Can BC3 report on Orphan Folders???

[davenovak]

I have BC3 Professional and am automating some folder difference reports. Is there any way a report can tell me that folder in the compare is an orphan? I can see this visually when running interactively, but can't seem to figure out a way to get Folder Compare Report - Summary (or any report for that matter) to give me this information so that I can automate a process.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

[Aaron]

Hello,

First, let's set this up graphically and then move to an automated solution once we know the style of report you would like to generate.

My first question is: what do you consider an Orphan Folder? Is it a folder that is blue because you have "Compare File and Folder Structure" enabled but is otherwise empty of files? Is it a folder that is blue because it has only Orphan Files inside of it? Or is it a folder that is at least half blue, due to having at least some Orphan Files inside of it?

Our method of folder coloring is that folders inherit the color of the items inside (unless you also Compare File and Folder Structure, at which point they can be blue if the folder itself does not exist on the other side and is empty).

Our summary report displays file information, so you will need to use the Side by Side report or XML report.

[davenovak]

To me, an "orphan folder" is a folder that exists only on one side of a comparison. If this "orphan folder" contains children, none of these children (or the folder itself) exist on the other side of the comparison. I believe that I have to have "Compare File and Folder Structure" enabled to even show such folders.

My need for this information is tied to the fact that we use a 3rd-party graphics engine and receive regular update. So what I'm trying to do here is figure out what folders (if any) were deleted in the latest release of their product.

Knowing what files were deleted is clear through even a summary report. But is there a way that I determine which folders were deleted and can I automate such a process?

[Michael Bulgrien]

You can filter out all files (-*.*) and select the View -> Compare Files and Folder Structure menu option to see orphan folders without regard to the files on the system. I haven't played with summary reports, so I am not sure if you can automate the capture of meaningful information.

[Aaron]

Thanks for the suggestion, Michael.

Using a side-by-side report after issuing an Expand All command should help with an automated solution. Try loading your comparison graphically and testing out these report options. Is this the type of report you would like to use?

If so, the script would involve

load "session Name"
expand all
folder-report layout:side-by-side options:display-orphans output-to:"c:\folder\report.html" output-options:html-color

[davenovak]

Michael & Aaron --

Thank you for your helpful comments. The -*.* filter is very useful and the HTML side-by-side report does graphically show me orphan folders. The only change I made was to drop expand all since I only care about parent orphan folders.

For a non-graphical solution, simply changing the output to a TXT file produced a concise report that clearly listed parent-level orphan folders. Here's the script I ended up with:

load "session Name"
folder-report layout:side-by-side options:display-orphans output-to:"c:\folder\report.txt"

Thanks again for your assistance!