Suggested feature -XML data file compare

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  • adlan
    Visitor
    • Aug 2011
    • 7

    Suggested feature -XML data file compare

    Generally Beyond compare does a really good job at comparing XML files like web.configs where there isn't much repetition in the file. However when the two XML files you are trying to compare are XML data files, with a large number of very similar nodes, I think it would be useful to be able to define keys like you can in an XML schema - ie specify a selector and a field, which are two xpaths, one xpath that selects all the instances of the data element you want to compare, and one that specifies the unique field or primary key. This would be very flexible in that you could compare only the nodes you were interested in, and it would dramatically improve the matching between nodes. You can already define keys for other types of data file, which is very useful, and Ithink this would be a good extension of existing functionality.
  • bcoldtimer
    Enthusiast
    • Oct 2010
    • 37

    #2
    I have a similar but may be not completely related question. I got some xml files that has all the data field in one line, i.e. no line break between data entries. In this case it would be nice to separate the data entries into different lines in the comparator as opposed to maintaining everything in the same line, making selective copying very cumbersome.

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    • adlan
      Visitor
      • Aug 2011
      • 7

      #3
      Dealing with a single line XML file

      Hi bcoldtimer,
      You can use the 'XML Tidied' plugin to indent a single line xml file into multiple lines. This plugin can be downloaded from the download section of the homepage. It uses HTML tidy (http://tidy.sourceforge.net )

      Comment

      • Aaron
        Team Scooter
        • Oct 2007
        • 15920

        #4
        Hello,

        In addition to adlan's comments:
        A more direct link to our download page is here:
        http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...kb_moreformats

        XML tidied and XML Sorted and Tidied are in the Alternatives section.
        Aaron P Scooter Software

        Comment

        • Aaron
          Team Scooter
          • Oct 2007
          • 15920

          #5
          Hello,

          Expanding on our XML support is something on our Customer Wishlist. Do you have any sample files you could email in, letting us know which line numbers you'd expect to line up or how you'd like to define a schema? Please email [email protected] and include a link back to this forum post (for our reference).
          Aaron P Scooter Software

          Comment

          • bcoldtimer
            Enthusiast
            • Oct 2010
            • 37

            #6
            xml tidied works great! Thanks!

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