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ExamDiff Pro provides an ability to preprocess files
prior to comparison via the use of plug-ins. Any console
application that converts files can be used as an ExamDiff Pro plug-in. The table below
lists some useful programs that are either included with the Windows operating system or free
third-party tools, along with setup instructions and download links (where applicable).
Plug-ins, like all other ExamDiff Pro options, can be set for either the
Unnamed Default Session, or for any other session. It is useful sometimes to
create special sessions for specific plug-ins, or sets of plug-ins.
Note: most applications described below have additional options. They
are usually discovered by opening the command prompt and typing the program
name followed by the carriage return key. Sometimes you need to type the space character
and /?, /help, or --help after the program name. While the
instructions presented here use default options, you may need to use other options
in order to produce desired results.
When you install ExamDiff Pro 3.5 or higher, you can choose to automatically
install certain plug-ins. The plug-ins that can be automatically installed are marked with
a * on this list.
If a plug-in produces no output or gives strange results when applied to
clipboard contents, see this FAQ article.
| Plug-in |
Setup |
Download |
Comments |
| Text File Sorting * |
| Plug-in: |
Sort |
| Name filter: |
*.txt (or any other filter for files that you want to sort) |
| Application: |
c:\windows\system32\sort.exe (your system location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH (select Input File Path) |
|
None needed |
This plug-in is useful when compared files represent unsorted lists (see
this tutorial as one application of
the Sort plug-in). |
| XML Canonicalization * |
| Plug-in: |
XML Canonicalize |
| Name filter: |
*.xml |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\XMLStarlet\xml.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
c14n $INPUTFILEPATH |
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XMLStarlet |
This plug-in converts an XML file into its canonical form, following the Canonical XML W3C Standard Recommendation. Canonicalization makes two XML files consistently structured, which helps to compare them. It's also recommended that you use the Format plugin (see below) along with this for hierarchical indentation of XML files. |
| HTML and XML Formatting * |
| Plug-in: |
HTML,XML Format |
| Name filter: |
*.htm,*.html,*.xml |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\Tidy\tidy.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
-i $INPUTFILEPATH |
|
Tidy |
This plug-in "beautifies" an XML or HTML file by adding hierarchical indentation. |
| Adobe PDF to Text Conversion * |
| Plug-in: |
PDF to TXT |
| Name filter: |
*.pdf |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\Xpdf\pdftotext.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH $OUTPUTFILEPATH |
|
Xpdf |
This plug-in converts a PDF file into text format. Note that some elements
of PDF files, such as images, cannot be converted to text. |
| MS Word to Text Conversion * |
| Plug-in: |
DOC to TXT |
| Name filter: |
*.doc |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\catdoc\catdoc.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
|
catdoc |
This plug-in converts a DOC file into text format. Again, some elements
of DOC files, such as images, cannot be converted to text. |
| MS Word to Text Conversion (alternative) |
| Plug-in: |
DOC to TXT |
| Name filter: |
*.doc |
| Application: |
C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\bin\wvWare.exe
(your location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
-1 -x "C:\Program Files\GnuWin32\share\wv\wvText.xml" $INPUTFILEPATH |
|
wvWare |
Another plug-in that converts a DOC file into text format. |
| MS Excel to CSV Conversion * |
| Plug-in: |
XLS to CSV |
| Name filter: |
*.xls |
| Application: |
c:\tools\catdoc\xls2csv.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
|
catdoc |
Converts an XLS file into comma-separated values format. |
| MS PowerPoint to Text Conversion * |
| Plug-in: |
PPT to TXT |
| Name filter: |
*.ppt |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\catdoc\catppt.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
|
catdoc |
Extracts readable text from a PowerPoint presentation. |
| Compare ZIP, Java archives * |
| Plug-in: |
Unzip |
| Name filter: |
*.zip,*.jar,*.war,*.ear |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\Infozip\Unzip\unzip.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH -d$OUTPUTFILEPATH |
|
Info-ZIP's Unzip |
Allows comparing ZIP and Java archives. This plug-in requires ExamDiff Pro 3.4 or higher to compare two archives, and ExamDiff Pro 3.5 or higher to compare an archive to a directory. |
| Compare remote files by their URLs * |
| Plug-in: |
Fetch Remote File |
| Name filter: |
<default-remote-file> (<inline> in ExamDiff Pro 3.4) |
| Application: |
C:\Tools\Curl\curl-7.14.0\curl.exe
(your location will be different) |
| Arguments: |
-o $OUTPUTFILEPATH $INPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
|
cURL (select Win32 -
Generic package) |
Allows comparing remote file over FTP, HTTP etc. by their URLs. This
plug-in has to be specified as an inline plug-in
(e.g. curl>ftp://server/file), and therefore requires ExamDiff 3.4 or higher. In
ExamDiff Pro 3.5 or higher, you only have to write ftp://server/file as the file,
as long as this plug-in is specified as your Default Remote File plug-in. |
| Compare remote directories by their URLs * |
| Plug-in: |
Fetch Remote Directory |
| Name filter: |
<default-remote-directory> (<inline> in ExamDiff Pro 3.4) |
| Application: |
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\cscript.exe
(your system location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
C:\Tools\wget\wget.js
C:\Tools\wget\wget.exe $INPUTFILEPATH $OUTPUTFILEPATH 0
(your location will be different). Set last parameter to 1 if
you want to see wget console window so that you can track
the progress of file downloads |
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wget and custom WSH
script to run wget (save it into your wget folder). |
Allows comparing remote directories over HTTP, HTTPS and FTP by their URLs. This
plug-in has to be specified as an inline plug-in
(e.g. wget>ftp://server/dir), and therefore requires ExamDiff 3.4 or higher. In
ExamDiff Pro 3.5 or higher, you only have to write ftp://server/dir as the directory,
as long as this plug-in is specified as your Default Remote Direcotry plug-in. |
| Compare Windows executable files * |
| Plug-in: |
Dump PE32 |
| Name filter: |
*.exe,*.dll |
| Application: |
c:\Tools\PESnoop\PESnoop.exe
(your location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH /PE_ALL |
|
Dump PE32 |
Allows comparing binary images (Windows executable files). For better results add "Dump of file" (without quotes) as a regular expression in
Options | Compare | "Lines matching regular expression". |
| INI Sorting * |
| Plug-in: |
INI Sorter |
| Name filter: |
*.ini,*.reg |
| Application: |
c:\Tools\IniSorter\IniSorter.exe
(your location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
/o $INPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
|
IniSorter |
Alphabetically sorts all sections and entries in each section, as well as separating sections with a blank line for clarity (courtesy of Flurmy). |
| Office 2007/2010 Document to Text Conversion * |
| Plug-in: |
OOXML to Text |
| Name filter: |
*.docx,*.docm,*.dotx,*.dotm,*.xlsx,*.xlsm,*.xltx,*.xltm,
*.xlam,*.pptx,*.pptm,*.potx,*.potm,*.ppam,*.ppsx,*.ppsm |
| Application: |
c:\Tools\OOXML2Txt\OOXML2Txt.exe
(your location may be different) |
| Arguments: |
$INPUTFILEPATH $OUTPUTFILEPATH |
| Success exit code: |
0 |
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Office 2007/2010 Document to Text Convertor |
This plug-in converts an Office 2007/2010 document into text format. Unzip both files in the local folder that you'll be using in the Application parameter. |
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Overview
