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Archive for the ‘Beyond Compare’ Category

Disable Filtered Gap – Scooter Forums

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/06/23

There is a short thread mentioning [WayBack] Disable Filtered Gap – Scooter Forums (Issues concerning Text Compare sessions.)

It is the feature that when you select “Diffs” or “Same” on the toolbar on menu in a “Text Compare” (or similar, like XML compare), you see only the differences (or equalities when you selected “Same”).

There also will be small plus signs (+) in the gutter with the hover text “Expand Filtered Gap” on it to expand that gap and show the equalities (or differences when you selected “Same”).

There are two problems that basically make this feature very hard to use, which both stem from the need to view context around a difference in order to understand the proper meaning of that difference:

you cannot expand or collaps the “Filtered Gap” by keyboard
the “Number of context lines” in the “Text editing” part of the “Options” is not adhered to

Too bad as this could have been such a useful feature.

–jeroen

Posted in Beyond Compare, Development, Power User, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems. – Scooter Forums

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/06/17

If you bump into binary DFM conversion issues, then on Windows you can use batch file, but on Mac I have not found a workaround yet.

[WayBack] Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems. – Scooter Forums

Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems.

jeroenp

08-Apr-2019, 09:17 AM
Beyond Compare 4 for Windows has a problem converting binary dfm files having floating point values.

Beyond Compare 4 for Mac cannot even convert binary dfm files: it errors with “Conversion Error”

The process of creating the example files below is using a Windows text editor and the Borland/CodeGear/Embarcadero/Idera supplied convert.exe:

1. Manually create Example.dfm (see text below)
2. copy /y Example.dfm Example.binary.dfm && convert.exe -i -b Example.binary.dfm
3. copy /y Example.binary.dfm Example.text.dfm && convert.exe -i -t Example.text.dfm

Example.dfm content:
``` text
object MyObject: TMyObject
  Left = 1
  Top = 2
  ValAsFloat = 100.000000000000000000
end
```
Beyond Compare (at least the Windows x64 Version 4.2.9 (build 23626); the same version on Mac refuses to convert binary dfm files) gets the conversion wrong and convert the binary to this text, then compares:
<pre>“` text
object MyObject: TMyObject
Left = 1
Top = 2
ValAsFloat = 100.00000000000000000
end
“`
The difference is hard to see, but the Beyond Compare converted text misses one zero at the end of the <code>ValAsFloat</code> line.

Steps to reproduce in Beyond Compare:

1. Load <code>Example.dfm</code> and <code>Example.text.dfm</code> in a Beyond Compare comparison: they should be the same.
2. Load <code>Example.binary.dfm</code> and <code>Example.text.dfm</code> in a Beyond Compare comparison: they should be the same, but are different.

</div>
</div>
—
<h4>Aaron</h4>

08-Apr-2019, 01:04 PM

</div>
</div>

Hello,

Thanks for the report. We're investigating the difference in behavior between Windows and MacOS, which appears to be a limitation if using Doubles in forms on MacOS.

For the difference in precision, BC4's internal conversion is using the same code as (a slightly older) convert.exe. I have an older version of Delphi on my own test machine and tried a few other conversions, such as adding an additional “1” or altering the last 0 as a “1” in your example, and the command line convert fails to catch both of these at this precision level. I had to insert a value of “100.0000000000001” before finding a level that convert.exe handled. What behavior do you see if you use the command line steps above but insert values?

Assuming your command line shows better behavior, as a workaround, you can also create a new File Format which uses your above command line as the conversion utility, instead of the built-in dfm conversion. We have a KB article for defining any command line utility example (for resx) here:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo…rnalconversion

This could use a convert.bat of something like

Code:

<pre class="bbcode_code">xcopy %1 %2* /Y
convert.exe -i -t %2</pre>
</div>
</div>
</div>

Aaron P Scooter Software

—
<h4>jeroenp</h4>

09-Apr-2019, 02:51 AM

</div>
</div>

I have seen many floating point values going wrong. All of them have to do with Beyond Compare missing the extra zero, while Delphi adding it.

