Does anyone need Code Compare tool?

[johnmcglaughlin]

Winmege http://www.winmerge.org/ is cheap, free, and extensive easy to use without needing the manual.

For unix I use Emacs compare buffer, also free.

[yuyuki]

For this feature I use the excellent WinMerge at http://winmerge.org/
Try it it's the best...for me

[CaliforniaJerry]

I've been using WinMerge, but recently become unhappy that, when doing a folder-to-folder comparison, it doesn't tell, at the top level, if any files are different or missing in sub-folders. You have to manually click down into each one.

Do any of the other tools mentioned here provide that functionality? I'll have to try them out.

[syrupcore]

I've been using WinMerge, but recently become unhappy that, when doing a folder-to-folder comparison, it doesn't tell, at the top level, if any files are different or missing in sub-folders. You have to manually click down into each one.

Do any of the other tools mentioned here provide that functionality? I'll have to try them out.

beyond compare does this.

[CaliforniaJerry]

Thanks Will. Here's a nice article and comments by readers of Beyond Compare (std: $30, pro: $50) (comments go back to 2006-2009)
http://www.CodingHorror.com/blog/archives/000454.html

MS Word Files Diff:
[ mhardy on April 1, 2007 9:18 AM ] I'm with Chris, my allegiance is with ExamDiff Pro. As a standard text file / directory comparison tool they look very similar but ExamDiff Pro's extensions look like they edge out BC. My favorite is the Word extension. Rather than treating them as binary files, it pre-processes Word files and does a text compare so you can actually see what differs in the Word document. Pretty nice.

Convert Long Line of XML Text to Multi-Line:
[ jack on October 3, 2007 12:13 PM ] use pspad freeware editor to conver one line of xml and reformat it. this tool will make it multi line.

[ bob on February 4, 2008 12:00 PM ] check the xml tidy extension on beyond compare (available from the beyond compare site).

It uses the xml tidy tool to normalise and indent xml in a standard way, so you can compare two files that are laid out in different ways
( My Comment: WeBuilder may be able to load xml or sql database files with long, non-terminating lines which, up to now wasn't happening. ) See This Post

BC is Not For Software Engineers:
[ JT on October 7, 2007 4:47 AM ] Beyond Compare is a great choice for casual users in need of a diff tool. The tool is not perfect, however, and may not be the best choice for Software Engineers.

XML Files Extension:
[ bob on February 4, 2008 12:00 PM ] To the people wanting xml comparison - check the xml tidy extension on beyond compare (available from the beyond compare site).

It uses the xml tidy tool to normalise and indent xml in a standard way, so you can compare two files that are laid out in different ways, for example one on a single line, the other half indented.

Compare to Araxis Merge:
[ see: Matt on June 13, 2008 2:54 PM ] For those comparing Araxis Merge and don't [consider] the price [to be] a problem, don't think, just buy Araxis merge. It's a better tool (I've used both extensively in coding and file maintenance efforts; multi-years each), from it's report generation capabilities (yes I know BC2 has it also, but is much more limited) to it's sophistication and accuracy of it's merge engine.
Araxis Merge Feature Comparison Matrix

Flash Drive & Ignore Replacements:
[ Krishna Sethuraman on January 9, 2009 2:57 PM ] One great option with later versions of 2 and beyond is a portable (flash-drive) install. Combined with the personal licensing terms allowing one user to run it on any number of computers, means you can have it available anywhere with 'plug-and-diff' convenience.

The other great new feature in BC3 is the 'ignore replacements' feature. If you've changed a (or a few) strings to a different value in many places between two files, and want to check for other differences, you can right-click on difference text, choose 'replacement', and select 'ignore'. You get an immediate visual indication of differences other than the ones you know have been changed en masse. Helped me visualize one issue at work that could have been tedious to resolve otherwise.

[Laisvunas]

I like text differences tool integrated into PSPad editor from www.pspad.com.

I consider text differences tool within programming editor to be its essential feature. External tools might be more powerful, but I'm using them only in special situations. For day-to-day tasks the best is to be able to use integrated text differences tool.

[Laisvunas]

If you will add to WeBuilder some code compare tool, please, add one which displays code differences in two panes, as e.g. is implemented in PSPad editor.

Displaying code differences in one pane as is implemented e.g. in Komodo editor is very unusable.

[Gorky]

as other poster already said:
there lots of good tools around (free and commercial) not need to reinvente the wheel,
maybe just a "link" via external tools

[garethjmsaunders]

I use ExamDiff Pro http://www.prestosoft.com/edp_examdiffpro.asp having used the freeware version for a number of years; the pro (paid) version also includes folder comparison. I have to be honest and say that I would prefer to continue to use an external application for code comparison.

[dannykay]

I use UltraCompare Professional, which meets my needs, so I do not need code compare in WeBuilder 2010.

[MaxD]

A code compare tool in webuilder would be useful. Just so happens I had need for one and remembered this thread. As I use WB for code editing it would be useful to compare files/folders.

[jswaringen]

My vote would be to allow us to integrate existing tools such as (Beyond Compare which I use). It would be great to have it setup like TortiseGit does where you can use the built-in tool -or- a third party tool.

[trishahdee]

I currently use CompareIt! for this purpose but it means starting the program then going and pulling the two files into it. Not that big of a deal, but to be able to do it right inside WeBuilder would be great!

[auvi1965]

It would definitely help, especially for developers like me that work with files stored either on Dropbox or on Google Drive, you never know when a file(1).html will appear next to the file.html. It gets confusing... So having a comparison tool would mean a whole lot.

Hope comment count.

Best regards.

[Will Fastie]

I absolutely need a code comparison tool. That's why I have used Beyond Compare from Scooter Software for nearly 20 years. I can't imagine that a code comparison feature built into the Blumentals editors could even come close, not because you couldn't do it but because it would be a huge amount of work that is probably better directed at improving your core products.