Compare Archives 1.0

A Tool to comparetwo Archive files

Prepared By / Reviewed By / Approved By
Name / Joseph Stalin
Alucious Selvaraj
Role / Project Admin
Signature
Date / 08/26/2007

Table of Contents

1.0Introduction

2.0Compare Archive Application

3.0Toolbar and Its Usage

4.0How to use the Application

5.0Screens

6.0Sample Reports

7.0System Requirement

1.0Introduction

This is the tool used to compare the archive files like EAR, WAR, JAR or ZIP files. This application is used to compare the current production archive file and the new archive file for the deployment. The comparing files can contain any type of files. This tool compares the files by comparing each byte with the other file.

2.0Compare Archive Application

About

Compare Archive 1.0 is a tool used to compare ZIP or JAR (Java Archive) or WAR (Web Archive) or EAR (Enterprise Archive) files and generate a detailed html report. The application is written in Java 5.0.

When / Where to use?

The archive files can be compared before moving the files in the test or production environments. The comparison report can be reviewed to make sure the new or modified files in both files.

How the Comparison Happens?

The application unzips all the files and uses the binary byte comparison to compare each file in the archives. The byte comparison is very robust and more accurate then than the normal text comparison. The byte comparison is much faster then the normal text comparison.

What is there is Report?

The final comparison report is generated and stored in the folder configured in the admin screen. All the existing reports can be viewed from the application. The files can be opened by double clicking the report or select the report and click the View button. Basic information about the file can be viewed in the viewing section before opening the file.

The html report is user friendly and lists the following sections

  1. Information: This has all the information about both archive files
  2. Missing in File 1: The missing files in the first archive file
  3. Missing in File 2: The missing files in the second archive file
  4. Non Identical Files: The non identical files in both archives. This has the complete information about the size and created date information about the files in separate sections.
  5. Identical Files: The identical files in both archives.

Admin

The admin section has the following controls over the application

  1. The report folder can be specified in the section where all the newly generated reports will be stored. The old report will not move to the new folder.
  2. The ejbc/appc generated implementation files like stub or skeleton or implementation xml files can be ignored when the jars are compared. This will help to get a neat report with your application files.
  3. Any files can be ignored in the comparison by giving the extension in the specified text. For example if user enters *.gif;*.exe then the comparison will not compare any gif or exe files in the archives.

Help

The help file can be viewed from the application by clicking the help button. This will help any users to get the information about how to use this application. The help file can be removed from the view.

3.0Toolbar and Its Usage

Tool Bar Buttons

/ Admin Button will enable the Admin section and allow the users to setup the administration properties.
/ Compare Archive Button will enable the Compare Archive section which will allow to select and compare two Archive Files
/ View Report button will enable the All Reports section where the user can view all the existing Reports.
/ Help button will show the help section which help the users to use the application.
/ Exit button will Exit the application.
/ Information button will give information about the application and the developer.
/ Browse button will open the File Chooser in the open mode from the Compare Archive Screen and as a Directory selector from the admin screen for report folder. In the Compare Archive screen then file chooser will allow to select only ZIP, JAR, WAR and EAR file.

4.0How to use the Application

Compare Archive

The Compare Archive section is used to compare two archive files. Click the first Browse Button [] and select the first archive file and click the second Browse Button [] and select the second file. Click the Compare Button and wait for the files to be compared. The Files Comparison time is based on the size and the number of class files in the archives.

If you select the wrong files, click the Clear Button to clear both the files.

Admin

The Admin section is used to setup the Report folder and the Ignore Files list and formats in the archive files. The changes made in the admin file will be effective irrespective of whether the user save the information or not. If the information was not saved then upon exiting the application the application will prompt to save the updated data. User has the ability to decide whether the data has to be save in the file or not.

Report Folder

Click the Browse Button [] and select the folder where you want to store the report files. The new files are stored in the new folder. The old files will not be moved to the new folder.

Ignore File List

For all the EJB jar files, few implementation files will be generated and stored in the same archive file. In the admin section we can ignore these files to compare from the list of files. Select the check boxes to ignore the files in the compare process.

Any files can be ignored from the comparison by giving the extension in the ‘Ignore files types separated by ;’ For example if user enter *.exe;*.jpg; in the text then all the exe and the jpg will not be compared in the process. These files will not be reported in the comparison report even if they are different.

All Report

The ‘All Reports’ section will show all the reports inside the folder specified in the Admin section. The list is mouse sensitive. To view more information about the report, single click the report and the information about the report will be shown in the description. Double click the report or select the report and click View button to open the report in any of the browser or html editor. To delete the file, select the file in the list and click the delete button.

Help

The help section will show the help information about the application and complete information about the usage. This section will be hidden from the screen when other buttons

Info

The information section will open a popup window with the information about the application and the developer. The opened window can be closed by clicking it or it will be closed after 3 seconds.

Exit

Click the Exit button to close the application.

Compare Archive

The Compare Archive section is used to compare two archive files. Click the first Browse Button [] and select the first archive file and click the second Browse Button [] and select the second file. Click the Compare Button and wait for the files to be compared. The Files Comparison time is based on the size and the number of class files in the archives.

If you select the wrong files, click the Clear Button to clear both the files.

Admin

The Admin section is used to setup the Report folder and the Ignore Files list and formats in the archive files. The changes made in the admin file will be effective irrespective of whether the user save the information or not. If the information was not saved then upon exiting the application the application will prompt to save the updated data. User has the ability to decide whether the data has to be save in the file or not.

Report Folder

Click the Browse Button [] and select the folder where you want to store the report files. The new files are stored in the new folder. The old files will not be moved to the new folder.

Ignore File List

For all the EJB jar files, few implementation files will be generated and stored in the same archive file. In the admin section we can ignore these files to compare from the list of files. Select the check boxes to ignore the files in the compare process.

Any files can be ignored from the comparison by giving the extension in the ‘Ignore files types separated by ;’ For example if user enter *.exe;*.jpg; in the text then all the exe and the jpg will not be compared in the process. These files will not be reported in the comparison report even if they are different.

All Report

The ‘All Reports’ section will show all the reports inside the folder specified in the Admin section. The list is mouse sensitive. To view more information about the report, single click the report and the information about the report will be shown in the description. Double click the report or select the report and click View button to open the report in any of the browser or html editor. To delete the file, select the file in the list and click the delete button.

Help

The help section will show the help information about the application and complete information about the usage. This section will be hidden from the screen when other buttons

Info

The information section will open a popup window with the information about the application and the developer. The opened window can be closed by clicking it or it will be closed after 3 seconds.

Exit

Click the Exit button to close the application.

5.0Screens

6.0Sample Reports

7.0System Requirement

  • Operating System – Windows Operating System with minimum 128 mb ram
  • JDK/JRE – Java 1.5 installed

Note:

Make sure that the PATH or JAVA_HOME are set properly.

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