How to get Beyond Compare to compare data files matching columns by name, not custom

Question

I have two scenarios:

• Two csv files with the same number of columns, but the order of the columns is different. The first csv line is the title bar and correctly indicates the column names
• Two csv files with multiple columns, but in fact most columns are present in both files. Again, the csv header line indicates column names that can be compared

In both of the above scenarios, BC3 cannot automatically automatically match / reorder columns. This can be done manually through the Session Settings menu, but it takes a lot of time.

Example # 2 on top

Note the following screenshots that the left file has a column named priority that does not have the desired file.

To (by default with customized columns):

Notice that the image below compares the column of the left 5 priority file with the right column of the 5 companyjob file. All of the following column comparisons are likewise incompatible.

After (with columns matching by name):

Is there an easy way to easily / automatically adjust this comparison, as I did manually in the second image?

Answer 1

It seems to me that you can save the comparison session to Beyond Compare (simply called sessions), which is the actual difference between the two filesystem objects. Those settings that you change above apply only to this session, but you want them to be applicable to any other similar session. I wonder if it might be a workaround to save a session with manually entered data comparison column parameters and change the file paths with the same formatting to force them to use the same column settings. Let me see ...

Let's consider three files

file1.csv

 Column1,Column2,Column3 A,B,C A,B,C A,B,C1 

file2.csv

 Column1,Column3,Column2 A,C,B A,C,B A,C1,B 

file3.csv

 Column1,Column3,Column2 A,C0,B A,C,B A,C,B 

The difference between files 1 and 2 is used here.

And here I change the settings of the data comparison columns Now there is no change between these two files with permutation columns.

With this session saved, I then edit the address bar to replace the 2.csv file with a similarly formatted 3.csv file and wait to save if the column settings are supported, and it looks like this:

So, I suppose, you could save these column parameters in an arbitrary session example, where later you will have to change the paths to the actual files that you want to split at this point in time. A little inconvenient, it would be much better if these settings were used as a pre-configured setting, just as in a folder comparison session you can save filter settings that will be applied to new sessions.

I'm curious why your dialogs are different from where I navigate to edit settings; in particular, you have a lunge that says "Use only for this view." What else is listed in this case? I am using version 3.3.8 (build 16340)