Re: Newbie question - Bold Red files are identical

[Gregory Beyer <beyerg bellsouth net>]

Thanks for the quick reply Kai.   I think I understand the problem 
having read the bug report.   So Meld cannot differentiate between 
different line endings, and neither can dirdiff as its filters would 
break the comparisons.

What about skinning it this way: I change the line endings on the 
modified structure to all be the same as the pristine structure?  Then 
only substantive (non-line ending) differences between the files would 
be flagged.

Assuming that approach could work, can you suggest how I could 
mass-change line endings across the modified files?

Greg

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Newbie question - Bold Red files are identical
From: Kai Willadsen <kai willadsen gmail com>
To: Gregory Beyer <beyerg bellsouth net>
CC: meld-list gnome org
Date: 08/14/2012 10:29 PM

> 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