Comparing two files

These pages describe Calamo Pro 0.1 for Windows, Linux and macOS (beta). Download it and try it free for 14 days.

Opening the files

File A is the older file and file B the newer one. You can open CSV, TSV and text files, and Excel and OpenDocument workbooks (.xlsx, .xlsm, .xlsb, .xls, .ods). For a workbook, pick the sheet in the file bar. The two files can be of different kinds, for example an Excel sheet against a CSV export.

Opened a file as A that should be B? Click ⇄ between the files, or File → Swap A and B.

The key column

Rows are paired by the key, so their order in the files does not matter. Calamo suggests a column whose values are unique in both files. Change it with the Key button or Compare → Choose the key column… (Ctrl+K). Tick two columns when one is not unique, for example store and SKU.

Key popover with the column list and the key check
The key choice. Below the list, the key check says whether the key repeats in either file.

A key that repeats is reported in Key check: only the first row with each key is compared, the others are listed under Duplicates with their row numbers.

Columns to leave out

The Columns list on the left shows every column both files have, with the number of changed cells. Untick a column to leave it out, such as a timestamp that changes on every export. Columns that only one file has are listed below and not compared. Columns are matched by name, so their order does not matter.

What counts as the same value

  • Spaces at the start or end: "Brill " and "Brill" are the same (on by default).
  • Upper and lower case: Delta and DELTA are the same (off by default).
  • Number formats: 1.50 and 1,5 are the same number (on by default). 1,000 is compared as written, because it can mean a thousand or one.
  • Numbers ±: numbers that differ by at most this amount, or by this percent of the value in A, are not a change, for example ±0.01 for rounding.

Leading zeros are always kept: 00123 and 123 are two different keys. After you change a setting, the table says the result belongs to the previous settings until you press Compare (Ctrl+R). Calamo remembers the key and settings for files with the same columns.