Re: Newbie question - Bold Red files are identical

[Kai Willadsen <kai willadsen gmail com>]

On 15 August 2012 06:08, Gregory Beyer <beyerg bellsouth net> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm a brand new user, trying to figure out how to use it.  It seems
> intuitive, but I'm confused.
>
> I need to compare hundreds of files in dozens of directories.
>
> I have the "pristine" copy of dir structure & files in the left pane.  In
> the right I have the dir structure which contains files which are to some
> degree different from the pristine copy.
>
> I have the "New" and "Modified" buttons upper right depressed.
>
> When I compare the two I have many files in bold red.   That, I believe
> means that the files are different, right?   When I R-click a file and
> "Compare" the files open left and right pane, and a lightbulb with
> "Files are identical"  shows on both files.
>
> Why are files which are identical flagged in red bold?
>
> And I *finally* found two files, bold red, which when I compare, yes, the
> two are different and I can see the difference in the code.  So that
> diffeernce report is accurate.
>
> How do I see ONLY the files which are different?

This almost always happens because the files have different line
endings (e.g., \r vs \r\n). The directory comparison works
byte-by-byte, whereas the file comparison splits on lines. As a
result, if you have end-of-line differences between the files,
directory comparison will show those as being different.

For a bit of discussion, see: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=547743

If it turns out that your files have identical line endings, then
please let us know, as it's probably a new bug.

cheers,
Kai