour apart,

2.	select all files and use Quick Compare to verify that their contents are really the same, and then...

3.	select all files again, click on the 1:00 button in the header area, and select "Modify" to change the timestamps


Thumbnail View

The thumbnail view is a visual summary of file differences in an area to the left of the file display  Colored lines show the relative position of line mismatches.  A white rectangle represents the part of the files currently visible in the file viewer window.  You can click on the thumbnail view to position the file viewer at that point.

Use the following command to show or hide the thumbnail view:

Button	Menu equivalent

View | Thumbnail View


Time Zone Adjustment

You can move the timestamps forward or backward on either size with this feature.  Use it to compare folders between computers in different time zones, or with a server that has not properly accounted for Daylight Savings time.

The Time Zone Adjustment only affects the directory comparison display - it does not permanently change timestamps on files.

Once you have made an adjustment, a button appears on the header bar to remind you of the adjustment and to let you cancel or modify it.

Button	Menu equivalent

(none)	Edit | Adjust Left Time Zone

Edit | Adjust Right Time Zone

Speed Tip:  If you use this feature a lot, you can add the Time Zone buttons to the header permanently by adding the line "TimeButtons=1" to the .INI file under the Directory Window section.


You can customize your toolbar, adding or removing buttons as you like.  Right-click anywhere over the toolbar to access the toolbar configuration.  Disable the toolbar altogether by clearing the View | Toolbar option.


Touch Files feature
Touch Files

This feature lets you force a specific datestamp on selected files.

Button	Menu equivalent	Keyboard shortcut

(none)	File | Touch Files	(none)


Verifying CD Copies

You can use Beyond Compare to do a byte-by-byte comparison of entire directory trees.  After "burning" a CD, use Beyond Compare to verify the accuracy of the copy:

1.	In Session Settings, select the root of the CD and the hard drive directory containing the copy.

2.	Pick Select All, and then Quick Compare

All files in all subdirectories will be compared and a report of any mismatches is displayed.


What Is Beyond Compare?

Beyond Compare is both a directory compare utility and a file compare utility wrapped in one.  Its goal is to show you the differences between copies of your folders and files, and then help you resolve them.

It was designed for managing changes to program source code shared between locations, programmers, or companies.  It also works great for analyzing differences in program output, copying and comparing directories on a network, verifying the accuracy of copies, etc.

We have projects where we share source with outside programmers, and we take home certain components to tinker with.  We needed a tool that speeds the distribution of source files, but also lets us carefully analyze changes to code.  So we wrote Beyond Compare.

There are many tools that will blindly synchronize directories based on modification date, but sometimes it's the older file that you need to keep.  Or just two lines of code in the older file that you need.  And then there are applications that modify files without changing their date stamps at all!  With Beyond Compare, you remain in control of synchronizing your data - carefully and efficiently.

Copyright © 1996-2000 Scooter Software

All rights reserved


Select one of your existing saved sessions.


Starts a new "untitled" session definition, using the current session's settings as a starting point..


Deletes the current session.


Select the base folder to appear on the left side of the comparison.


Select the base folder to appear on the right side of the comparison.


File filters specify the types of files you want to compare in a free-format memo field.  Enter one file specification per line.

Use a hyphen in front of a file specification to exclude that class of files.  For instance, the filter -*.~?? will suppress the display of the "backup" files that Beyond Compare creates.  The filters are applied in order, so exclusion filters should come after other filters.


Click here to include all files.  It sets wildcards ("*.*") in the file filters field.


Select the File Comparison Rules to be associated with this session.


Specify an offset in whole hours to apply to left side timestamps.

Use this feature when the left base folder is in a different time zone, or if Daylight Saving time is misrepresented.


Specify an offset in whole hours to apply to right side timestamps.

Use this feature when the right base folder is in a different time zone, or if Daylight Saving time is misrepresented.


Set these buttons to pick the starting display filter and other conditions for the session.


Save the changes to session settings.


Save these session settings under a new session name.


Use these modified session settings under the name "untitled", rather than modifying the current session.


Cancel the changes to the current session, reverting to the previous state.


Select this option to display the Session Settings dialog automatically on startup.  If you usually select sessions from the recent sessions portion of the File menu, you will find it faster to deselect this option.


