Diff Commander

folders comparison and synchronization; display of folders side-by-side using convenient two pane views; recursive comparison of subfolders; comparison over local network; profiles and sessions with a rich set of comparison rules; support of many file transfer protocols: FTP, FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS) and SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol); Zip files and other archive types (7z, rar, cab, IMG/ISO disk images etc.); snapshot storages; tree view and list view modes; filtering of files after comparing; synchronize actions; support of external files comparison and editing tools.

Two pane views

Diff Commander displays differences between folders in two panes (each for one folder). The pane consists of a set of columns. The general column displays the folder as a tree. Other columns displays the following information: the file size attributes, date and time. The "Actions" column is located between these panes. An action and a direction of synchronization are specified in each cell of this column. The synchronization is performed by clicking either Sync. Item (F7) or Sync. Checked (F9)

• (1) - first (source) pane with source files and folders;
  
• (2) - the "Action" column; the column displaying the synchronization action (copy, move, delete) as well as direction.
• (3) - second (target) pane with target files and folders;

Profiles (comparison and synchronization rules)

Diff Commander uses a set of rules to determine whether the files are equal or it is necessary to include them in the results list as well as to determine the synchronization direction. You can customize these rules with help of a profile. Diff Commander allows you to create many profiles for each individual task. In each profile you can specify the options of comparison and synchronization.

Click on the images to see content of each property page in Profile and Session dialogues:

All profile options are listed below:

The general options: scan matching files only - only both existing files/folders with equal names will be included in results tree-view; scan all subfolders - allow recursive scanning; skip identical files - if both files are equal by size, date/time or content, these file will be not included in results tree-view; skip system files - files with "system" attribute not included in results tree-view; skip hidden files - files with "hidden" attribute not included in results tree-view; skip empty folders - folders without any content will be ignored; skip hidden folders - folders with "hidden" attribute will be ignored; Synchronize modes: Diff Commander support next synchronization modes: Bidirectional - this is default synchronization mode. All newer and orphans files/folders will be copied from one side to another; Mirror Left to Right - work as restore mode. Replace all different files on right side, delete any orphans files on right, copy any orphans from left side to right; Mirror Right to Left - work as backup mode. Replace all different files on left side, delete any orphans files on left, copy any orphans from right side to left; Update Right - copy newer and orphans files/folders from left side to right. Orphans on right side will not be deleted. Newer files on right side will not be replaced; Update Left - copy newer and orphans files/folders from right side to left. Orphans on left side will not be deleted. Newer files on left side will not be replaced. The "Comparison Features" page: compare by size, content and checksum; compare by date, time and file attributes; The "File Filters" page: files search by "include" and "exclude" masks; file search by "date between", "not older than" and "file size" rules. The "Directories Filters" page: files search by "include" and "exclude" masks; file search by "date between", "not older than" and "file size" rules.

FTP support

With Diff Commander you don't need a separate FTP client to synchronize your data between servers and local PCs. Diff Commander can connect to standard FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS, and SFTP (Secured connection over SSH) servers. Update your website, make an backup or exchange of working materials with colleagues, all this you can do with Diff Commander.

Zip files

Diff Commander supports comparison and synchronization of a archive and a folder as well as two archives. It is able to compare the contents of archives located in the folders as well. Besides comparing archives Diff Commander synchronize them as if they were folders.

Diff Commander handles many other popular formats: 7z, XZ, BZIP2, GZIP, TAR and ZIP. With other formats, such as ARJ, RAR, CAB, CHM, OCX, DLL, ISO, VHD, NSIS Diff Commander work in read-only mode.

Snapshot storages

Diff Commander can save the current state of a directory in snapshot storage (a special file). The snapshot holds directory listing of selected folder (and all its subfolders). It includes short description about each file in selected folder (CRC32 checksum, date, time, size etc.), but not contains the file itself. It allows to reduce the size of the snapshot storage essentially and enables you to transfer the snapshot on devices which have the limited size or send it by e-mail (for example, the size of snapshot storage for the directory in 300Mb is ~500Kb only!).

