Real Software Forums

I have two versions of a REAL Studio program, and I need to know what differences exist between the two. In short, I need to do a "file compare."

I can easily extract the source code from the .xml files (I wrote a program to do exactly that), so what I'm looking for is essentially software that can compare two plain text files.

If one file contains, say, a lengthy method not included in the other file, I can delete the extra method in the one file so that the "file compare" program won't be confused by the two files being greatly different.

What I need is a Windows program that can compare two plain text files and tell me where and how the two files differ.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Barry Traver

P.S. The reason I need to do this is that somehow I introduced a bug between the two versions, and I can find the bug only if I can check what's been changed from the earlier version to the later. The program is a lengthy one (over sixty pages to print out the source code),

We had the same issue and used Arbed http://www.tempel.org/Arbed

For plain text we use UltraEdit http://www.ultraedit.com/ Maybe you can try their demo.

+1 for UltraEdit

I use UE for 99% of my "real" work.. which is writing PL/SQL .... and have for years....

After I switched to MAC, I lamented that fact that UE was not available.... until about 2 yrs ago now. I was on the Beta Test team and I guess made enough signifcant suggestions, and tracking down bugs, that they gave me a lifetime license...

Now I use UEW for windows, and UEM for OSX.... both come with UCLite (Ultra Compare) which would be perfect for what you describe.

We use Beyond Compare at our place; and of course I use that for myself as well.

I wrote Arbed exactly for this very task. No matter what others think of generic text compare programs, Arbed beats them all because it understands the RB project structure.

Just give it a try, the compare feature in Arbed is free.

Start Arbed. That will show a small window. Now drop your two projects into the "Compare" field in that window, and within seconds you will get a window showing all the differences, method by method.

Arbed also lets you merge changes from one to the other side selectively, but that feature is not free ($59).

Thomas

Try this freeware, cross-platform difference/merge tool:

http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/

1: Save each real-studio software-version as "version control" in save dialog in real-studio in each their own separate folder.

2: Run DiffMerge and use the "folder compare" option and point each folder as a version to compare

3: You will now quickly and easy be able to see exactly what's different between the versions.

Then you can double-click on every file there is a difference with and instantly get colorized exactly whats different between them.

I love DiffMerge from Sourcegear since it works identical on Windows, Mac and Linux. Great if you are developing on many platforms and wanna stay as simple as possible.

Works like a charm on nested folder-hierarchies too. I use it on all kinds of source-code, realstudio, C++, PHP, Javascript and much more

I use WinMerge and recommend it highly.

Thus far I have downloaded and installed the following programs: Arbed, UltraEdit, and WinMerge. What follows is a report of my initial experiences without the advantage of reading of the docs. I do intend to explore these and other recommended programs further, and obviously my making judgments on the basis of initial experiences is neither fair nor entirely accurate.

The easiest program to get started with (at least if you -- like me -- don't know what you're doing) seems to be WinMerge. If you click on "File --> Open", you are taken to a Window where you are asked for Left and Right files to compare (using Browse). Supply the filenames, click on "OK", and you're in business (at least with plain text files).

I had two types of files to compare with WinMerge: .xml RB Project files and .txt RB Project source code files extracted from the .xml RB Project files. Both types worked fine, and movement was fairly intuitive. Up and down arrow keys work for normal movement, while Alt + up and Alt + down work for moving from one difference to the next. The files are shown left and right, and color indicates the differences.

Tom Templeton's Arbed also makes it easy to compare, but -- unlike WinMerge -- Arbed lets you compare .rbp Project files and is not really intended for .xml (although I'm not sure about that) or .txt files.

A plain text editor like WInMerge means more work (at least in my situation). You can't just start with .rbp files; rather, you must load in an .rbp file, save it as .xml, and then create a .txt source code file by extracting the source code from the .xml file. (It's easy enough to do that, but it all takes time,)

My difficulty with Arbed is probably one which could be simply solved if I read the docs: By dragging two .rbp files to the "Compare" area, I immediately got lots of information on the screen from Arbed, but I didn't know what to do with that information. Arbed is tailored specifically for Real Studio users. But you have to read the docs to go further than I have gone thus far.

UltraEdit is more generic, but trying to use that program without having read the docs I found to be even more difficult. You cannot use my comments, however, to decide which program is better, because a better program that can do more is more likely to require reading of the docs to get the most out of the program.

I havn't gotten to try yet Beyond Compare or DiffMerge, but I plan on doing so, since both sound worth looking at.

Incidentally, if you're interested in my specific progress on removing the bug from my program (the main reason for my posting my original note), I tracked down the last version of my program without the bug and the first version of my program with the bug. So I'm at the right point to use one of the "file compare" programs to find what differences exist between the two versions (and then to exterminate the bug).

Thanks to everyone for all the help.

Warm regards,

Barry Traver

Barry, my name is Thomas Tempelmann

You can just as well drag two XML instead of RBP files onto Arbed if they're containing RB projects. Both works.

If you drag two projects onto the "Compare" field, you should see a window like this:



That's not much differnt from what any of the other text comparison tools would show you:

You get to see the two versions that you compare (the ones on the upper right and left half), and a view that tells you about all the differences so that you can scroll though them (bottom list).

So, to perform the comparison, simply select the first item in the bottom list, and then use the Down key or the mouse to move to the other different items.

Thomas

Thomas,

Apologies for getting the name wrong.

I think I got the "Templeton" from the Templeton Foundation and the Templeton Honors College at Eastern University iin Philadelphia., although that Templeton is "John" or "Jack," not "Thomas" or "Tom." Anyway, no disrespect intended, I'll try to get it right next time.(although I do have more trouble getting names right now than when I was younger),

Thanks for the further comments on Arbed, including the ability to use the down key or mouse to perform the comparison. Now that I know more about Arbed, it looks like it may be friendliest of all for Real Studio programmers to use.

Barry Traver