Text comparison - unordered lines

[stalker]

Hi, is there an option to compare out of order lines?

Like this, each column represents the contents of a file:
aa aa
ba ea
ca da
da ba

and the comparison gives this result:
aa aa
da
ba ba
ca ea
da

Obviously da is in both of them...

I had this compare tool that did this, unfortunately it got abandoned.

[Aaron]

We do not have this option. Instead, we use external processing to sort the lines first, and then compare them.

We have a basic Sort file format built in by default that can sort alphabetically. You can also use your own custom file format by defining one following this guide as a blueprint:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...rnalconversion

How does that work for you?

[stalker]

I see... not really an option if it moves lines around. Comparing two ini/inf/reg's would create problems... unless I didn't get how the external assisted sorting goes.

But would it be a lot of trouble to implement such a feature as an option, comparing each line and pointing out the moved segment? Nothing to exhaustive and maybe as an option is it's a CPU cycle killer.

[Aaron]

Our external conversion process creates temporary files for the purposes of the comparison. You can then edit the File Format so it is in a read-only state whenever it is used, which prevents the original files from being altered.

As long as you do not save the files, they sorted files will only be used for the comparison.

Alternatively, if you find another conversion program for your specific format, this other program could keep your files in a syntax-correct, but sorted, state.

Comparing files out of order is on our Wishlist, but is a very large change and would probably not be available soon.