# Reading and comparing a recording

Open any row on the timeline to see what that recording holds and what is different about it.

## The header

Two numbers, and they stay put whatever you compare against:

| Number | What it counts |
| --- | --- |
| **N files changed in this recording** | How many files differ from the recording before it — the same number as the timeline column |
| **N files differ from your theme now** | How many files differ between this recording and the theme it came from, as it is right now — the number that decides what a restore would change |

## Compare with…

The recording you opened stays fixed on the **left**. The picker changes the **right-hand side**:

| Option | Use it to answer |
| --- | --- |
| **The theme as it is now** — default | *"What would restoring this change?"* — this is exactly what a restore writes into |
| Any other recording, older or newer | *"What changed between these two points?"* |

If the theme the recording came from has been deleted from Shopify, there is no "as it is now" — the picker falls back to the previous recording and says so.

<Hint type="info">

Restoring replaces the right side with the left side.

</Hint>

## The three groups

Changed files are grouped, with a mark beside each so the groups read without color:

| Group | Mark | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Modified** | `≠` | The file exists on both sides and its contents differ |
| **Missing** | `−` | The recording holds this file and the right-hand side does not |
| **Extra** | `+` | The right-hand side has this file and the recording does not |

A file under **Missing** still has its contents in the recording. That is what makes it restorable. A file under **Extra** is one a restore would leave in place.

## The comparison pane

Click a file to see the differences line by line.

| Control | |
| --- | --- |
| **Unified / Side by side** | Two ways of showing the same difference |
| **Previous change / Next change** | Jump between the differing sections of a long file |
| **Previous file / Next file** | Move through the changed files without going back to the list |
| **Open in theme editor** | Opens the file in Shopify's code editor **as it is now** — not the recorded version. Hidden when the theme is gone from Shopify |
| **Restore this file** | See [Restoring](https://docs.foxecom.com/snapty-app/history-and-restore/restoring) |

### When lines are not shown

Some files cannot be compared line by line. Snapty says which case you are in rather than showing something approximate:

| What you see | Why |
| --- | --- |
| **Binary files record their size only** | Images and fonts have no text difference to show. Both versions are recorded |
| **This file is too large to compare line by line** | Both versions are recorded. Comparing a large minified file produces something nobody can read |
| **Line-by-line differences are not available yet** | The change and each side's size are recorded; fetching both versions to compare is not done for this file yet |
| **This file's stored contents could not be read back** | The recording is fine. Reading the two versions failed just now — a retry often works |
| **This file is too long to show in full** | The first part is shown, with the total line count |

<Hint type="success">

In every case the recording is intact, and restoring is unaffected.

</Hint>

## Nothing is different

If the recording and what you are comparing it against hold the same files, byte for byte, the screen says so. There is nothing to restore from here — the theme already holds this version.

## Compare two snapshots

**History → Compare two snapshots.** Any two points in time, not only neighbors.

<Stepper>

<Step>

Pick a recording under **From**.

</Step>

<Step>

Pick a different one under **To**.

</Step>

<Step>

Press **Compare these two**.

</Step>

</Stepper>

The result is the same three-group list, measured across the whole span. **N files differ between these two points** counts the span, not one step of it: a file changed and then changed back appears in neither.

Useful pairs: your baseline and your newest recording (everything since Snapty started watching); the last recording before a date and the first after (what a release or an app install did); two recordings either side of a **publish** trigger.

You cannot restore from this screen. Open the recording you want to put back and restore from there.

## A recording that is no longer there

If a link points at a recording that has rolled off, or at one from a theme this store no longer has, the screen says so instead of showing an empty comparison.