Zip files in ClearCase

[coder]

Is there a way to compare ZIP files located in Clearcase repository with BC? BC can compare Zip files but Clearcase considers them as binary and only displays an error message.

[Aaron]

Hello,

Could you go into more detail on "Clearcase considers them binary"? If you can launch Beyond Compare pointed as .zip files, then BC3 should open in the Folder Compare session type with the .zip files as the base folders.

[coder]

If the 'compare with previous version' menu command is issued from ClearCase explorer for a text file, then it would launch BC. Doing the same with a Zip file would cause an error message “Diff Merge does not support diff/merge of binary data”. I suspect this message comes from the internal CC comparison tool (Diff Merge), not BC because the instructions tell only how integrate BC for text files while Zip files are something different.
I have a BC3 Standard.

[Lutz]

Just apply the instructions for binary_delta in the map-file.
This will tell CC to call BC for all binary files.
BC is able to detect the basic file type (exe, zip, jpg, ...) even if in the middle of the version extended name and applies the correct compare type (version, folder, picture, ...).
If this doesn't work for your zip-files (or others), check the CC element type (properties of element) and apply the instructions for this element type, but I'm sure zip files are of type binary_delta.
BTW: You may double the lines you want to change in the map-file and then modify one version. Put the type manager you want to use (BC in this case) to the top of the element type-section. The following lines will be ignored by CC.