After creating of the snapshot, you can compare it with other folder or zip-archive. Right after creations, Snapshot does not content real files. Therefore synchronization of files in a direction "snapshot->directory" while is impossible. But you can put files into snapshot during its comparison with other folder. It will allow you to have in snapshot real contents only those files which really differ.

Use scenarios of snapshots:

• You can use a snapshot for synchronization of your data between two computers which have no a direct connection with each other (for example, between office and home computers). Snapshot allows to store in itself contents only those files which really have differences;
• You can create a snapshot of an important folder and test it periodically for corruptions or "bit fades";
• You can send the snapshot by e-mail. It is usefully, when you work in a team of developers which are far off from each other;

The snapshot storage file have .dcss extension. For convenience of using of snapshot Diff Commander creates file association for this extension. You can double click on snapshot to run Diff Commander. It will allow you to load at once snapshot and to compare its contents to the folder on the basis of which has been made given snapshot (snapshot stores a way to the original directory).

Note: The synchronization of snapshots contents are available in the registered version only. The snapshot does not put subfolders in the unregistered version, only files from the root of selected directory will be processed.

Tree and list view

Diff Commander can display files and folder in two different view modes: "tree view" and "list view". Each of these view modes has its own advantages. The "tree view" mode allows you to see the hierarchy of folders; the "list view" mode is more convenient to display the folders structure with complex hierarchy of subfolders. You can switch between these two modes at any time. Click on the screenshot to see how it is work.

Files filtering

After comparing files and folders you can filter them by one of the following criteria:

• files with the "Left to Right" synchronization direction;
• unequal files ("Not equal only");
• files with the "Right to Left" synchronization direction;
• files from the left pane only ("Left pane only");
• files from the right pane only ("Right pane only");
• files from the both panes ("Both panes only");

Note: Files and folders which do not match these criteria, will not be shown in comparison panes and will not be synchronized.

Synchronize actions

When Diff Commander completes the comparison you can synchronize files in these folders. Diff Commander detects a synchronization direction for each file using sets of rules. If the synchronization action is wrong you can change it during the synchronization process. The following actions are available:

• Copy file to right pane;
• Move file to right pane;
• Copy file to left pane;
• Move file to left pane;
• Delete right file;
• Delete left file;
• Delete both files.

External tools

After comparison and direct before synchronization you may be need to compare the contents of files. Diff Commander allows you to specify special programs which will be automatically launched to compare or edit files. You can specify a program that to be used for comparison of files depending on their types. Also you can edit content of files directly from Diff Commander using external editors in the same way. On the main menu select Tools->Customize->Tools to open the Settings dialog. See the screenshot below:

How to add an external comparing or editing tool:

1. click the "New" (Insert) button and enter a mnemonic name for a new external tool;
2. select the full path to this external tool;
3. specify additional arguments for this tool. Use the button to display a list of the argument you can include;
4. specify the type of your external tool (Comparer or Editor);
5. define the files types to be associated with this tool. You can use file mask(s) as file association.

A minimal set of external tools is configured in the Diff Commander installation package by default:

• Visual Comparer (if it is already installed on your computer, or if you downloaded Bundle Edition from our site);
• Notepad is a standard Windows text files editor;
• Paint is a standard Windows images editor;
• Image Viewer is a simple program which allows you to show two images side by side for visual comparison (this program is distributed with Diff Commander).

Quick Start

Profiles

Of course, Diff Commander very flexible in use and you can configure it as you wish. Diff Commander uses a set of rules (named as Profile) to determine whether the files are equal or it is necessary to include them in the results list as well as to determine the synchronization direction. You can customize all these rules in Profile combobox that can be seen at image below. Diff Commander allows you to create a set of such profiles. In each profile you can specify the options of comparison and synchronization.

Sessions

Each Profile can be selected as active profile and applied only to both currently selected items in path selector comboboxes. It means that you can compare and synchronize at once only two folders or two other items. For comparing of many number of couples of items it is necessary to use Sessions.

List of session settings is same as profile settings, but have the list of pairs of comparing pathes also.