merge two folders software recommendations

I know SyncTwoFolders has the ability to make sure changes to one folder occur to the other, merging occurs as a result.

However I would test it out using duplicates first to see all it's abilites in action.

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22644/synctwofolders

There are also other similar software on the bottom of the page.

I understnd now, you need something you can target two folders (with files and folders inside) and have it intelligently merge the two.

I haven't had a need to do such a thing on a grand scale, but aware of a program called Decloner that will compare two folders for exact file contents (rather than name) and flag the duplicates for your decision(s)

http://www.pixelespressoapps.com/decloner/

If this doesn't work, all I can say is try some and see if they do what you need it to do.

Good Luck 🙂

hotwheels 22 wrote:

can anyone give me an industrial strength recommendation for some "merge folders" software?

MacOS X Lion?

hotwheels 22 wrote:

can i ask you to elaborate on this a little with what Lion can do in this arena, what search terms i could use to research this answer further or even URL's explaining this?

Look for "lion merge folders". Here is the official link.

also, have you used this functionality and if so what have you done with it, what are the pros and cons etc.

Yes, and it works as advertized. It is a little bit tricky. Many people have complained that they couldn't get it to work. You really have to "click it right".

If Lion 10.7 offeres this feature it might be good, however it might not be worth bricking a good portion of your third party software/hardware (with little updates working yet), and also slowing down your machine to do it.

http://roaringapps.com/apps:table

After all this is a entire OS X upgrade, just for a feature that you will use perhaps only once in your life.

I would keep asking around for expereince using specialized software, it's a hard question as not many people have need of this function.

I know in my 20 plus years I've never had to "merge" two folders with large amount files, if something like this popped up we used Apple's Automator or AppleScript.

https://support.apple.com/kb/HT2488

Perhaps online you can find already prepared scripts that will do exactly what you require, no OS X upgrade hassles and bricked third party software/hardware.

http://automator.us/downloads.html

http://automatorworld.com/

http://dougscripts.com/itunes/

Also what you may be able to do is create a Automator task to ask you which two folders to start with, which you pick the same name, then merge copies of the two files from each and place into a new third folder of the same name. So instead of placing one into the other, risking messing up two folders, you are only copying to a new folder.

Perhaps Automator will be intelligent and flag all the duplicate named files with #2, then you could run Decloner to check each file exactlly and delete the duplicate #2.

ds store wrote:

it might not be worth bricking a good portion of your third party software/hardware (with little updates working yet), and also slowing down your machine to do it.

If you have something worthwhile to contribute, please do so, but stop the ridiculous anti-Lion lies.

etresoft wrote:

If you have something worthwhile to contribute, please do so, but stop the ridiculous anti-Lion lies.

Your recommending a drastic procedure as a operating system upgrade that may render a good portion a OP's software disfunctional and slowing down their machines performance without due warning or without checking with them first.

They might then have to pay someone or toil with the tedious task of erasing and reinstalling 10.6 to get back to where they were so everything works again.

The OP didn't even mention their machine specs, so you don't know if it can run Lion at all, yet your recommending it.

If you provided accurate information and accuratly assisted I wouldn't have even spoken up at all.

Upgrading to Lion may provide a solution, however you first need to check with the OP if they can do so first.

ds store wrote:

Your recommending a drastic procedure as a operating system upgrade that may render a good portion a OP's software disfunctional

Or not. I believe the original poster is an adult and well-qualified to make decisions about a computer upgrade.

slowing down their machines performance.

Why are you suddently repeating this misinformation in every thread? There are a few million of us who have been running Lion for several months now. It is true that software that hasn't been updated since 2006 may not run on Lion. It is not true that Lion is slower than Snow Leopard.

They might then have to pay someone or toil with the tedious task of erasing and reinstalling 10.6 to get back to where they were so everything works again.

That is ridiculous and completely off-topic here.

The OP didn't even mention their machine specs, so you don't know if it can run Lion at all, yet your recommending it.

So?

If you provided accurate information and accuratly assisted I wouldn't have even spoken up at all.

Dude. You are losing it. Seriously.

etresoft wrote:

Or not. I believe the original poster is an adult and well-qualified to make decisions about a computer upgrade.

There you go assuming the posters age now.

etresoft wrote:

It is true that software that hasn't been updated since 2006 may not run on Lion.

So now your saying, (because I posted the Roaring Apps link), that I'm not lying after all right?

How about other programs that the OP may be using that hasn't gotten a Lion capable working update yet, your just going to disable their functionality so they can merge a couple of folders once?

It is not true that Lion is slower than Snow Leopard.

Can you give recent testing of Lion that it's now faster than Snow Leopard?

Because last time I've checked, online testers have shown Lion is slightly slower than Snow Leopard.

If your correct, then I stand corrected. I'm open to correction.

That is ridiculous and completely off-topic here.

Not so, you recommend Lion, they upgrade and then come back here to complain you gave them faulty advice and now they can't use X, Y or Z anymore and need to return to 10.6 to get their $40000 mega printer to work as there are no drivers for 10.7 or their several thousand dollar investment in software just disappeared in a puff of smoke.

You obviously never worked in the graphics industry.

So?

So why bother if they are running a Intel Core Duo Mac, 32 bit that cant' run Lion.

Don't you think you should ask them first?

etresoft wrote:

Dude. You are losing it. Seriously.

If your bothering to assist people and spend your time here, pay better attention to detail.

People are trusting your recommendations.

hotwheels 22 wrote:

can anyone give me an industrial strength recommendation for some "merge folders" software?

Yes, you've asked this before, and things haven't changed. In Mac OS X there are more ways than one to skin a cat, and this is one of them. If you want industrial strength, you go with CLI tools, such as ditto, which have been around for decades, are well documented, and, when used correctly, can be configured in many useful ways, for instance, to record a log of every operation performed.

I know you don't like CLI tools, but the fact is that, if you want to use Mac OS X to its fullest capabilities -- and especially if you're looking for industrial strength -- you need to learn to use them. A good way to get started is

Sobell, M. G., & Seebach, P. (2006). A practical guide to Unix for Mac OS X users. ISBN 0131863339.

As for the specific question, this concise hint

<http://the.taoofmac.com/space/HOWTO/Merge%20Folders>

shows you three different ways of doing it. You should read the manual pages for each command, eg

man cp

in Terminal, to understand the meaning of the options indicated. The free utility CLIX from Rixstep

<http://rixstep.com/4/0/clix/>

is a good way of learning CLI commands.

HTH

hotwheels 22 wrote:

hi. thanks also for the nice automator links. i hope to get very friendly with it one of these days.

I'm sorry I don't know enough about Automator to solve your issue, but I believe it's along that track because that's why Apple designed it.

Perhaps another tactic would be to ask a AppleScript/Automator guru.

Sometimes a post here with the heading

"Any Automator guru's?, I need help"

and then tell them what your trying to do and perhaps they can outline a simple script (drag and drop simplicity) that will perform your required actions.

Perhaps they will even have a direct link 🙂

I could do it, but it's going to take me longer as I'm not very experienced with it.

Good Luck, if I find something else I'll post back. 🙂