Kdiff3 - compare folders and files

[teobromina]

To compare bit to bit, if necessary, two folders or two files

http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

I made it portable by installing first and copying folder later; Universal Extractor yields a confusing folders structure in the present case.

May be added to list?

*JT.

[AlephX]

Hi!
This application is very interesting!

Unfortunately I guess that it writes settings partially in the registry, and in some directory inside the Windows folder too.

[webfork]

Initial testing makes this program look like a strong alternative to the also-excellent WinMerge.

X-KDiff3 0.9.97 [rev3] http://www.winpenpack.com/en/download.php?view.1246

I deal with a LOT of document change work so although this is text-only, I might find a way to use it.

Screenshot.

[Ruby]

I deal with a LOT of document change work

While not free, Beyond Compare certainly is the best I've come across and they have a free 30 day trial.
Beyond Compare: http://www.scootersoftware.com/index.php

Among some of the more notable features is the 'Specialized Viewers', e.g. comparing delimited data files cell-by-cell, binary content (byte-by-byte), mp3 tag info, various image files, i.e. image.jpg <=> image.gif, etc...
Specialized Viewers: http://www.scootersoftware.com/moreinfo ... fo_viewers

You can register shell extensions (32bit and 64bit); left-click file/folder (choose left side), left-click 2nd file/folder (compare to left); if both files/folders are in the same directory, then 2nd left-click ("Compare")

Give it a shot, you won't be disappointed and you have nothing to lose.

Oh, and it's fully portable: http://www.scootersoftware.com/support. ... ablemedia3

~Ruby

[Midas]

KDiff3 (http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/) is a differencing utility based on the latest Qt framework (v5.3) with a slew of interesting features -- and the major plus of being available for all mainstream platforms (Linux, MacOS and both 32 and 64-bit Windows).

Windows downloads can be easily (Uni)extracted. Pay attention, though, that the '$_OUTDIR\plugins' folder needs to be moved into the 'bin' subfolder, while the remaining two ('doc' and 'translations') need to go to the top level, alongside 'kdiff3.exe'; after that, all folders whose names begin with '$' can be deleted...

The only thing impeding KDiff3 full portability is the fact that it stores its settings in '%USERPROFILE%\.kdiff3rc'.

KDiff3 is a graphical text difference analyzer for up to 3 input files, provides character-by-character analysis and a text merge tool with integrated editor. It can also compare and merge directories. Platform-independent.

Changelog and downloads for KDiff3 latest release (currently v0.9.98) are at http://sourceforge.net/projects/kdiff3/ ... f3/0.9.98/.

[Midas]

Let's see what the community thinks of my portabilization strategy for KDiff3 (tested under Windows XP SP3 and 7 x64 SP1)...

Firstly, here's the list of files differing in the 32 and 64-bit versions:

Code: Select all

kdiff3.exe
kdiff3.exe.manifest
bin\bin.Manifest
bin\libgcc_s_dw2-1.dll <- 32-bit only
bin\libgcc_s_seh-1.dll <- 64-bit only
bin\libstdc++-6.dll
bin\libwinpthread-1.dll
bin\Qt5Core.dll
bin\Qt5Gui.dll
bin\Qt5PrintSupport.dll
bin\Qt5Widgets.dll
bin\README-Qt.txt
bin\plugins\accessible\qtaccessiblewidgets.dll
bin\plugins\codecs\qcncodecs4.dll
bin\plugins\codecs\qjpcodecs4.dll
bin\plugins\codecs\qkrcodecs4.dll
bin\plugins\codecs\qtwcodecs4.dll
bin\plugins\platforms\qwindows.dll
bin\plugins\printsupportwindowsprintersupport.dll

Place common folders/files in 'App'. Place exclusive 32-bit folders/files in 'Data\x32' and exclusive 64-bit folders/files in 'Data\x64' (compressing with UPX is optional). Run a yaP launcher v0.65 Beta 293 (latest beta) with the following config:

Code: Select all

; configuration file for yaP v0.65.293B (http://rolandtoth.hu/yaP/)
; application name: KDiff3
; version: v0.9.98
; website: http://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

[GENERAL]
application = App\kdiff3.exe :: App\kdiff3.exe
; commandline = 
; workdir = 

[BEFORE]
file = %USERPROFILE%\.kdiff3rc :: Data\kdiff3rc.txt
->dirX86 = Data\x32\ :: {EXEPATH}
->dirX64 = Data\x64\ :: {EXEPATH}
delay = 250
[...]

