Tool or library for comparing xml files [closed]

Question

I am looking for an XML comparing tool that understands xml. It cannot be a line by line comparision like WinMerge or Beyond Compare.

An ideal solution would be one that shows changes similar to the way Word 2007 shows track changes. DeltaXML does this, but does not come with a real GUI 'out of the box' and is $500 per user!:

http://i41.tinypic.com/os8k5k.jpg

ExamXml works out of the box but displays the differences in a confusing manner. It does not have a concept of before and after, it just shows the differences:

alt text http://www.a7soft.com/images/examxml1_.gif

The tool should have the concept of using attributes as a key, so that it does not think that a reordered list of elements has changed. DeltaXML does this but I failed to set it up correctly for the screen shot.

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UPDATE:

So far ExamlXML is the best out of the box solution. But it lacks the change management concepts of DeltaXML. Resulting in some usability problems.

DeltaXML is pretty much the solution I need, but something with more functionality out of the box would be better. DeltaXML requires writing java code to call the api, along with writing XSL to transform the xml into the expected input.

Answer 1

You may find The XML Diff and Patch GUI Tool (sample code on MSDN) meets your needs a little better: it still shows tags, but emphasizes the difference in text. Since you get the code, for a little more effort you could tailor it more precisely to your requirements.

Although the sample is relatively elderly (July 2004, and has its roots in 2002) it upgrades to Visual Studio Express C# 2008 painlessly. Don't be put off when downloading the sample from the MSDN site if/when the installer MSI mentions "SQLXML Bulkload in .NET Code Sample" - it's not!

Answer 2

I always use kdiff3. It's easy to use and can compare up to 3 files. http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

Answer 3

Try XML Notepad from Microsoft MSDN XML it has a compare XML files. No idea how good it is.

Answer 4

Altova diffDog XML Spy and diffDog are exceptional tools. Pry them from my cold dead hands, kinda stuff.

Answer 5

Have you tried examdiff? Of course it's still a tech tool, but it's easy to work with. It has a drag and drop interface to compare files.

Answer 6

If I understand your problem, you likely have an application that uses XML files as the data storage and the GUI abstracts the "technical" tag names into "user friendly" labels - again, I am assuming. So it would be a natural extension to view differences in a similar way. I am also assuming your application doesn't have a diff facility that follows the "abstraction" concept.

I did some searching and found one app (ExamXML) that seems to come close with highlighting features. I downloaded the eval version and tested your files against it:

http://www.programmedintheusa.com/images/stack547399.png

It does a pretty good job of highlighting the differences. It seems pretty interactive and pops up with how many differences. It looks like you can change the colors it uses, so maybe you can use grays and whites to de-emphasize the tags. It also seems to have a lot of options that you can pre-set for your users as well.

I want to note that you will be hard pressed to find an XML comparison tool that will not show the tag names, as the tags are what give the content context. If you take away context, it becomes difficult to understand the data being displayed. Anyhow, maybe this tool might be helpful. Have you also tried to show your users some of these tools and see what they are willing to tolerate, sometimes they may surprise you. Hope this helps!