Compare Examples¶

This page provides practical examples of how to use Recursivist's directory comparison functionality to identify differences between directory structures.

Basic Comparison Examples¶

Simple Directory Comparison¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2

This displays a side-by-side comparison of dir1 and dir2 in the terminal, with differences highlighted.

Saving Comparison as HTML¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --save

This generates an HTML file named comparison.html containing the comparison.

Custom Output Location¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --save --output-dir ./reports

This saves the comparison to ./reports/comparison.html.

Custom Filename¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --save --prefix dir-diff

This saves the comparison to dir-diff.html.

Comparison with File Statistics¶

Comparing with Lines of Code¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --sort-by-loc

This compares the directories with line count information, making it easy to identify differences in code volume.

Comparing with File Sizes¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --sort-by-size

This compares the directories with file size information, highlighting differences in file sizes.

Comparing with Modification Times¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --sort-by-mtime

This compares the directories with file modification times, showing which files are newer in each directory.

Combining Multiple Statistics¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --sort-by-loc --sort-by-size

This combines multiple statistics in a single comparison view.

Filtered Comparisons¶

Comparing with Directory Exclusions¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --exclude "node_modules .git"

This compares the directories while ignoring node_modules and .git directories.

Comparing with File Extension Exclusions¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --exclude-ext ".pyc .log"

This compares the directories while ignoring files with .pyc and .log extensions.

Comparing with Pattern Exclusions¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --exclude-pattern "*.test.js" "*.spec.js"

This compares the directories while ignoring JavaScript test files.

Focusing on Specific Files¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --include-pattern "src/**/*.js" "*.md"

This compares only JavaScript files in the src directory and markdown files.

Comparing with Gitignore Patterns¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --ignore-file .gitignore

This compares the directories while respecting the patterns in .gitignore.

Depth-Limited Comparisons¶

Comparing Top-Level Structure¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --depth 1

This compares only the top level of the directory structures.

Comparing with Limited Depth¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --depth 3

This compares the directories up to 3 levels deep.

Full Path Comparisons¶

Comparing with Full Paths¶

recursivist compare dir1 dir2 --full-path

This displays full file paths in the comparison instead of just filenames.

Real-World Use Cases¶

Project Version Comparison with Statistics¶

recursivist compare project-v1.0 project-v2.0 \
  --exclude "node_modules .git" \
  --exclude-ext ".log .tmp" \
  --save \
  --output-dir ./version-reports \
  --prefix v1-vs-v2 \
  --sort-by-loc

This compares two versions of a project, excluding common directories and file types, saving the report with lines of code statistics.

Branch Comparison with Statistics¶

# Clone branches to compare
git clone -b main repo main-branch
git clone -b feature/new-feature repo feature-branch

# Compare directory structures with LOC stats
recursivist compare main-branch feature-branch \
  --exclude "node_modules .git" \
  --save \
  --prefix branch-comparison \
  --sort-by-loc

This compares the directory structures of two Git branches with line count information.

Source vs. Build Comparison with File Sizes¶

recursivist compare src dist \
  --include-pattern "**/*.js" \
  --save \
  --prefix src-vs-dist \
  --sort-by-size

This compares JavaScript files between source and distribution directories with file size information.

Development vs. Production Configuration Comparison¶

recursivist compare dev-config prod-config \
  --save \
  --output-dir ./deployment-validation \
  --prefix dev-vs-prod \
  --sort-by-size

This compares development and production configuration directories with file size information.

Specific Comparison Scenarios¶

Code Library Upgrade Analysis¶

# Extract old and new versions of a library
mkdir -p old-lib new-lib
tar -xzf library-1.0.tar.gz -C old-lib
tar -xzf library-2.0.tar.gz -C new-lib

# Compare library versions with LOC stats
recursivist compare old-lib new-lib \
  --exclude "tests examples" \
  --save \
  --prefix library-upgrade \
  --sort-by-loc

This extracts and compares two versions of a code library with lines of code metrics.

