File_Compare

A Python command-line tool for comparing files between directories, with special support for video file proxy workflows.

• Three Comparison Modes:

  • Normal Mode: Compare all files by full filename (basename + extension)
  • Proxy Mode: Compare video files by basename only (ignoring extensions)
  • ProxyAdv Mode: Proxy mode with frame count verification to detect incomplete proxy files (requires mediainfo CLI)

• Multiple Directory Support: Combine multiple directories into single comparison groups using + separator

• Multiple Export Formats: Export results in JSON, TXT, CSV, or HTML format

• Smart File Filtering: Automatically skips system files and directories:

  • macOS: .DS_Store, ._*, .Trash, .AppleDouble, etc.
  • Windows: Thumbs.db, $RECYCLE.BIN, System Volume Information
  • NAS systems: @eaDir, #recycle

• Unicode Support: Properly handles non-ASCII filenames (Chinese, Japanese, etc.)

• Parallel Scanning: Uses multi-threading for faster directory scanning

Prerequisites

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Optional: mediainfo CLI tool (required for proxyadv mode with frame count verification)

Installing mediainfo (Optional - Required for proxyadv mode)

macOS:

brew install mediainfo

Linux:

sudo apt-get install mediainfo

Windows: Download from MediaArea.net

Installation

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/File_Compare.git
cd File_Compare

Project Structure

File_Compare/
├── file_compare.py              # Main entry point
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py             # Version and package info
│   ├── normal_compare.py       # Normal comparison mode
│   ├── proxy_compare.py        # Proxy comparison mode
│   ├── proxy_compare_advanced.py # Advanced proxy comparison mode
│   ├── file_utils.py           # File filtering utilities
│   └── exporters.py            # Export format handlers
└── README.md

Usage

Basic Syntax

python file_compare.py [OPTIONS] PATH1 PATH2

Options

Option	Description	Default
-f, --format	Output format(s): json, txt, csv, html (multiple allowed)	html
-m, --mode	Comparison mode: normal, proxy, proxyadv	normal
-h, --help	Show help message	-

Normal Mode (Default)

Compares files by their complete filename including extension.

• Use case: General file comparison, backup verification
• Key: filename.extension
• Example: video.mp4 and video.mov are treated as different files

Proxy Mode

Compares video files by basename only, ignoring file extensions.

• Use case: Video proxy workflows where originals and proxies have different formats
• Key: filename (without extension)
• Example: video.mp4 and video.mov are treated as the same file
• Supported formats: .mp4, .mov, .mxf, .avi, .mkv, .m4v, .mpg, .mpeg, .webm, .flv, .vob, .ogv, .ogg, .dv, .qt, .f4v, .m2ts, .ts, .3gp, .3g2

ProxyAdv Mode

Proxy comparison with frame count verification to detect incomplete proxy files.

• Requirements: mediainfo CLI tool must be installed
• Use case: Verify that proxy files have the same number of frames as originals

Examples

Compare Two Single Directories

# Normal mode (compare all files)
python file_compare.py /path/to/dir1 /path/to/dir2

# Proxy mode (compare video files by basename)
python file_compare.py -m proxy /path/to/originals /path/to/proxies

# Advanced proxy mode (verify frame counts)
python file_compare.py -m proxyadv /path/to/originals /path/to/proxies

# Export to HTML and JSON
python file_compare.py -f html json /path/to/dir1 /path/to/dir2

Compare Multiple Combined Directories

# Combine multiple source directories
python file_compare.py "/path/dir1+/path/dir2" "/path/dir3"

# Compare two groups of directories
python file_compare.py "/path/a1+/path/a2+/path/a3" "/path/b1+/path/b2"

# With multiple output formats
python file_compare.py -f html json "/dir1+/dir2" "/dir3+/dir4"

Real-World Scenarios

Video Production Workflow:

# Compare original footage with proxy files
python file_compare.py -m proxy -f html \
  /Volumes/Storage/Originals \
  /Volumes/EditDrive/Proxies

# Compare original footage with proxy files and export to HTML and JSON
python file_compare.py -m proxy -f html json \
  /Volumes/Storage/Originals \
  /Volumes/EditDrive/Proxies

# Advanced verification with frame count checking
python file_compare.py -m proxyadv -f html \
  /Volumes/Storage/Originals \
  /Volumes/EditDrive/Proxies

Backup Verification:

# Verify backup across multiple drives
python file_compare.py -f csv \
  "/Volumes/Backup1+/Volumes/Backup2" \
  /Volumes/Master

Multi-Location Archive:

# Compare files from multiple archive locations
python file_compare.py -f json \
  "/Archive/2024/Q1+/Archive/2024/Q2+/Archive/2024/Q3" \
  /CurrentProjects

Quality Control for Proxy Encoding:

# Verify all proxies are complete (not truncated)
python file_compare.py -m proxyadv -f html \
  /Production/Camera_Originals \
  /Production/Proxies