WinMerge: How to exclude .bak and .tmp files?

Question

How do I include all files and exclude *.bak and *.tmp files in WinMerge compare dialog window?

=========== WinMerge Dialog Window ===========

Left: [Folder-A]               [ OK ]
Right: [Folder-B]              [ Cancel ]
Filter: *.*                    [ Help ]

[x] Include Subfolders

----------------------------------------------

Zaheylu · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-22T15:01:55.397

15

Using an inclusive filter, all files are included except those matching a filter rule. For .tmp and .bak files that would be:

def: include ## Inclusive (loose) filter lets through all items not matching rules
f: \.tmp$ ## temporary files
f: \.bak$ ## back up files

When selecting a file or folder, hit select right next to the filter textfield to select a filter. Then hit new, select a filename and adjust the filter by the above lines. After saving, you may have to refresh the filter page by closing and opening it again. Select your new filter and voila.

edited May 22 '15 at 15:01

answered Mar 16 '15 at 11:07

Zaheylu

677
4
12

Tks, it works. Been a while and I have used another software. Now that I know how filters work, I may give WinMerge another chance. – Level1Coder Mar 18 '15 at 00:09

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered May 01 '23 at 01:27

You exclude *.bak and *.tmp files as of WinMerge 2.16.19

In 2.16.19 and later, if you put an exclamation mark(!) in front of a mask, files matching that mask will be excluded. Also, a backslash(\) after the mask will cause the mask to match folders instead of files.

Example 2. Excluding folders (In 2.16.19 or later)

In this command-line example, the folder compare operation excludes .git and .vs folders:

WinMergeU c:\project\docs c:\temp /f !.git\;!.vs\

Use this filter:

*.*;f:!*.bak;f:!*.tmp

After adding it, you'll be able to exclude *.bak and *.tmp files.

PS L:\temp\winmerge> Get-ChildItem .\folder1\


    Directory: L:\temp\winmerge\folder1


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file1.txt
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file2.bak
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file3.tmp


PS L:\temp\winmerge> Get-ChildItem .\folder2\


    Directory: L:\temp\winmerge\folder2


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file1.txt
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file2.bak
-a----         4/30/2023   8:19 PM              0 file3.tmp

*.bak and *.tmp files will be skipped. Example Winmerge output here

file1.txt       Text files are identical      4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM    4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM  txt
file2.bak       File skipped      4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM    4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM  bak
file3.tmp       File skipped      4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM    4/30/2023 8:19:05 PM  tmp

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '14 at 01:59

-1

You can use a filter. See here, section 4.1.3. Creating a file filter.

answered Mar 09 '14 at 01:59

Maria Ines Parnisari

318
7
20

link doesn't work – Level1Coder Mar 09 '14 at 02:03
Oops. I fixed it now. – Maria Ines Parnisari Mar 09 '14 at 02:04
2

Actually, I read that before posting the question. The documentation is rather poor on how to exclude files, there is no clearcut example. – Level1Coder Mar 09 '14 at 02:08
Basically, you create a filter for bak and tmp files, and apply that filter to the comparison. – Maria Ines Parnisari Mar 09 '14 at 02:08
Does that mean if I have 1 billion files to compare, it will compare 1 billion files THEN apply filter? Seems not efficient – Level1Coder Mar 09 '14 at 02:12
I don't know how it works. – Maria Ines Parnisari Mar 09 '14 at 02:13

WinMerge: How to exclude *.bak and *.tmp files?

3 Answers3

WinMerge: How to exclude .bak and .tmp files?