Learn · Matching

Expected vs actual: what a match can tell you

When a spreadsheet says what should exist and a folder shows what actually exists, matching can expose missing, extra and unclear items. The important part is knowing which conclusions are safe.

The basic idea

The expected set is the list of records you believe should have files. The actual set is the files you selected. TaskThimble compares identifiers from the expected data with file names in the actual set.

Matched does not mean “correct in every way”

A reliable filename match means TaskThimble found a clear filename relationship based on the selected record identifier. It does not prove that the file contains the right content, is the newest version, meets delivery requirements or belongs to the right business process.

Missing

A missing result means an expected record did not receive enough reliable file matches. The file may genuinely be absent, or it may exist under a name that does not provide enough evidence for an automatic match.

Unmatched / extra

An unmatched file has no reliable record match. It may be an unexpected file, a valid file outside the selected dataset, or a misnamed file. Review it before deleting or renaming anything.

Unclear matches

If more than one record could match a file, or a filename is only very close to an identifier, TaskThimble leaves the relationship for review instead of guessing. That protects the result from false certainty.

What to do next

Resolve ambiguous identifiers and naming first. Then obtain genuinely missing files or remove items that do not belong. Re-run the match afterwards so the final result reflects the corrected set.