Compare current folder contents to a shadow copy/previous version

[JT-Moore]

Has anyone looked into adding the ability to compare current folder contents on a file server with a previous version managed by windows shadow copy using the same shadow copy paths displayed in Windows Explorer?

For example:
1st File or Folder = \file_server\folder
2nd File or Folder = \file_server\folder (Tuesday, ‎May ‎23, ‎2023, ‏‎5:00 PM)

where "\file_server\folder (Tuesday, ‎May ‎23, ‎2023, ‏‎5:00 PM)" is an example of the pathname shown in windows explorer when browsing the contents of previous version on the remote file server.

When I tried this in the current version of WinMerge, I get the error "Cannot compare file and folder!"

I am able to get around the issue by:

1. running vssadmin list shadows on the file server to find the internal shadow copy volume path for the previous version that I want to compare to, e.g. "\?\GLOBALROOT\Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy393"
2. using mklink /J to create a junction point on the file server that points to the shadow copy path found in step 1
3. using the unc path to the junction point created in step 2 as the 2nd File or Folder in WinMerge running on my workstation.

However, it would be a "nice to have feature" in WinMerge to be able to use the same paths displayed in Windows Explorer when browsing while previous versions so that people without Administrator level access on the file server could do these kind of comparisons themselves.