PrestoSoft Community

I often use EDpro to keep in sync a backup copy of a subtree.
Sometimes I want to copy an empty directory from a pane to the other.

If the empty directory is not a subdir of a preexistent path but has as parent an "empty" directory (not exactly empty because of course it contains the relevant and really empty directory, that is) also non existent in the target panel, then the the copy fails because of "invalid path".

I try to explain it more clearly with an example.

Source tree: \a\b\c in which b and c are empty directories. (b is "empty" only because it doesn't contain files...)
Target tree: \a

N.B. EDpro shows only c and says "<empty directory>"; b is not shown anywhere else than in the path to c.

Try to copy c to the target and you get the error.

Of course this is a system problem, not strictly an EDpro one, but in the long run it's annoying.
Can you try to circumvent it, please?

Another hint: very often I want to prune a tree in a pane. I select all the relevant files and delete them.
Then I need to search and select all the leaf empty directories and delete them.
Then I need to search and select all the new leaf empty directories and delete them.
Then... etc. etc. until I reach the desired directory level.

What about an easy way to do it?

Thank you

EDpro shows only c and says "<empty directory>"; b is not shown anywhere else than in the path to c.

Right, only terminal items are shown in recursive comparison.

Try to copy c to the target and you get the error.

Fixed in build build 4.5.1.33.

Another hint: very often I want to prune a tree in a pane. I select all the relevant files and delete them.
Then I need to search and select all the leaf empty directories and delete them.
Then I need to search and select all the new leaf empty directories and delete them.
Then... etc. etc. until I reach the desired directory level.

What about an easy way to do it?

You could switch to non-recursive comparison and delete the whole subdirectory. You could also re-compare once you deleted all of the directory's files, and the delete the <empty directory> item.

There could be an option to automatically delete a directory once all of its files are deleted but it may be dangerous.

psguru wrote:Right, only terminal items are shown in recursive comparison.

Yes, that's correct and good.
I simply evidenced that to say that I have no way to, e.g., perform a copy of the missing path step by step because there is no way to select a non terminal item.

BTW: Thank you for the fix.

psguru wrote:You could also re-compare once you deleted all of the directory's files, and the delete the <empty directory> item.

That's exactly what I do.
The problem is in the once: it's once per directory level!
If the subtree is somehow "deep", the thing becomes annoying.
Then, having become "empty directories", the recompare puts them at the beginning of the (long) list while, perhaps, I was working near the end...
Not to say if, as is often my case, the recompare requires about a minute...

psguru wrote:There could be an option to automatically delete a directory once all of its files are deleted but it may be dangerous.

Yuk! Sure it is!
Not a good idea.

I'll try to find a better one.

Sorry, no top solution yet.

But a little idea yes: why are the empty directories at the top of the list even if I ask for a sort by path?
It seems reasonable to me to find them at their "natural" position.

Doing so, it becomes easier to remove them after having removed all the files of the subtree because they stay in the current screen and I don't have to scroll at the top of the list.

Good point: this is fixed in build 4.5.1.38.

As usual: thank you.

psguru wrote:There could be an option to automatically delete a directory once all of its files are deleted but it may be dangerous.

After giving this some more thought, we've decided to implement this feature carefully: the user will be prompted whether to delete directories once all of their files are deleted. Like all messages, this prompt can be hidden, in which case the user's selection will be used in the future. This feature will be included in ExamDiff Pro 5.0 Beta, which we're aiming to release by the end of this month.

What to say?
Thank you!