Project Fork Comparison¶

recursivist compare original-project forked-project \
  --exclude "node_modules .git" \
  --save \
  --prefix fork-comparison \
  --sort-by-loc \
  --sort-by-mtime

This compares an original project with a forked version, showing both line count differences and when files were modified.

Backup Verification with File Sizes¶

recursivist compare original-files backup-files \
  --full-path \
  --save \
  --prefix backup-verification \
  --sort-by-size

This compares original files with their backups, showing full paths and file sizes to verify backup integrity.

Framework Comparison with Lines of Code¶

recursivist compare react-project vue-project \
  --include-pattern "src/**/*" \
  --exclude-pattern "**/*.test.js" \
  --save \
  --prefix framework-comparison \
  --sort-by-loc

This compares the source structure of projects built with different frameworks, including lines of code metrics for better comparison.

Combining with Other Tools¶

Comparison and Analysis Script¶

#!/bin/bash

# Compare projects with LOC stats
recursivist compare project-v1 project-v2 \
  --save \
  --prefix project-comparison \
  --sort-by-loc

# Generate summary statistics using HTML parsing
echo "Code changes summary:" > comparison-summary.txt
echo "--------------------" >> comparison-summary.txt
echo "Added files:" >> comparison-summary.txt
grep -o "unique to this directory" project-comparison.html | wc -l >> comparison-summary.txt
echo "Removed files:" >> comparison-summary.txt
grep -o "unique to the other directory" project-comparison.html | wc -l >> comparison-summary.txt
echo "Total LOC in v1:" >> comparison-summary.txt
grep -o "Directory 1.*lines" project-comparison.html | sed 's/.*(\([0-9,]*\) lines.*/\1/' | tr -d ',' >> comparison-summary.txt
echo "Total LOC in v2:" >> comparison-summary.txt
grep -o "Directory 2.*lines" project-comparison.html | sed 's/.*(\([0-9,]*\) lines.*/\1/' | tr -d ',' >> comparison-summary.txt

echo "Comparison complete. See project-comparison.html and comparison-summary.txt"

This script compares two projects with lines of code statistics and generates a summary of the differences.

Continuous Integration Comparison with Statistics¶

# Example GitHub Actions workflow
name: Structure Comparison

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  compare:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout main branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          ref: main
          path: main-branch

      - name: Checkout PR branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
          path: pr-branch

      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: "3.10"

      - name: Install Recursivist
        run: pip install recursivist

      - name: Compare branches with statistics
        run: |
          recursivist compare main-branch pr-branch \
            --exclude "node_modules .git" \
            --save \
            --prefix structure-diff \
            --sort-by-loc \
            --sort-by-size

      - name: Upload comparison artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: structure-comparison
          path: structure-diff.html

This GitHub Actions workflow compares the directory structure between the main branch and a pull request branch, including lines of code and file size statistics.

Weekly Project Evolution Report¶

#!/bin/bash

# Get current date for filename
date_str=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

# Compare current structure with last week's snapshot
if [ -d "snapshots/last_week" ]; then
  echo "Comparing with last week's snapshot..."

  # Create comparison with LOC and modification time stats
  recursivist compare snapshots/last_week . \
    --exclude "node_modules .git snapshots" \
    --save \
    --output-dir ./reports \
    --prefix "weekly-${date_str}" \
    --sort-by-loc \
    --sort-by-mtime

  echo "Weekly comparison saved to reports/weekly-${date_str}.html"
fi

# Create snapshot for next week's comparison
echo "Creating snapshot for next week's comparison..."
mkdir -p snapshots/last_week
cp -a . snapshots/last_week/ 2>/dev/null || true
find snapshots/last_week -name "node_modules" -type d -exec rm -rf {} +

This script compares the current project structure with a snapshot from the previous week, highlighting both code volume changes and when files were modified.