Tool for comparing two lists / txt files.

[Locut0s]

The situation is this. I have a large collection of files on my computer (no not porn) that I'm trying to add to. The issue is as my collection gets larger and larger it gets more and more tedious to search online through databases and download sites for files I don't have. Now it's fairly easy to create a list of the files I have (a simple dir > txt filename.txt followed by some regular expression editing) and of the files on another site. But what I need now is a tool for comparing the two. I know lots of word editors allow you to compare two word docs but what I'm looking for is not simply the differences between the two lists but the ability to create merged, unioned or mutually exclusive sets. Anyone know a good candidate for such a tool?

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Given the amount of time you have been here at AT, you should know which forums to post within.

Senior Anandtech Moderator
Common Courtesy

 

[JD50]

Linux

 

[Oscar1613]

winmerge or kdiff

 

[seemingly random]

If you're searching filenames, a crude, but effective, method is to use the command line.

cd \folder-tree-root
dir /s /p *sub*string*

 

[rh71]

Beyond Compare?

I use it for coding but see no reason why it wouldn't work for txt files. It allows you to copy over the differences.

 

[mikej007]

ExamDiff is a free and easy app to use.

 

[iGas]

SORT

 

[vi edit]

ultracompare

 

[Linflas]

fc?

 

[Koing]

winmerge works for me

Koing

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Fast duplicate file finder?

 

[yllus]

ExamDiff

ExamDiff is a freeware Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista tool for visual file comparison. It has a number of simple and convenient features that many users have been asking for a long time from a file comparison tool.

 

[acheron]

diff