mne_compare_fif_files
Overview
mne_compare_fif_files compares two FIFF files tag by tag and reports any differences found. This is a diagnostic utility for verifying that processing steps produce the expected output or for debugging file conversion issues.
This is a C++ port of the original MNE-C tool by Matti Hämäläinen.
Usage
mne_compare_fif_files [options]
Options
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--file1 <file> | First FIFF file |
--file2 <file> | Second FIFF file |
--verbose | Show matching tags too |
--help | Print help |
--version | Print version |
Description
The tool reads both FIFF files and compares them tag by tag, reporting tags that are present in one file but not the other, or tags whose values differ. With --verbose, matching tags are also listed.
Workflow Context
This tool is useful for:
- Verifying that data conversion (e.g.,
mne_ctf2fiff,mne_kit2fiff) produced correct results. - Checking that processing steps (e.g.,
mne_compensate_data,mne_mark_bad_channels) modified only the expected parts of a file. - Debugging pipeline issues by comparing intermediate files.
Example
# Compare two FIFF files
mne_compare_fif_files --file1 original.fif --file2 processed.fif
# Show all tags including matches
mne_compare_fif_files --file1 original.fif --file2 processed.fif --verbose