Set comparison limits and run two folders

Start with two files

Let's compare two dispatch lists from a warehouse. Yesterday's list goes in Baseline. Today's goes in New output. Select Two files and choose the two copies of Dispatch dot C S V. Below the file pickers, open Comparison options. Start in Speed and result limits. These three controls each affect a different part of the job.

Open Performance mode. Maximum speed is the default. Use it when you're ready to let the comparison run. Balanced gives other programs more time, which helps if you're working while Excel reports are being checked. Reduced impact loads one worksheet at a time and pauses more often. Whichever you choose, the app checks the same things.

Read a capped result

Set Stop each file after to one hundred differences, then click Compare. Open the Dispatch result. The plus sign beside a hundred matters. Read that as at least a hundred. The app stopped counting when it reached the limit. If you're deciding whether to send a file back for correction, this may already answer your question.

Count every change

For a full count, go back to Comparison options. Change Stop each file after to No limit. Set Detail rows to display to fifty. Click Compare again and open the result. In the detail table, set View to Every individual change. The new count is one hundred twenty-five. Only the first fifty rows are on screen.

Now raise Detail rows to display to two hundred fifty. The table expands to show all one hundred twenty-five changes without running the comparison again. That's why it helps to set these two controls separately. For very large jobs, No limit counts every difference and keeps the first five thousand detail records per file for review and export.

Set up a folder run

For a batch, select Two folders. Choose Baseline and New Output from the Guided Showcase samples. In Comparison options, find Folder runs. Filename order goes from A to Z. Largest files first weighs each pair by its combined size. Smallest files first brings the lighter pairs to the front. The app still pairs files by their relative paths.

Leave the order on Filename and turn on Stop after the first issue. Click Compare. The first workbook, Executive Dashboard, comes back Different. Read the progress message. One of eight files was checked. The other seven still need checking. A missing file, a new file, or a file that returns an error can also stop a folder run.

Turn off Stop after the first issue and click Compare again. This time the run finishes all eight entries. Five differ, one matches, one file is missing, and one is new. For a quick check, stopping at the first issue saves time. Before signing off on a delivery, finish the full run and review each entry.