Directory Merge Visible Information

+ While reading the directories a message-box appears that informs you of + the progress. If you abort the directory scan, then only files that have + been compared until then will be listed. +

+ When the directory scan is complete then KDiff3 will show a listbox with + the results left, ... +

+ ... and details about the currently selected item on the right: +

The Name Column

+ Each file and directory that was found during the scan is shown here in + a tree. You can select an item by clicking it with the mouse once. +

+ The directories are collapsed by default. You can expand and collapse + them by clicking on the "+"/"-" or by double-clicking the item or + by using the left/right-arrow-keys. The "Directory"-menu also contains two + actions "Fold all subdirs" and "Unfold all subdirs" with which you can + collapse or expand all directories at once. +

+ If you double-click a file item then the file comparison starts and the + file-diff-window will appear. +

+ The image in the name column reflects the file type in the first + directory ("A"). It can be one of these: +

Normal file
Normal directory (directory-image)
Link to a file (file-image with a link arrow)
Link to a directory (directory-image with a link arrow)

+ If the file type is different in the other directories, then this is visible + in the columns A/B/C and in the window that shows the details about the selected + item. Note that for such a case no merge operation can be selected automatically. + When starting the merge, then the user will be informed of problems of that + kind. +

The Columns A/B/C and the Coloring Scheme

+ As can be seen in the image above the colors red, green, yellow and black + are used in the columns A/B/C. +

Black: This item doesn't exist in this directory.
Green: Newest item.
Yellow: Older than green, newer than red.
Red: Oldest item.

+ But for items that were identical in the comparison their color also is + identical even if the age is not. +

+ Directories are considered equal if all items they contain are identical. + Then they also will have the same color. But the age of a directory is not + considered for its color. +

+ The idea for this coloring scheme I came upon in + dirdiff. The colors + resemble the colors of a leaf that is green when new, turns yellow later and red + when old. +

The Operation Column

+ After comparing the directories KDiff3 also evaluates a proposal for a + merge operation. This is shown in the "Operation" column. You can modify + the operation by clicking on the operation you want to change. A small menu + will popup and allows you to select an operation for that item. (You can also + select the most needed operations via keyboard. + Ctrl+1/2/3/4/Del will select A/B/C/Merge/Delete respectively if available.) + This operation will be executed during the merge. It depends on the item and + on the merge-mode you are in, what operations are available. The merge-mode is one of +

Three directory-merge ("A" is treated as older base of both).
Two directory-merge.
Two directory-sync-mode (activate via option "Synchronize Directories").

+ In three directory merge the operation proposal will be: If for an item ... +

... all three directories are equal: Copy from C
... A and C are equal but B is not: Copy from B (or if B does not + exist, delete the destination if exists)
... A and B are equal but C is not: Copy from C (or if C does not + exist, delete the destination if exists)
... B and C are equal but A is not: Copy from C (or if C does not + exist, delete the destination if exists)
... only A exists: Delete the destination (if exists)
... only B exists: Copy from B
... only C exists: Copy from C
... A, B and C are not equal: Merge
... A, B and C don't have the same file type (e.g. A is a directory, + B is a file): "Error: Conflicting File Types". While such items exist the + directory merge cannot start.

+ In two directory merge the operation proposal will be: If for an item ... +

... both directories are equal: Copy from B
... A exists, but not B: Copy from A
... B exists, but not A: Copy from B
... A and B exist but are not equal: Merge
... A and B don't have the same file type (e.g. A is a directory, + B is a file): "Error: Conflicting File Types". While such items exist the + directory merge cannot start.

+ Sync-mode is active if only two directories and no explicit destination + were specified and if the option "Synchronize directories" is active. KDiff3 + then selects a default operation so that both directories are the same afterwards. + If for an item ... +

... both directories are equal: Nothing will be done.
... A exists, but not B: Copy A to B
... B exists, but not A: Copy B to A
... A and B exist, but are not equal: Merge and store the result + in both directories. (For the user the visible save-filename is B, + but then KDiff3 copies B also to A.)
... A and B don't have the same file type (e.g. A is a directory, + B is a file): "Error: Conflicting File Types". While such items exist the + directory merge cannot start.

+ When two directories are merged and the option "Copy newer instead of merging" is selected, + then KDiff3 looks at the dates and proposes to choose the newer file. If the files are not + equal but have equal dates, then the operation will contain + "Error: Dates are equal but files are not." While such items exist the + directory merge cannot start. +

The Status Column

+ During the merge one file after the other will be processed. The status + column will show "Done" for items where the merge operation has succeeded, + and other texts if something unexpected happened. When a merge is complete, + then you should make a last check to see if the status for all items is + agreeable. +

Statistics Columns

+ When the file comparison mode "Full Analysis" is enabled in the options, then + KDiff3 will show extra columns containing the numbers of unsolved, solved, nonwhite and whitespace + conflicts. (The solved-column will only show when comparing or merging three directories.) +

Selecting Listed Files

+ Several options influence which files are listed here. Some are accessible in the + settings dialog. The Directory-menu contains the entries: +

"Show Identical Files": Files that have been detected equal in all input directories.
"Show Different Files": Files that exist in two or more directories but are not equal.
"Show Files only in A": Files that exist only in A, but not in B or C.
"Show Files only in B": Files that exist only in B, but not in A or B.
"Show Files only in C": Files that exist only in C, but not in A or B.

+ Activate only the "Show"-options for the items you want listed. If for example you only want to list all items that + exist either in A or in B but not in both, you'll have to activate "Show Files only in A" and "Show Files only in B" + and deactivate all others ("Show Identical Files", "Show Different Files", "Show Files only in C"). + The list will be updated immediately to reflect the change. +

+ These options also apply for directories with one exception: Disabling "Show Different Files" will not hide + any complete directories. This will work only for files within. +

+ Note that of these only the "Show Identical Files"-option is persistant. The others are enabled when starting KDiff3. +