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Name Normalization
The core of Folder Comparing is its filename normalization engine. Engineering files often include project-specific prefixes and site-specific suffixes that differ between copies of the same deliverable set.
The same file might appear as:
| Folder | Filename |
|---|---|
| Client copy | 25012218-EXC3D_Anna.dwg |
| Internal copy | EXC3D.dwg |
| Archive copy | 25012218-EXC3D_SiteB.dwg |
A naive comparison sees three different files. Folder Comparing sees one file (EXC3D.dwg) present in all three folders.
The tool auto-detects common prefixes across files in each folder. Patterns like project numbers (25012218-) are identified and stripped.
Detection method: If a majority of files in a folder share a leading pattern (digits, hyphens, underscores), it's treated as a project prefix.
Site-specific suffixes (e.g., _Anna, _SiteB) appended before the extension are detected and stripped.
Detection method: Trailing segments after the last underscore that vary across folders but attach to otherwise-matching base names are treated as site suffixes.
After normalization, files that still don't match exactly are compared using sequence similarity:
- Threshold: Configurable (default 80%)
- Algorithm: Character-level sequence matching
- Result: Files above the threshold are reported as "Fuzzy Match" with the similarity score
| Original | Normalized |
|---|---|
25012218-EXC3D_Anna.dwg |
EXC3D.dwg |
PRJ-2024-BOUNDARY.dwg |
BOUNDARY.dwg |
TOPO_SurveyArea1.dwg |
TOPO.dwg |
UTIL-WTR.dwg |
UTIL-WTR.dwg (no prefix/suffix detected) |
- Lower threshold (60–70%): Catches more potential matches but increases false positives
- Higher threshold (90–100%): Only near-identical names match; good for well-organized projects
- Default (80%): Good balance for typical engineering naming conventions