Compare Action 🔃

📂 Simply compares 2 paths to see if they are the same or different. Supports globs, dates, and a handful of ignores.

By default, this will error if there are any differences, but it's behaviour can be configured as needed.

Usage

- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: hudsonm62/compare-action@v1
  with:
    path1: "path/to/first"
    path2: "path/to/second"
    exclude: "**/*.js,**/*.ts"
    #error_same: true

Configuration

Inputs

Input	Default	Description
path1	null	The first path to compare (required)
path2	null	The second path to compare (required)
exclude	null	Relative minimatch Glob pattern to filter out - Specify multiple patterns by separating with a comma (i.e. "**/*.js,**/*.ts").
include	null	Relative minimatch Glob pattern to filter in - Specify multiple patterns by separating with a comma (i.e. "**/*.js,**/*.ts").
log_path	null	This is the path to write the log file. Only turns on file logging if this is set. Doesn't discriminate between \ and /.
compare_size	true	If true, will compare the size of the files (always first).
compare_content	true	If true, will compare the content of the files.
compare_symlinks	false	If true, compares symbolic links directly instead of their targets.
error_same	false	If true, the action will fail if the files are the same. This changes depending on no_error and warn_instead
no_error	false	Disable errors. Simply outputs results.
warn_instead	false	If true, replaces any diff-related failing errors with just a warning.
output_diff	false	If true, outputs each compare result to console (matched or not) line by line. Not recommended for large file sets.
ignore_line_endings	false	If true, will ignore line endings when comparing files - CRLF/LF.
ignore_whitespace	false	If true, ignore any whitespace only at both the beginning and end of a line.
ignore_all_whitespace	false	If true, ignores ALL whitespace in files.
ignore_empty_lines	false	If true, ignores empty lines when comparing files.
ignore_empty_dirs	false	If true, ignores empty directories when comparing directories.
ignore_subdirs	false	If true, skips subdirectories when comparing directories. Effectively only compares the root of the paths.
ignore_name_case	false	If true, ignores the casing of the file names.
compare_only_name	false	If true, only compares the name of the files. (can be used in tandem with compare_date)
compare_date	false	If true, will also compare the date of the files. (can be used in tandem with any compare_** flags)

Outputs

Value	Description
result	The result 'enum' of the comparison - same, different, error.
log_path	The path to the log file that was written (assuming log_path input has a value).
distinct	The total number of items that are orphan/distinct.
equal	The total number of items that are the same.
different	The total number of items with differences.
total_folders	The total number of folders compared.
total_files	The total number of files compared.
total	The total number of items compared.

Inputs path1 and path2 will automatically get converted to their platform-specific path.
Always use / in your Globs, it will still work.

Common Problems

• Exclude Glob isn't working
  • Double check its actually a minimatch glob pattern.
  • Make sure the pattern is relative to the root of the comparing directory (path1/path2) and NOT your cwd.
    • For example, if you want to exclude thisFolder folder, you would use something like **/thisFolder/** (or ./thisFolder if it's always in the root of the comparing directory).
• Out of Memory?
  • Turn off output_diff if you have a large file set, as it prevents the array of results from being created.
  • Alternatively, you can split the Action into multiple steps that compare smaller sets at a time.
  • You can also try playing with the compare_size and compare_content flags to see if you can reduce the memory usage.
• "No such file or directory"
  • Ensure you've checked out your repo
  • Check the job has at least read for contents permissions.
  • If you're using a relative path, make sure you're in the right directory.

Credits

This is essentially an Action wrapper for dir-compare - Go check it out out!

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License