What Convert.exe versions to you have access to?

Do you have time to get an overview of the various Convert.exe to text conversions and their differences?

I do not have a machine with sufficient Convert.exe versions, only one with copies of most of the RTL source code (I seem to be missing Delphi 2005, and do not have access to Delphi 10.3 Rio).

Looking at my own https://bitbucket.org/jeroenp/wiert.me/src/tip/Native/Delphi/Apps/Console/DfmTools/ConvertDfmToText/ConvertDfmToText.dprconversion tool that I use for mass conversions, the core code for the Double to Text conversion is in this method of System.Classes.pas (Delphi 10.1 Berlin):

Code:

<pre class="bbcode_code">“` pascal
procedure ConvertValue;
…
begin
case Reader.NextValue of
…
vaExtended, vaDouble:
WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
vaSingle:
WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
vaCurrency:
WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
vaDate:
WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
…
end;

“`
</div>
or Delphi 1:

Code:

<pre class="bbcode_code">“` pascal
procedure ConvertValue;
begin
case Reader.ReadValue of
…
vaExtended:
begin
Reader.Read(Ext, SizeOf(Ext));
WriteStr(FloatToStr(Ext));
end;
…
end;
“`
</div>
In the next reply is what a quick search revealed: at about Delphi 7, 18 floating point format with 18 decimal digits was introduced.

Maybe it makes sense to incorporate two Dfm conversions in Beyond Compare: legacy (current behaviour) and mainstream (Delphi 7 and up behaviour).

</div>
</div>

Last edited by jeroenp; 09-Apr-2019, 03:14 AM.

—
<h4>jeroenp</h4>

09-Apr-2019, 03:14 AM

</div>
</div>

From my archives:

Code:

<pre class="bbcode_code">“` text
C:\Delphi-RTL-VCL-FMX-Sources\Library-Sources>grep -ind “WriteAsciiStr\(FloatToStr” *Classes.pas
D10.1Berlin-Professional-D24-RadStudio-18.0\source.24.0.25048.9432\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13694 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13696 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13698 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13700 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
D10.2Tokyo-Professional-D25-RadStudio-19.0\source.25.0.29039.2004\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13938 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13940 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13942 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13944 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
D10Seattle-Enterprise-D23-RadStudio-17.0\source.23.0.20618.2753\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13346 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13348 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13350 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13352 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
D10Seattle-Enterprise-D23-RadStudio-17.0\source.23.0.21418.4207\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13351 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13353 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13355 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13357 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE3-Enterprise-D17-RadStudio-10.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13589 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13591 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13593 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13595 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE4-Enterprise-D18-RadStudio-11.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13573 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13575 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13577 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13579 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE5-Enterprise-D19-RadStudio-12.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13561 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13563 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13565 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13567 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE6-Enterprise-D20-RadStudio-14.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13589 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13591 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13593 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13595 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE7-Enterprise-D21-RadStudio-15.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13149 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13151 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13153 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13155 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE8-Enterprise-D22-RadStudio-16.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13343 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13345 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13347 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13349 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
RS19.0-source.bad\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
13938 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
13940 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
13942 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
13944 WriteAsciiStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);