Profit.

[rbon]

Update of a very old topic.

KDiff3 Portable v1.12.70 x64 in PAF format has been released at January 2, 2025:

Links and details:
• KDiff3 homepage: https://kdiff3.sourceforge.net/

KDiff3 - win32 builds:
Standalone not portable
• for x86 Windows: rel. 0.9.98 download from Sourceforge.net https://sourceforge.net/projects/kdiff3/files/
• direct download rel. 0.9.98 from Sourceforge.net: https://sourceforge.net/projects/kdiff3 ... p/download

Portable in PAF format
• PortableApps Forum: https://portableapps.com/node/42968
• direct download from Sourceforge.net: http://sourceforge.net/projects/myporta ... e/download

KDiff3 - win64 builds:
Exe installers + standalone not portable
• KDiff3 newer versions: https://download.kde.org/stable/kdiff3/
• direct download rel. 1.12.0 'kdiff3-1.12.0-windows-cl.exe': https://download.kde.org/stable/kdiff3/ ... ows-cl.exe
• KDiff3 ci-builds (client) on KDE repository: https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/sdk/kdiff ... r/windows/
• direct download ' kdiff3-master-1875-windows-cl-msvc2022-x86_64.7z': https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/sdk/kdiff ... -x86_64.7z
• GitHub project 'kdiff3-releases_mirror': https://github.com/pa-0/kdiff3-releases_mirror
• direct download rel 1.11.1 (June 25, 2024) for x64: https://github.com/pa-0/kdiff3-releases ... x86_64.exe

Portable in PAF format
• KDiff3 Portable on NAMP website: https://numerico.altervista.org/ALBERCL ... -portable/
• direct download 'KDiff3Portable_1.12.70_x64.paf.exe': https://numerico.altervista.org/ALBERCL ... e-64-bit/# --> press Download button

How to use these builds:
Exe installer not portable:
• open the exe build with 7-Zip and extract the archive .7z (for example 'kdiff3-1.11.1-windows-cl-msvc2022-x86_64.7z') or use a free web service
• extract using service by ezyZip (see below): https://www.ezyzip.com/open-extract-exe-file.html
• unzip the .7z archive and update the content of this archive inside KDiff3 Portable PAF --> KDiff3Portable_1.12.70_x64.paf.exe\App\KDiff3\

Standalone not portable
• unzip the .7z archive and update the content of this archive inside KDiff3 Portable PAF --> KDiff3Portable_1.12.70_x64.paf.exe\App\KDiff3\

Windows compatibility:
the x64 builds work only with Win10 and Win11
this inconvenient is due to used compiler: MSVC2022 (MicroSoft Visual C 2022).

You can regularly update the PAF version by NAMP:
1. download latest .7z archive from: https://cdn.kde.org/ci-builds/sdk/kdiff ... -x86_64.7z
2. update the content of this archive inside KDiff3 Portable PAF --> KDiff3Portable_1.12.70_x64.paf.exe\App\KDiff3\

KDiff3Portable.ini:

Code: Select all

[Launch]
ProgramExecutable=KDiff3\bin\kdiff3.exe
WorkingDirectory=%PAL:AppDir%\KDiff3\bin
DirectoryMoveOK=yes
SupportsUNC=yes

[Activate]
Registry=true

[RegistryKeys]
KDE=HKCU\SOFTWARE\KDE
kde.org=HKCU\SOFTWARE\kde.org
-=HKCU\Software\QtProject
-=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject

[RegistryValueBackupDelete]
1=HKCU\Software\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults\Qt\filedialog
2=HKCU\Software\QtProject
3=HKCU\Software\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults
4=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults\Qt\filedialog
5=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject
6=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults

[RegistryCleanupIfEmpty]
1=HKCU\Software\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults\Qt
2=HKCU\Software\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults
3=HKCU\Software\QtProject
4=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults\Qt
5=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject\OrganizationDefaults
6=HKCU\SOFTWARE\QtProject

[FilesMove]
settings\kdiff3rc=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local
settings\klanguageoverridesrc=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local


[DirectoriesMove]
kdiff3_Profile=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\kdiff3
-=%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\cache

as you can see from the attached .ini file you need to:
1. delete the Qt entries (by TrollTech) from the registry
2. move the 'kdiff3rc' entry from '%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local'

Here You have the archive with 'KDiff3Portable.ini'