Data compare slow BC3 compared to BC2

[wvendrig]

Comparing two files with data compare on the same hardware takes more than 2 times as long on BC3 compared to BC2. The files are around 50 MB in size and contains about 25 columns and 370 000 rows. The comparison in BC2 is around 55 seconds, the comparison in BC3 takes around 2 and a half minutes.

Also when for instance removing a column with differences in BC2 by making it 'unimportant' is instantly processed. In BC3 this same actions takes about 45 seconds.

Also scrolling around in in this type of comparison regularly freezes the app being 'not responding' for a while.

Below are some statistics of comparable actions in the two versions and the CPU time of the app stated in the task manager:

• open beyond compare

• opening a folder comparison

• selecting a file to be compared with data viewer

• in the old version I have a bcdv file with rules in the new versions the session settings are stored comparable to the bcdv file (no sorting is used)

• making three column with differences unimportant

• scrolling with vertical and horizontal scroll bars through the file

task manager information
CPU TIME BC2: 0:00:51 peak memory usage 71.976
CPU TIME BC3: 0:08:21 peak memory usage 107.712

BC2 version: 2.4.3 build 243
BC3 version: 3.1.10 build 11626

This was all done from the same hardware with Windows server 2003 64 bit enterprise on a IBM server with an intel Xeon E5420@ 2.50GHz quad core CPU and 16 Gb of memory.

Can anything be done about the poor performance in this case of the BC3 version?

[Chris]

I apologize that we missed this question when it was originally posted. This post was brought to my attention by a follow up email, here is the response that I also emailed:

It is possible to speed up marking multiple columns unimportant. Right clicking on a column header and selecting "Unimportant Column" results in a recomparison after every column is changed. To set multiple columns unimportant, then only recompare once, select "Session > Session Settings". Go to the Columns tab. Double click on a column you want unimportant. Check "Unimportant".

Other than setting column importance through Session > Session Settings, there aren't any additional settings that can be changed in Beyond Compare 3's Data Compare to improve performance. Some of the speed difference is because version 3 provides more powerful comparison options that take more time, such as date tolerance and ignoring whitespace differences.

I'll add improving Data Compare performance to our wish list for upcoming releases of Beyond Compare 3, but I don't have any short term solutions.