C:\Delphi-RTL-VCL-FMX-Sources\Library-Sources>grep -ind “WriteStr\(FloatToStr” *Classes.pas
D1-CS-1.0\SOURCE\VCL\CLASSES.PAS
3423 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Ext));
D2-CS-2.0\SOURCE\VCL\CLASSES.PAS
4812 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
D2006-Enterprise-D10-BDS-4.0\source\dotNet\rtl\Borland.Vcl.Classes.pas
11214 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
11216 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
11220 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D2006-Enterprise-D10-BDS-4.0\source\Win32\rtl\common\Classes.pas
9091 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18));
9093 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
9095 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
9097 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D2007-Enterprise-D11-RadStudio-5.0\source\Win32\rtl\common\Classes.pas
9102 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18));
9104 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
9106 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
9108 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D2009-Enterprise-D12-RadStudio-6.0\source\Win32\rtl\common\Classes.pas
9967 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18));
9969 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
9971 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
9973 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D2010-Enterprise-D14-RadStudio-7.0\source\Win32\rtl\common\Classes.pas
10087 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18));
10089 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
10091 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
10093 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D3-CS\SOURCE\VCL\classes.pas
5430 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
D4-CS\SOURCE\VCL\CLASSES.PAS
6239 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
6241 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
6243 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
6245 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D5-Enterprise\Source\Vcl\classes.pas
6645 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
6647 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
6649 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
6651 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D6-Enterprise\Source\Rtl\Common\Classes.pas
8345 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadFloat));
8347 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
8349 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
8351 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
D7.01.Architect\Source\Rtl\Common\Classes.pas
8613 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18));
8615 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle) + ‘s’);
8617 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000) + ‘c’);
8619 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate) + ‘d’);
DXE-Enterprise-D15-RadStudio-8.0\source.15.0.3953.3571\rtl\common\Classes.pas
10438 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
10440 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
10442 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
10444 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE2-Enterprise-D16-RadStudio-9.0\source\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
10805 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
10807 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
10809 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
10811 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
DXE2-Enterprise-D16-RadStudio-9.0\source.U1\rtl\common\System.Classes.pas
10805 WriteStr(FloatToStrF(Reader.ReadFloat, ffFixed, 16, 18, LFormatSettings));
10807 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadSingle, LFormatSettings) + ‘s’);
10809 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadCurrency * 10000, LFormatSettings) + ‘c’);
10811 WriteStr(FloatToStr(Reader.ReadDate, LFormatSettings) + ‘d’);
“`

—

jeroenp

09-Apr-2019, 03:24 AM

In the mean time, could you add another example like http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo…rnalconversion (which talks about parameters %s and %t) for your convert.exe mockup (which talks about %1 and %2*).

That would very much help me as I’m pressed for time (I have to assist someone I am responsible for and is close to me that is suffering from long term mental abuse which takes enough time and energy that I only do programming work 3 days a week).

—

Aaron

10-Apr-2019, 09:55 AM

Hello,

Sorry I wasn’t clear. The example above is for a “convert.bat” is just a simple bat file with those two lines. This is an override to use your other version of Convert.exe instead of BC4’s to get the exact results you need from the command line app. By defining a new External Conversion, this then allows you to use any Convert.exe you have installed (instead of using the internal code for BC4). The BC4 File Format -> Text Format (a new custom Format or an edited one) then uses the .bat file as the External Conversion, which then calls to your copy (or any copy) of Convert.exe.

If you would like to compile and use your custom conversion utility, that is great, too. The above example KB article uses .resx as the example program as the walkthrough example, but any utility can be inserted as a custom conversion for for a custom File Format (either specific versions of Convert.exe or your own program).

My own test convert.exe looks like version 7.0. My own tests were printing the same number of “0”‘s, but I found the significant digits were not respected and it was dropping data (completely independent of BC4; only using the command line Convert.exe process). One of our developers was looking into it with a newer version of Delphi, but was still seeing a difference in floating point representation. It doesn’t appear to be a quick fix, but I’ll add your investigative notes in case it helps.

Aaron P Scooter Software

—

Aaron

10-Apr-2019, 09:58 AM

For the above convert.bat, I created a new File Format, Text Format, that was a save as copy of the original Delphi Forms format. In the Conversion tab, I updated it to External Program (unicode), and Loading:
Helpers\convert.bat %s %t
with Disable Editing enabled.I then copied/pasted the convert.bat into the %AppData%\Scooter Software\Beyond Compare 4\Helpers\ directory, where the other File Format helper files usually live.

Aaron P Scooter Software

—

jeroenp

10-Apr-2019, 11:54 PM

Thanks for that. I will give it a try later.