Select this option to display and compare all files and folders - including those that have the Hidden or System attribute.


Select to include subdirectories in the directory compare window, marked with a folder icon.


File attributes are displayed in parenthesis after filenames.  The Archive attribute is normally not included in order to keep the display less cluttered.  Enable this option to display the Archive attribute.


Select this option to turn off support for the Older Than Cutoff feature.


Select this option to display and compare the MS-DOS version of filenames, rather than the long files.


If this option is selected, Beyond Compare will prompt (once) for confirmation before copying files.  Even if this option is not  selected, the program will still warn if you are copying over a newer file or a read-only file.


If you copy a file from a subfolder that doesn't exist on the other side, Beyond Compare will need to create the subfolder on the target side.  Select this option to get a confirmation prompt before creating subfolders.


If this option is selected, Beyond Compare will prompt for confirmation before copying over a read-only file.


When you specify files on the command line, Beyond Compare will (by default) do a quick compare of the files.  You can then pick "View Files" to see the files side-by-side.  If you prefer to skip the quick compare and always go straight to the file viewer, disable this option.


When backups of files are created, a tilde "~" is inserted in the file extension.  This option controls where or not the extension is then trimmed by one character.  In either case, extensions that are less than 3 characters are not trimmed.


This is a list of defined Rules for file comparison.


Starts a new Rules definition.


Lets you modify the various options that make up the selected Rules definition.


Deletes the selected Rules definition.  You cannot delete the <default> rules.


Select the color for files with matching directory entries.


Select the color for newer files.  This color is also used when the dates match but file sizes don't.


Select the color for older files.


Select the color for files that are older than the cutoff date.

The cutoff date is set under the menu item Display Filter | Set Cutoff.


Select the color for files that exist in one directory but not the other.


Selects a font for the side-by-side directory comparison.


Color Spots are small rectangles that hold their color when a line is highlighted, allowing you to clearly read highlighted text without losing the color cues.


Enable this option for the new "flat" style toolbar buttons.


Selects a color for alternating stripes on the directory comparison display.

This feature works best if your display is set to high color or true color mode, and you select a pale color for the stripes.


Selects a printer font for the Directory Comparison report.


Enable this option to use colors in the printout to highlight differences.


This is a list of the installed plug-ins.  The order determines priority of use.


Click to install a new plug-in.  The plug-in file must first be copied to the Beyond Compare program directory.


File extensions associated with the plug-in.  Use an asterisk (*) for all extensions and a slash (/) for the empty extension.


Removes the selected plug-in from the list.  The plug-in file will not be deleted.


This is a list of the installed "Open With" applications.  Examples of entries are:

Notepad=notepad.exe

Wordpad=write.exe "%f"

QuikView=c:\windows\system\viewers\quikview.exe "%f"


By default, this option is enabled, so files with newer date/time entries will stand out.  Deselect this option if you would like to ignore differences in file timestamps.  If you deselect this option, you will probably want to enable the Contents option.


This option is useful for comparing directories between computers with different file systems.  For instance, the DOS FAT file system only stores file timestamps to the nearest 2 seconds, while NTFS and HPFS systems can represent timestamps to the nearest 100 nanoseconds.  Copying across a network, between file systems, can result in files with slightly different timestamps.  If this option is selected, those files would be treated as if they had the same times.


Generally speaking, files of differing size must be mismatches, so this option is enabled by default.  However, if you are comparing directories containing text files with mixed line termination and you want to use text-based content comparison, disable this option.


Normally, Beyond Compare lines up files with the same filename and extension.  Disable this option if you would like to compare a directories with, for instance, ".txt" file extensions on one side and corresponding ".bak" file extensions on the other side.


Enable this option to flag differences in the Archive attribute.


Enable this option to flag differences in the System attribute.


Enable this option to flag differences in the Hidden attribute.


Enable this option to flag differences in the Read-only attribute.


Enable this option to automatically read and compare file contents when the directory is accessed.  This option may considerably slow the loading of directories.


Enable this option to consider timestamps that are exactly one hour apart as equivalent.  This is useful for dealing with the way that different file systems handle Daylight Savings Time.


