Compare only by Time

[gilad.narkis@wdc.com]

Is there a way to compare files only by time?
we have files that change by size but not by time, and we need to have this option.
maybe its already there, but I couldn't find it.
Thx

[Plerry]

Comparing by time only is not possible, but would not save any substantial time either.

But, look into defining a Custom sync variant in the Sync Settings (F8).
There you see the several Difference categories (hoover your mouse over the icons), and can define a desired action per Difference category. By clicking on the Action icon, you cycle through the available options.
In your case, the default may already be OK:
Difference category: Left item is newer => action: Update right item
Difference category: Right item is newer => action: Update left item

However, files with the same time but different size would still qualify as a Difference, and be subject to the Custom rule. If the time left and right is equal, neither of the two files will be newer.
I never tried what happens then. Perhaps this then poses a conflict (middle icon) and can be left as an unresolved conflict, which would result in warnings (which you could select to be ignored)

[gilad.narkis@wdc.com]

Hi Plerry
Thx for your answer.
Is there any plan in the near future to enable this option?
Thx
Gilad

[xCSxXenon]

If you have files that change in size but not time, wouldn't comparing by time only miss those changes?

[gilad.narkis@wdc.com]

No, when you are syncing file between computers that have different Office versions, it automatically change the size but not the time.
you can test it.

[xCSxXenon]

I believe that is happening, just haven't heard of that before. Opening a file should change absolutely nothing until it gets saved though, as it never works directly with the long-term storage until a save is initiated. And if it does get 'auto-saved' somehow, the modified time would have to be different, unless it's resetting it. That all sounds unlikely to me. How different are the versions, like 2003 to vs 2019? lol

[gilad.narkis@wdc.com]

please have a look on the attachment please have a look on the attachment

2022-12-19_16h24_05.png (5.18 KiB) Viewed 1619 times

[jsimo-nyc]

I'm having the same issue. I think it is MS Office or autosave / OneDrive related. But basically, when comparing a local folder to a OneDrive synced version of the folder, the names and dates are a match, while the sizes are slightly off (just like the image above). I'm guessing Microsoft adds some metadata, but the actual contents are the same. But because of this we can't use FFS to check OneDrive folders.

The simple fix we are looking for is to allow for relaxing the compare options to ignore size and consider only name and date.

[xCSxXenon]

I'm having the same issue. I think it is MS Office or autosave / OneDrive related. But basically, when comparing a local folder to a OneDrive synced version of the folder, the names and dates are a match, while the sizes are slightly off (just like the image above). I'm guessing Microsoft adds some metadata, but the actual contents are the same.

I also use M365 and auto-saving, but I don't ever experience this issue. Also, OP mentioned switching between different versions of Office, not that they change upon opening and closing without changing contents

[xCSxXenon]

I wonder if this is related to collaboration? If another user is editing the file, does it update the timestamp of the local copy? And if so, when? Neither of you mentioned utilizing this feature, so it may not be applicable here, but interesting nonetheless

[therube]

Opening a file should change absolutely nothing until it gets saved though

Not necessarily, viewtopic.php?t=9934.
(Excel specific, but maybe...)

[xCSxXenon]

That was fixed, supposedly, by using the current file format though. The OP posted a picture with a docx, which is the current version. They never answered what Office versions were in use, though it shouldn't matter. Since it is docx, it can't be a really old version or anything that would matter.

It is likely going to be something with auto-saving or revision history in combination with different Office version, but I can't reproduce it with my setup.