I know Delphi has problems loosing digits in floating point values. But sometimes those digits are not lost, so that’s why they switched to one more digit around Delphi 7.

—

–jeroen

Posted in Beyond Compare, Development, Power User, Software Development | Leave a Comment »

A choco install list

Posted by jpluimers on 2021/02/03

Sometimes I forget the choco install mnemonics for various tools, so here is a small list below.

Of course you have to start with an administrative command prompt, and have a basic Chocolatey Installation in place.

If you want to clean cruft:

choco install --yes choco-cleaner

Basic install:

choco install --yes 7zip
choco install --yes everything
choco install --yes notepadplusplus
choco install --yes beyondcompare
choco install --yes git.install --params "/GitAndUnixToolsOnPath /NoGitLfs /SChannel /NoAutoCrlf /WindowsTerminal"
choco install --yes hg
choco install --yes sourcetree
choco install --yes sysinternals

For VMs (pic one):

choco install --yes vmware-tools
choco install --yes virtio-drivers

For browsing (not sure yet about Chrome as that one has a non-admin installer as well):

choco install --yes firefox

For file transfer (though be aware that some versions of Filezilla contained adware):

choco install --yes filezilla
choco install --yes winscp

For coding:

choco install --yes vscode
choco install --yes atom

For SQL server:

choco install --yes sql-server-management-studio

For web development / power user:

choco install --yes fiddler

For SOAP and REST:

choco install --yes soapui

If you don’t like manually downloading SequoiaView at gist.github.com/jpluimers/b0df9c2dba49010454ca6df406bc5f3d (e8efd031d667de8a1808d6ea73548d77949e7864.zip):

choco install --yes windirstat

For drawing, image manipulation (paint.net last, as it needs a UI action):

choco install --yes gimp
choco install --yes imagemagick
choco install --yes paint.net

For ISO image mounting in pre Windows 10:

choco install --yes wincdemu

For hard disk management:

choco install --yes hdtune
choco install --yes seatools
choco install --yes speedfan

For Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners (not sure yet this includes PDF support):

choco install --yes scansnapmanager

–jeroen

Posted in 7zip, atom editor, Beyond Compare, Chocolatey, Compression, Database Development, Development, DVCS - Distributed Version Control, Everything by VoidTools, Fiddler, Firefox, Fujitsu ScanSnap, git, Hardware, Mercurial/Hg, Power User, Scanners, SOAP/WebServices, Software Development, Source Code Management, SQL Server, SSMS SQL Server Management Studio, SysInternals, Text Editors, Versioning, Virtualization, VMware, VMware ESXi, vscode Visual Studio Code, Web Browsers, Web Development, Windows | Leave a Comment »

Offline XML Pretty Print

Posted by jpluimers on 2019/12/20

I wrote about [WayBack] XML Pretty Print in Online XML Pretty Print many years ago.

That’s all fine for small XML file and on-line usage.

A while ago however, I had two cases where off-line XML pretty printing turned out to be much easier than online XML pretty printing:

pretty-print many XML files in one go
compare large (100 megabyte plus) XML files

So I went searching, especially for a solution that would be available for both nx based platforms (Linux/Mac OS X/etc) and Windows which got me a few options in [WayBack] unix – How to pretty print XML from the command line? – Stack Overflow.

I found [WayBack] tidy to be more practical than [WayBack] xmllint as tidy would split more lines which made it easier for Beyond Compare (that is very much cross platform!) to spot and show the differences.

Not just easier in the sense that the (already excellent) diff engine from Beyond Compare (which really sets it apart from other differencing tools) but very much easier on the eyes as now differences where on lines below each other in stead of 1000s of character positions in one line you had to scroll through.