This option modifies the behavior of the Quick Compare function and the automatic content comparison criteria.  Instead of a straight binary comparison, a text-based compare assumes the files are text files and compares them line-by-line.  Differences in line termination are ignored, so you can compare a DOS style text file with a Unix style file.  The comparison stops on an end-of-file mark (Ctrl-Z).


Sets the number of columns per tab.  Beyond Compare only recognizes evenly spaced tab stops.


This represents the minimum number of lines that need to match before Beyond Compare will synchronize text.  Enter a number between 1 and 50.  A larger value helps prevent syncing on trivial matches, such as blank lines, or commonly repeated lines.  (You can further control how lines are counted against this value by changing line weights.)  If "recursion" is enabled, this value is used in the initial scan for matches.  The resulting mismatched sections are then scanned with half this value, then half again, and so on, to line up successively smaller matching sections.


Skew tolerance is the number of lines Beyond Compare will search forward or backward in a file, looking for a matching sequence.  You can normally keep this value rather high (hundreds or thousands of lines) when working with small to moderately large text files.  However, comparing huge files with long sections of mismatched text can be quite slow.  Use a smaller number for higher performance, especially if large insertions or deletions of text are not likely.


Recursion improves the ability to match up larger as well as smaller sections if text, but it can take longer, particularly if many lines don't match.


When comparing text side by side, Beyond Compare lines up exactly matching text and text with only Minor Differences.  Mismatched text is sometimes lined up in order to save vertical space, and to compare lines that may have only slight mismatches.

Enable this option if you want mismatched text to always appear on different lines.


Certain characteristics of text, such as spaces at the end of lines, may be considered unimportant when comparing lines.  You can define minor differences to help Beyond Compare synchronize lines in the side-by-side viewer display.

If this option is selected, minor differences are ignored altogether, so lines with only minor differences will be considered exact matches.


Enable this option if minor differences should include upper vs. lower case letters.


Enable this option if minor differences should include spaces or tabs at the beginning of a line.


Enable this option if minor differences should include spaces or tabs at the end of a line.


Enable this option if minor differences should include spaces or tabs within a line.


Enable this option if minor differences should include C/C++ programming comments.


Enable this option if minor differences should include Pascal/Delphi programming comments.


Enable this option if minor differences should include Pascal/Delphi programming comments.


Enable this option if minor differences should include those in comments that begin with the specified character(s) and extend to the end of the line.

Enter from one to four characters that define the comment symbol (such as '//' or 'rem ').


Programming comments in Fortran


Enable to exclude apostrophe-enclosed string constants from minor differences.  In other words, differences in text within apostrophes will always be considered as "major".


Enable to exclude quote-enclosed string constants from minor differences.  In other words, differences in text within double quotation marks will always be considered as "major".


Enable this option if minor differences should include text within double-quotation marks.


Enable this option if minor differences should include text within apostrophes.


List of line weights.  Enter numeric weights followed by a slash and a key word or phrase.


With consistent line termination each file can use any combination of carriage return and line feed control characters, but it must be consistent throughout a single file.  Control characters that don't fit the pattern used on the first line of the file are displayed as rectangular boxes and don't cause a line break.


With flexible line termination, the file can use any mix of the standard DOS/Windows or Unix styles of line termination.


Enter the first significant column for text comparison.


Enter the last significant column for text comparison.  Leave this field zero to compare to the end of the line.


The Ctrl+Z control character is often used to indicate the end of a text file.  Enable this option to read beyond a Ctrl+Z code.


EBCDIC is a code set which was used for text files in older mainframes.  Enable this option to convert EBCDIC to ASCII for display in the viewer.


Specify a folder to copy the selected files to.


Files that were last modified on or before this date and time are considered unimportant to the comparison.


Check this box to enable the cutoff date feature.


Click here to set the cutoff date/time to the default value: January 1st, 1980.


Enter the first few letters of the file you are looking for.


Enter just the filename of the plug-in's DLL.  For instance, the hex plug-in's name is BCHex32.


Enter the user name exactly as spelled out in the registration message you received from Scooter Software.


Enter the organization exactly as spelled out in the registration message you received from Scooter Software.


Enter the 8 character registration number from the registration message you received from Scooter Software.  The number can contain digits and the letters "A" through "F".


Enter a descriptive session name, or select an existing session to replace from the drop-down list.


Specify the date to be applied to the selected files.


Specify the time to be applied to the selected files.


