Compare COM+ dlls

[Niloy]

Hi,

I want to compare COM dlls(made with VB6) only based on the code change or binary compatibility. Can anyone please tell me how to do that using Beyond Compare v3. I tried the Hex comparison but it is probably taking timestamp and some other thing which I don't need.

Thanks in advance,
Niloy

[Aaron]

Hello,

For binary information, you can open them in our Hex Compare and Version Compare. Does the version compare show the information you are looking for as part of the "Data" section? Or is a timestamp also included in the Data of the file?

You could pass your COM dlls through an external conversion to create a temporary text file that represents the data you want to compare, then view this data in the Text Compare. We do not have a conversion for download on our website (http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...kb_moreformats), but if you are familiar with any command line utility to create the temporary text file, we can use it.

Here is an example, using RESX files as input:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo...rnalconversion

[Niloy]

Hi Aaron,

Thanks for your quick response. I did some testing on the Version Compare and the Hex Compare. Hex Compare is not probably what I need to see. So I am explaining the steps which I followed with the Version Compare:

My Requirement:
Identify a COM dll/exe if it changes anything on the code from the previous build(Should not include comments, space etc. within the codebase) . To keep things simple I assume that if there is any change in the binary compatibility between two builds it should be reflected as code change.

What I did:
I made a COM dll (binary compatible).
1) I added some comments/spaces.
The code - data section in Version compare returns same number of bytes. - This result is expected.
2) I have added a function within the code and built it. Compare with the previous built in Version Compare. The Code - data section returns the same number of bytes. Which I expect to be different.

Question:
How can I test my second scenario successfully? I am mostly interested in this.

Thanks in Advance,
Niloy

[Aaron]

Given your scenario, it sounds like an External Conversion would better meet your needs. We have an example similar to this for Java files, Java Class to Source:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...oreformats_win

This converts the binary java back to source code, then compares the source code (while having things like comments defined as Unimportant).

Do you have a conversion available to convert your COM dll (Binary) back into Code/Source text?

We have an example article of how to define grammars (once you have the text), in order to mark Comments and such as Unimportant:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/suppo..._unimportantv3