The Duplicate Search Process

    1 A list is created of all files to be compared.
    2 If file name is one of the criteria, any file with a unique name is removed.
    3 If other criteria are specified, data for further comparisons is collected, comparisons are made, and non-duplicate files are removed.
    4 Finally, if a comparison of data or resource fork data was requested, File Buddy reads each file, creating a "digest," or digital signature, which can be compared with the digests of other files.
    5 The digests are then compared and non-duplicate files are removed.
    6 The results are displayed in a file list window, with each group of duplicates assigned a number (displayed in the left margin of the list).
    7 The list is sorted by group number so duplicate files will appear together, and alternating groups of duplicates are selected initially. All files with the same number were found to be duplicates.

 


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