Compare run should only operate on the files of the smaller tree

[mbe57]

Searching around for some time I found no answer for that use case: some 100 files in one tree, 100,000 in the other. Regardless of order (1 - 2) WinMerge runs through all 100,000+ files. Is there a way to tell WinMerge "not interested in "only in"". I am not interested in filtering the OUTPUT (after 100,000+ compare ops), I am interested in making WinMerge only do the useful compares.

[sdottaka]

You can reduce unnecessary work by adjusting the comparison method and file filter.

• With Binary Contents, WinMerge does not read file contents for files that exist only on one side or have different sizes.

• Instead of *.*, use a filter like fe:LeftExists and RightExists to limit the comparison to files present on both sides.

This avoids processing “only in left/right” files during comparison.