Feature Request: RPM comparison plug-in

[kcalman]

I would like to request that BeyondCompare be enabled to compare .rpm (RedHat Package Manager) files. The simplest approach would seem to be by the provision of an RPM-unpacking/repacking plug-in, similar to the method of unpacking JAR files by on-the-fly decompilation.

I notice that doing this with Debian .deb package files appears to be a recent addition to the 3.2 beta version, though implemented on Linux only. I would like to see that feature expanded to all significant Linux packaging formats, e.g., deb, rpm, tgz, tar.gz, ebuild, iso. In addition, this operation should be supported on all platforms; I frequently obtain packages on one workstation and move them to another for deployment or further distribution.

I searched the forum and didn't find a mention of this anywhere, can I really be the first to suggest this?

[Zoë]

As of 3.2 beta:

The Linux build supports both RPM and DEB, and both platforms support .tar, .gz, and .bz2. The RPM and DEB support use Linux utilities for most of the processing, so adding them to the Windows build will require re-implementing them, and is a much lower priority.

The Windows build supports Total Commander packer plugins (.wcx) and there are third-party ones available for .deb, .rpm, and .iso. I've verified that all three work with the beta. The RPM plugin includes both .rpm and .cpio support, and you need to install both of them. To install, open the Tools->Options dialog, switch to the "Folder Views" item, and click the "Add Plug-in..." button.

AFAIK, you're the first person to ask for ebuild support, and I'll add that to the feature request list.

[Zoë]

Actually, it looks like ebuild packages are just bash scripts. There's a bash file format available on our Additional File Formats page.

[chrroe]

The Windows build supports Total Commander packer plugins (.wcx) and there are third-party ones available for .deb, .rpm, and .iso. I've verified that all three work with the beta. The RPM plugin includes both .rpm and .cpio support, and you need to install both of them.

I can confirm that these plugins work basically with the Windows build of BC. Unfortunately they are quite old and don't seem to support all features. For example the display of scripts (post-install etc.) is not available .

Personally I don't have enough coding skills to change the plugin source-code on my own ... Maybe anybody else?

Bye
Christoph

[kcalman]

The Windows build supports Total Commander packer plugins (.wcx) [...] I've verified that all three work with the beta.

Do these plug-ins work with the current stable version of BC (3.1.11, build 12204), or is .wcx plug-in support a beta feature? Does one need Total Commander installed to support Total Commander packer plug-ins?

[Zoë]

Support is new to the 3.2 beta. Total Commander is not required.