Select this option to copy the timestamps of selected files from one side to the other.


Select this option to set all timestamps on the selected files to a particular date and time.


Select the method for initializing the date and time fields.

Current System Time uses your computer's clock setting

Target Timestamp uses the (first) timestamp from the selected target files

Last Touch uses the last timestamp that you set using the Touch feature

Once the date and time fields are initialized, you can modify them as needed.


Select the desired color for lines that are an exact match.


Select the desired color for similar text.  Similar text differs only in leading or trailing whitespace, or upper- lower-case mismatches.


Select the color for text that doesn't match.


Choose the style for indicating the "holes" in text comparison.  The Blank selection provides the cleanest looking display, but it makes it hard to distinguish blank lines from missing lines.  Choose Crosshatch to display diagonal lines across the missing section.  (Sorry, crosshatching does not work under Windows 3.1 or Windows NT.)  Or, choose a solid Color.


This panel shows how your color and style choices will appear in the File Viewer.


Select this option to delineate matched vs. mismatched sections of text with a horizontal line.  This helps to emphasize text differences, but if you typically have a lot of single line matches and mismatches it can make the display look cluttered.  The horizontal lines will always appear when the Just Differences, or Just Major Differences display filter is selected.


Selects a font for the displayed text.  Use a monospaced font, such as Courier, for columnar text or files with tabs.


These choices let you modify the style of the "Find Next Difference" and "Find Previous Difference" commands.  The default setting is Position Only, which positions on the found difference without highlighting it.  This is so you can readily see the color coding that identifies the difference.  If you find that this makes it hard to notice the found line, you might try setting this option to Normal Line Selection instead.


Selects the printer font to be used in the header of the Differences Report.


Selects the printer font to be used in the body of the Differences Report to display text from your files.  Select a mono-spaced font if your text is column-oriented.


Enable this option to print a side-by-side file comparison.  The report will be forced to landscape orientation.

Disable this option to print lines from mismatched sections using the full width of the report, with left side lines first and right side lines following.  The report will use portrait orientation unless the lines are too long to fit.

In either report layout, there is no line wrapping.  If the lines do not fit in landscape orientation, they are truncated.


Set this option to include or exclude line numbers from the side-by-side report layout.  (The left-over-right layout always includes line numbers.)


Select All

Copy to Clipboard

Link

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Copy Right ->

<- Copy Left

Delete Left

Delete Right

Insert Right ->

<- Insert Left

Edit Left

Edit Right

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Undo Edit


Open

Open With

Compare to Clipboard

Save

Save As

Remove Read-only

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Backup Before Save

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Differences Report

Comparison Info

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Close


Help Topics

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About


Next Difference

Previous Difference

Go To Line

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Set Bookmark

Go To Bookmark

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Find

Find Again


Toolbar

Statusbar

Thumbnail View

Line Details

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Show All

Just Differences

Just Major Differences

Just Matching Text

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Show Whitespace

Show Line Numbers

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Scroll Right

Scroll Left

Refresh

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File Comparison Rules

Viewer Options

Configure Toolbar


  Show Any Files

   Show Mismatched Files

   Show Matching Files

   Show Double Sides

   Show Mismatched Double Sides

   Show Single Sides

   Show Left Side Older Files

   Show Left Side Newer Files

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   Set Cutoff


  Select All

   Select Newer

   Adjust Left Time Zone

   Adjust Right Time Zone


  Session Settings

   Synchronize Right ->

   <- Synchronize Left

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   Open

   Open With

   Compare To...

   Quick Compare

   Copy Right ->

   <- Copy Left

   Copy to Folder...

   Move Right ->

   <- Move Left

   Delete...

   Rename...

   Touch Files...

   Read-only...

   File Differences Report

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   Backup Files Before Copy

   Directory Comparison Report

   Comparison Info

   Save Snapshot

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   Exit

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   recent sessions


  Help Topics

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   Register...

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   About...


  Find Filename


  Toolbar

   Statusbar

   Legend

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   Expand All

   Collapse All

   Refresh

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   Sort by Name

   Sort by Type

   Sort by Date

   Sort by Size

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   File Comparison Rules

   Main Window Options

   Configure Toolbar


Up to 9 of the most recently accessed sessions are listed at the bottom of the File menu.