Excel Comparison, Key Columns

[Tarun]

Hi Scooter Team,
First of all many congratulations for having a wonderful software.
I've a scenario in which I am going to compare 2 excel files. Now in file_1.xls, I am marking 1st 2 columns (column Names are Id1 & Id2) as the key columns. Now when I open the File_2.xls I've noticed that the BC3 is automatically marking the 1st 2 columns of the 2nd file as Key columns (irrespective of their names). I do not say that those files are not identical, the only difference is that the columns Id1 and Id2 are now the 3rd and 4th column of the second excel file.

So given the scenario can I do something to instruct BC3 to mark 3rd and 4th column of file 2 as key columns? Any other solution should also work fine as long as my files are getting compared by ignoring this difference.


Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Tarun]

Excel Comparison, Key Columns

Hi,
Attached is the screenshot of the 2 excels to help you to better understand the problem.

[Aaron]

Thanks for the screenshot and details. You will want to align the columns 1 and 2 with 3 and 4 using the Data Compare's Session menu -> Session Settings dialog, Columns tab. Here you can select an individual cell that represents a column, and move it up or down using the arrow buttons. Keep the left file column 1 and 2 in position, but then rearrange the data to put the right file's 3 and 4 in line. How does this work for you?

Update: I should add that Session Settings are for the current specific view. You can use the Session menu -> Save Session to save the comparison configuration for future use. You can also set the session defaults for all future Data Compare sessions if all your Excel files fit this structure. Advanced tip - you can save a specific Folder Compare session that has this setup used for all of its child data file sessions.