There is two important things to remember with tidy that both stem from its ancestry (it originates from an HTML):

you have to specify -xml
you have to specify the characterset (even though XML can specify it and without a definition, XML by default is UTF8, tidy does not know about that)

These were the command-lines I used on Windows to do the pretty printing:

tidy -xml -utf8 QCScaper.test@borland.com.cds.xml > QCScaper.test@borland.com.tidy.cds.xml xmllint --format QCScaper.test@borland.com.cds.xml > QCScaper.test@borland.com.pretty-printed.cds.xml

Another trick is to write a small Delphi program centered around the FormatXMLData call which has been present since Delphi 2007 (see [WayBack] devnet.pdf), but documented since Delphi 2009 in [WayBack] XMLDoc.FormatXMLData Function.

Example code: [WayBack] delphi – How to reformat XML programmatically? – Stack Overflow.

An alternative is to use OmniXML: [WayBack] delphi – Nice bit of code to format an xml string – Stack Overflow

–jeroen

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Beyond Compare, Development, Power User, XML, XML/XSD | Leave a Comment »

… compare two JSON structures and pin-point … the differences – – Nicholas Ring – Google+

Posted by jpluimers on 2019/08/20

I’ve added a few WayBack/Archive.is links to the interesting comments by Zoë Peterson from Scooter Software (of Beyond Compare fame) at [WayBack] … compare two JSON structures and pin-point … the differences – – Nicholas Ring – Google+:

Beyond Compare 4 has an optional “JSON sorted” file format that uses jq to pretty print and sort JSON data before comparing it. It’s not included out of the box yet, but you can get a copy here:

If you’re interested in an actual algorithm and not just an app, I don’t have a suggestion handy, but could dig one up. Tree alignment is more complicated than sequence alignment and we did do research into it, but it was quite a few years ago and didn’t get incorporated into BC. XML alignment algorithms were being actively researched back in the aughts and they should trivially transfer to JSON.
…

It looks like our research mostly ended around 2002, and I wasn’t personally involved in it, so I don’t know how helpful this will be, but here’s what I have:

XyDiff (C++)
“Detecting Changes in XML Documents” by Gregory Cobena, Serge Abiteboul, Amelie Marian
[WayBack] https://github.com/fdintino/xydiff

DiffXML (Java)
“CS4 Dissertation: XML Diff and Patch Utilities” by Adrian Mouat
[WayBack] http://diffxml.sourceforge.net/

X-Diff (C++/Java)
“X-Diff: An Effective Change Detection Algorithm for XML Documents” by Yuan Wang, David J DeWitt, Jin-Yi Cai
[WayBack] http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~yuanwang/xdiff.html

DiffMk (Java/GPL)
[Archive.is] https://sourceforge.net/projects/diffmk/

XML-SemanticDiff (Perl)
[WayBack] http://search.cpan.org/dist/XML-SemanticDiff/

xmldiff (Python)
[WayBack] https://www.logilab.org/project/xmldiff

The general idea in the thread is that JSON – though not as formalised as XML – does have structure, so if you can normalise it, then XML ways of differencing should work.

Normalisation also means that you need to normalise any floating point, date time, escaping, quoting, etc. Maybe not for the faint of heart.

–jeroen

Posted in *nix, *nix-tools, Beyond Compare, Development, diff, JavaScript/ECMAScript, jq, JSON, Power User, Scripting, Software Development, XML, XML/XSD | Leave a Comment »

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Archive for the ‘Beyond Compare’ Category

Disable Filtered Gap – Scooter Forums

Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems. – Scooter Forums

Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems.

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A choco install list

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… compare two JSON structures and pin-point … the differences – – Nicholas Ring – Google+

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Jeroen W. Pluimers on .NET, C#, Delphi, databases, and personal interests

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Archive for the ‘Beyond Compare’ Category

Disable Filtered Gap – Scooter Forums

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Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems. – Scooter Forums

Beyond Compare 4 for Windows and Mac binary dfm conversion problems.

jeroenp

jeroenp

Aaron

jeroenp

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A choco install list

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Offline XML Pretty Print

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… compare two JSON structures and pin-point … the differences – – Nicholas Ring – Google+

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