[Help!] "word by word" check comparison for two text files?

[Thanks]

Hello,

I have to do a "word by word _ check comparison" for two text files.
Do you know any freeware (or shareware?) that can compare two texts and
highlights the differences ?

Example:

Text 1:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 60, then they told me to get 70
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had it."

Text 2:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 70, then they told me to get 80
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had to do it."


Differences (which may be highlighted in the second file) :
"70" (for 60); "80" (for 70) ; "to do" (for nothing!)

Many thanks in advance,
Tab

 

[robert]

Exam Diff will do it for you. Free but you will have to do a google to
track it down because i don't have any info on where I got it from in the
first place
Cheers
Robert

 

[Adrian Carter]

Hello,

I have to do a "word by word _ check comparison" for two text files.
Do you know any freeware (or shareware?) that can compare two texts and
highlights the differences ?

Example:

Text 1:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 60, then they told me to get 70
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had it."

Text 2:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 70, then they told me to get 80
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had to do it."


Differences (which may be highlighted in the second file) :
"70" (for 60); "80" (for 70) ; "to do" (for nothing!)

Many thanks in advance,
Tab

AsciiDiff will show you both files side by side, with the different lines
coloured
blue or red, and matching lines in black. You can select any sets of
different
lines and switch to a full-width window that puts one line on top of the
other.
In this fullwidth window is a button that lets you colour your lines so as
to see
the differences at a character-by-character level.
http://www.homestead.com/adriancarter/compare.html

You might prefer an alternative way of displaying the differences, used by
CSDiff - download from http://www.componentsoftware.com/products/
CSDiff intermixes lines from both files in a fullwidth display, with options
to show diffs at the line level or at the word level (might also do it at
char
level - can't remember).

There is a comprehensive list of file comparators (freeware & shareware)
at http://www.foldermatch.com/fmcompetitors.htm

HTH,
Adrian Carter

 

[omega]

I have to do a "word by word _ check comparison" for two text files.
Do you know any freeware (or shareware?) that can compare two texts and
highlights the differences ?

Example:

Text 1:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 60, then they told me to get 70
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had it."

Text 2:
"First, my teammates were telling me to get 70, then they told me to get 80
and that's what I was going for," McGrady said. "If I had made my free
throws, I would have had to do it."

Differences (which may be highlighted in the second file) :
"70" (for 60); "80" (for 70) ; "to do" (for nothing!)

Generally the file compare utils do line by line, and highlight the
differing lines, letting you then work from there (AsciiDiff, ExamDiff,
Match32, TextDiff, Windiff, etc). Probably as you've noticed.

But good news. There is one that delivers quite close to what you seek.
Component Software's CSDiff. Here is a picture of it handling your sample
text:

http://omega5.port5.com/clips/temp/csdiff.png

I wanted to also mention another program. It doesn't do as you've described,
but might come in handy for similar circumstances. Mainly when you want
to work through some specific differences within paragraphs of text. Ted
Notepad. Amongst its text manipulation tools, it has a "Compare Strings"
command. When you use this dialog, it stops and highlights at the spot in
the paragraph where things don't match. To describe more clearly, another
pic... I went ahead and htm'd those screenshots of both progs here:

http://omega5.port5.com/clips/temp/diffs.htm

 

[dszady]

[...]
http://omega5.port5.com/clips/temp/diffs.htm

What do you know. That damn server is working this week.

 

[omega]

What do you know. That damn server is working this week.

Today was the first time in some while it was willing to exchange more than
half a word with me....

One theory. They got overwhelmed, accepted users beyond capacity. In which
case, they'd be best to know when to stop accepting new users, as do some
other services. Not holding out any hope, though.

In meantime, I think I'm going to keep an eye out for a cheap pay service.
Simply for such posts to ACF. Something at the lowest dollar end, $60 year.
Not a host, where I need to provide a registered domain (because this latter
I do not know how to do in a privacy manner). Just some cheap, basic web
space.