Tool or library for comparing xml files [closed]

Answer 1

I am very surprised nobody mentioned Microsoft's XML NotePad

It's free and it can create a pretty good comparison, telling which elements/attributes have changed, moved, been deleted, etc.:

(Sorry if the screenshots are a little wide).

You can also apply XLSes to the XML file and do various editing operations. Well worth a try.

Answer 2

SourceGear's DiffMerge is free for a single-user:

http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/

Answer 3

I might try DeltaXML + an XSLT transform to get the specific result that you want. One problem with using plain-text compare tools with XML is that the physical form of an XML document (its indenting, etc.) can change even if the content itself doesn't, which could lead to a lot of false positives. DeltaXML is a very good tool for comparing document-based XML.

Also, depending on the editor your users use, it may have XML differencing built-in. For example, Arbortext Editor has a good tool that shows the text (not the tags) with changes highlighted / struck-through.

Answer 4

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 5

Beyond Compare is excellent as @BobbyShaftoe has already mentioned. For merging however, I like to use Araxis Merge. We use it for similar purposes quite often.

As far as your comment about the nontechnical ability of your users:

Thanks for the Responses... But these all seem too technical. My users normally do not see the xml tags because their XML authoring tool abstracts them away. Are there any tools that display differences in the text content, but do not show (or de-emphazise) the xml tags.

I'm going to throw this out there: your users should learn. If you have them merging and changing XML files - I'm assuming potentially for record keeping or application configuration - then they should have at least a rudimentary understanding of what they're doing. They don't have to be XML whizzes to use the tools listed and get the job done.

If, however, requiring your users to have a rudimentary knowledge of the job they are doing is impossible, then I would suggest writing a configuration utility yourself and delivering it for your end users, rather than relying on 3rd party software.

Answer 6

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