exe/dll viewer is too simplified for its own good

[paulkienitz]

I had a recent disk failure and I'm using BC to compare current files with backed up versions... in many cases the current files are scrambled. I was comparing some exes, and when one is scrambled, but the other is valid but has no version information, the plugin treats them as identical! It does not distinguish between exes lacking version information, and files which are not valid exes at all.

Also, it reports files as identical based on their version data, size, and so forth... and doesn't notice if the binary content of the files is completely different. Be nice to have a configuration checkbox that allows content or CRC to be included in the comparison points.

One other thing I discovered about this scrambled-vs-unscrambled situation is: if a zip archive is invalid on one side, then neither side can be opened. The only comparison you can make is for binary identicality -- there's no way to see which one is valid except "open with associated app".

[Chris]

If one file has version information and the other file doesn't have version information, version comparison should list them as different. This might be something specific to your settings or the files you're comparing.

Please mail support@scootersoftware.com with a copy of the problematic files along with a zip of your settings using Help|Support and the Export button and I'll try to determine what is causing the problem.

I'll add content comparison for the Version Viewer and better identification of invalid zip files to our wish list.

[paulkienitz]

If one file has version information and the other file doesn't have version information, version comparison should list them as different.



The trouble comes when both files lack version information. If one is a working DLL with no verison information, and the other is the same length but consists of, say, all zero bytes, or a text file renamed with a .dll extension, then it will read them as not different. So there are two separate issues: first that it doesn't distinguish between "none" and "invalid", and second that it can't compare the non-header bytes in the DLL body, as for instance the MP3 comparer can.

Thanks for taking up the issue of invalid zip archives. User interface wise, I wouldn't know how best to handle that...

[Chris]

Are you using version 2.4 of the Version Viewer? I compared a text file with a .dll extension to a real .dll without version information and it listed them as different for me.

Are you comparing any other criteria in addition to version information?

Are you launching the version viewer from the Folder Viewer or from the Explorer shell extension?

[paulkienitz]

Ack, it's only version 2.2... but I downloaded it only days ago! In that "all plugins" bundle. Lemme try getting a fresh separate copy...

(later) nah, 2.2 is still the only one listed.

I launched it from the folder view and in its rules dialog, everything is checked.

I've emailed you a zip containing two files that compare as the same.

[Chris]

Whoops! 2.2 is the current version of the Version Viewer. I must have been looking at the wrong plug-in version number earlier.

I verified the problem on my own system and added it to our bug list. We'll work to get a fix out for a future release of the Version Viewer.

Thanks again for the bug report.