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Jamil Taylor

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Jamil Taylor
Date: 02 Oct 2007 05:43 AM

XML differencing within Stylus Studio is nicely done. I would like to see merge features added to it though. On the two panes that contain differences, add buttons and/or context menu items to merge the difference from either side to the other.

Also, I would like to execute the graphical UI diff from the command line passing two files I wish to compare and merge. The current StylusDiff.exe requires too many manual steps for a diff, and it does not feature merge abilities. If I could type 'StylustDiff file1.xml file2.xml' then have the UI open showing the diff along with merge capabilities, that would be great.

There are no very good diff utilities on the market right now that can parse and merge XML. Adding this ability to Stylus Studio would be terrific.

Ivan Pedruzzi

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Ivan Pedruzzi
Date: 02 Oct 2007 09:53 AM

Hi Jamil,

You can use the command line to generate a .dff file, for example

StylusDiff -source books.xml -target books1.xml -output books.dff

You can associate the .dff extension to Stylus Studio, see Tools-> options->General->File Types.

After associating the extension you will be able to open the file automatically.

Hope this helps
Ivan Pedruzzi
Stylus Studio Team

Jamil Taylor

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Jamil Taylor
Date: 02 Oct 2007 11:05 AM

Yes -- these associations are already set on my installation. I have to enter the commands then double-click the diff file to see the results, correct? I am proposing entering commands to show me everything without the additional step (Also, adding merge capabilities would make my life easier).

Thanks.

Ivan Pedruzzi

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Ivan Pedruzzi
Date: 02 Oct 2007 11:23 AM

You can execute a .dff file, the following command starts Stylus Studio.

C:\Temp>my.dff

For the xml merging we don't have short term answer but is in our feature requests database.

Thanks!
Ivan Pedruzzi
Stylus Studio Team

Jamil Taylor

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Jamil Taylor
Date: 03 Oct 2007 08:57 AM

I think typing that is worse than double-clicking a file, but that's a matter of opinion.

I wish to utilize Stylus Studio XML comparison in other tools, such as Rational ClearCase. ClearCase allows for this by editing the xml comparison line in a file called map.

Since Stylus Studio does not offer a way to execute and display the results of a comparison with a single EXE in a single step, I cannot use it for this.

I think my suggestion would benefit everyone regardless, and it seems simple enough to implement. Have StylusDiff.exe accept a new command line parameter that launches the GUI displaying the results of the diff file immediately after comparison. I propose a new command line parameter for this feature to ensure that the current behavior remains as is (as not to break any current usage of the tool for other users).

Ivan Pedruzzi

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Ivan Pedruzzi
Date: 03 Oct 2007 10:25 AM

Hi Jamil,

I wasn't suggesting typing the command.

You should be able to accomplish your task using a simple batch file that runs the diff and if the documents are different open stylus studio like the following

rundiff.bat
--------------------------------------------

if EXIST %3 del %3
stylusdiff -source %1 -target %2 -output %3
if EXIST %3 %3

Save the above file in the Stylus Studio bin directory.

So for example running the following command will open Stylus Studio if differences are found.

rundiff books.xml books2.xml books.dff

We agree that having an additional switch to start Stylus Studio would be beneficial and we will work on that on future versions.

Ivan Pedruzzi
Stylus Studio Team

Jamil Taylor

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Jamil Taylor
Date: 03 Oct 2007 05:51 PM

I see now. Thanks for clarifying.

Unfortunately, ClearCase does not support BAT file execution in the map file (I have no idea why, but it works with EXE only).

Tony Lavinio

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Tony Lavinio
Date: 03 Oct 2007 09:06 PM

Can you do cmd.exe with parameters?

c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe rundiff.bat %1

Jamil Taylor

Subject: Enhancements To XML Diff
Author: Jamil Taylor
Date: 04 Oct 2007 09:36 AM

I just tried this, and it does not work.

It looks like ClearCase requires that the map file be a single EXE that accepts the parameters they require. There's no flexibility in specifying parameters.

The map file's xml line looks like this:

_xml compare ..\..\bin\cleardiff.exe

There is no way to specify parameters.

With most third-party diff tools, the following works by default:

diff.exe file1.xml file2.xml

With a diff tool that works in this manner, I can simply change the xml line to this:

_xml compare c:\progra~1\Diff\diff.exe

Yes -- this is a limitation of ClearCase. I do not have a choice in using this though.

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