How to compare text files to create a new file?

One notepad file was installed on multiple computers.
When each computer was used the notepad file was updated.
Text was added, removed, or modified over time to each of the files.
The files are very different now for the same file name.

What software is available that could compare the text and create one updated file for all of the computers?

zbook said:

What software is available that could compare the text and create one updated file for all of the computers?

None, I suspect. Your problem is that it will require human intervention to determine which of the many changes is the definitive one.

You can generate a list of differences between any two text files from the command prompt, piping it to a results file if you wish.

FC A.txt B.txt
or
FC A.txt B.txt > Differences.txt

For the full syntax of File Compare (FC) type FC /?

If you have the file that you started with then you can do multiple 3-way merges using a merge tool like kdiff3. This is a common operation for source control systems.

But unless the changes on each computer are completely separate from each other - i.e. they don't modify the same lines of the original file - you'll have to manually merge the text no matter what.

Hi folks

@Bree

There are linux tools to help with this so your answer of none isn't strictly speaking correct. The amount of manual intervention though depends on the number of files created / changed and the complexity of what was changed.

@zbook

I know this is a Windows Forum but Linux has tools to do this

the easiest to start with is simply for each file type from command line :

diff file1 file2

to show differences side by side :

diff -y file1 file2

For a GUI use KOMP



(load linux up as a Virtual machine or live distro.)

kdiff3 is also good for 3-way merge etc.



You'll still have to do some manual stuff though to adjust the files / merge into what you want.

I know this is Windows 10 Forum but sometimes you have to use other tools !!! You wouldn't use a thimble to fill a swimming pool for example. (Maybe some of our Politicians would though !!!! - same problem world wide it seems).

Cheers
jimbo

Bree,
The files are on multiple computers.
What is the first step?
If the file is attached in an email and then opened in another computer how should the file be saved to be compared to the other file? If this is done for a third file how should it be saved?

These files are currently installed on this computer:
Important commands and shortcuts
important web pages (1)

For practice the two files were compared:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc important commands and shortcuts.txt important web pages.txt > differences.txt
FC: Invalid Switch

FC: cannot open IMPORTANT - No such file or folder


jimbo45,
What are the steps?
Which software should be downloaded and installed?
How do you set it up as a virtual machine?
And how do you set it up as a live distro?

I'm planning to make the comparison in May/June to create one new file from the multiple files.

There may be multiple entries in one file that are similar or duplicates or triplicates. In another file there are likely new files and some of the older entries modified or deleted. The text could also be in different order.

How does the order of the text, the duplicates and triplicates, impact the side by side comparison?
If the first word or last word of a sentence were changed how does that impact the side by side comparison?

zbook said:

For practice the two files were compared:
C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc important commands and shortcuts.txt important web pages.txt > differences.txt
FC: Invalid Switch
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT - No such file or folder

It's the spaces in the filenames that cause problems, you need to put each one in quotes. Without them it's looking for a file just called Important.

FC "important commands and shortcuts.txt" "important web pages.txt" > differences.txt

It displayed:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts.txt" "important web pages.txt" > differences.txt
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT WEB PAGES.TXT - No such file or folder


C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts.txt" "important web pages (1)" > differences.txt
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT WEB PAGES (1) - No such file or folder


C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts.txt "important web pages (1).txt > differences.txt
FC: Invalid Switch

FC: cannot open IMPORTANT COMMANDS AND SHORTCUTS.TXT IMPORTANT - No such file or folder


C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts" "important web pages (1).txt" > differeces.txt
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT COMMANDS AND SHORTCUTS - No such file or folder


C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts" "important web pages (1).txt" > differences.txt
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT COMMANDS AND SHORTCUTS - No such file or folder


There were some typos that were corrected but no result yet to compare.

zbook said:

C:\WINDOWS\system32>fc "Important commands and shortcuts.txt" "important web pages (1)" > differences.txt
FC: cannot open IMPORTANT WEB PAGES (1) - No such file or folder

There was no .txt extension for "important web pages (1)", was that correct? Also, unless both files are in the current directory C:\WINDOWS\system32 you will have to give the full path as well as the filename. eg. "C:\Users\zbook\temp\important web pages (1).txt"

Why are you in system32 anyway? FC does not need an Admin command prompt.

The files are on the desktop.
For each file, file was clicked, then file save as.
Whatever was displayed in the This PC > desktop was entered into command prompt.