Hex compare: Is there a "Live Compare" mode?

[gwideman]

One application in which BC could be fantastically useful would be in performing surgical edits on binary files, where the idea is to only replace a few sections of bytes here and there, and absolutely not disturb anything else.

For that purpose one can view the original file on the left, and on the right show and edit the new file (initially a copy of the old file).

Then while modifying the new right file, BC can show that most of it continues to agree with the file on the left, and you can note the diffs to manually sync it up again where necessary. (This of course depends on the Comparison Alignment = None setting.)

I tried to use BC in that manner, but it seems that on editing the right file it's necessary to save the file and hit the Reload button before BC will show the current state of comparison.

Is there a mode in which the comparison could happen live, without need to save and reload?

[Aaron]

Hello,

Thanks. I think what you are describing is working as described, but we have a Session menu -> Recompare Files command,which would allow for a 'reload' without needing the save.

Loading a Hex Compare with 2 files (Original and Copy), and editing the Copy should allow editing and inserts. Alignment None would preserve the initial alignment as you type, and a Save/Reload would re-apply the alignment. Re-aligning after every character type would cause the display to be disorienting and would also be an intensive scan.