XML compare - urgently needed

[lfosdal]

I am wading through huge amounts of XML that needs to be validated these days. If there is ANY good XML compare tool out there - I would be delighted to hear about it.
As for XML compare in BC- it just cannot arrive fast enough. I would be more than happy to beta test what ever you have got.

[Chris]

The best way to compare XML with the current version of BC is to use the XML/HTML Tidy plugin found on our additional rules page at:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...c=kb_morerules

Need XML compare as well. XML-tidy no good: xml should be compared on element level (each tree) and not per line. Comparison always breaks the structure of XML in a terrible way.

<a>
<b>one</b>
</a>


and

<a>
<b>zero</b>
</a>
<a>
<b>one</b>
</a>

comparison should see that the first <a>...</a> in the second file is an orphan, but the normal comparison (even with XML tidy) does not.

K

As I see it, there is a big hole in the XML compare arena. On the one hand you have ExamXML that compares single files at a time, and quite correctly compares the content of the XML, not the order of the xml elements, but doesn't provide directory comparison. Then on the other hand you have Altova XML Spy that allows directory comparison, but doesn't ignore element order.

I need something that allows directory comparison of xml files (over 12,000 of the blighters!), but compares the content of the xml, not the order of the structure.

If you could provide something like this (and I appreciate it is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination), it would be a huge and very colourful feather in your cap!

Cheers Chris

I completely agree! An XML comparison tool that ignores order would be SO HELPFUL in my everyday work. Right now I use BC to check the files but there is still so much manual work that I need to do because it does not ignore order. Please let me know if you find anything or if BC comes out with a product.

Just noticed that Altova have released DogDiff, oops, sorry DiffDog, which is an XML diff tool

But I'd much prefer to have XML diff in BeyondCompare
- I still think it's an essential tool on my desktop, and I'm always telling the guys at work that they should get a copy

Cheers,
Steve C.

DiffDog 2005 Professional Edition is an XML-aware file and directory diferencing utility. www.altova.com/diffdog

Hi, I was reviewing the posts here on an XML compare. I also have the need to compare an xml file where the comparison needs to ignore the order and truely tell me if the files are logically the same.

I was wondering if this had been addressed already?

Thanks,

[Chris]

The XML Tidy rule linked in an earlier post is your best option for comparing XML with the current version of BC. It standardizes formatting, but it won't reorder XML.

XML comparison where order isn't important is something we plan to feature in an XML plug-in.

That's awesome.

Could you mention a rough time-table for when it might be available (be happy to be an 'early adopter')?