Alignment Override Advice

[Filecomp]

Hello,

I am trying to figure out if there is an Alignment Override that can accomplish the following task. I am trying to compare files and folders in 2 different folders with multiple subfolders. The files were backed up to a storage location which converted any and every comma in the file or folder/subfolder name to a ^J symbol. For example,

Smith, Joe.jpg got converted to Smith^J Joe.jpg
Smith,Joe.jpg got converted to Smith^JJoe.jpg

The file and folder names have an assortment of text, characters, and extensions. The above is just a simplified example. However, the file and folder names are exactly identical apart from the replacement of the comma with a ^J. When I try to compare folders now, every single file or folder name which had a comma in it shows as different. Is there any way I can run a folder compare using alignment override, etc. to ignore this change so I can identify which file or folder is actually missing as opposed to renamed due to this character conversion?

Thank you!

[RodolfoGiovanninetti]

With "^J" You mean "ctrl+J"? What is its code? In the alignment override, using regular expression, You can use "\x{nnnn}" to specify the code.
I did not test this, I just read the manual, so I am not sure that it works for You.

Regards

Rodolfo Giovanninetti

[Aaron]

Hello,

For the above simple example, you could define a replacement of:
*,*
=
*^J*

The definition should include the Destination Side text that is different, while the Source side can be literal or, if regular expression, a mask.

[Filecomp]

Thank you for the feedback. This worked! I was referring to the actual 2 characters ^J, so the simple source/destination expression provided above worked. This method seems so much easier than using a regular expression with various symbols in case you are not familiar with regular expressions. I ran into some other situations where the file names were renamed, for example, another character got replaced with something else. Also there were instances with 2 commas in the same file name getting replaced with 2 ^J. So I just used the above example and added *,*,* = *^J*^J* and it works. I am guessing regular expressions are necessary for more complex situations and comparisons.

[Aaron]

Great! As a tip, Regular Expressions are supported in the Left/Find side, and on the Replace With/Right side, it supports tagged $1, but not masking. The dropdown next to each text box helps provide info on which box supports which expressions.