Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

[brett s]

Here's something I have wanted to do for ages - quickly compare two versions on any Alpha5 database table and see all the differences. How can it be done? I want to end up with something looking like this - see below.

Well, it's now easy to do this in mere seconds with my CompareDBF free utility for Alpha5.

CompareDBF allows you to select tables from your current Alpha5 application, export them as .csv text files and then use your favorite file compare utility to show differences between this and any previous copy of the same .csv file.

Compare utilities abound and include products such as WinMerge (free), Ultra Compare, CompareIt and Beyond Compare from which the sample included here was created using it and CompareDBF.

CompareDBF is great for testing so you can see what alterations your latest Alpha5 application change has made to a table.

Download the CompareDBF zip setup files from here. A manual install is all that is required:

o Copy the supplied file named 'CompareDBF.aex' to your Alpha5 'addins_installed' folder (e.g. c:\program files\Alpha5v9\addins-installed\),

o Restart Alpha5,

o Type 'CompareDBF()' (without the quotes) at the Control Panel / Code tab / Interactive Window and press <Enter>.

There is then more help available from the Help button.

CompareDBF has been tested with Alpha5 versions 8 and 9. It should also work with any later version.

Any problems, just let me know.

[brett s]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

There's a new feature added to CompareDBF to allow file names to be tagged with a short comment.

The amended installation instructions are as follows:

1. Copy the supplied file named 'CompareDBF.aex' to your Alpha5 'addins_installed' folder (e.g. c:\program files\Alpha5v9\addins_installed\ ),

2. Copy the supplied file named 'CompareDBF.new_code' to your Alpha5 'Control_Panel_Addins' folder (e.g. c:\program files\Alpha5v9\Control_Panel_Addins\ ),

3. Restart Alpha5.

To start CompareDBF type 'CompareDBF()' (without the quotes) at the Control Panel / Code tab / Interactive Window and press <Enter>. Or alternatively run CompareDBF from the Alpha5 Control Panel / Code tab / right-click / Addins option (see below).

The new version of CompareDBF is available from the same download location as before.

I have also attached below a screen shot of the CompareDBF startup display.

[MikeData]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

That was great Bret.
Is there a utility to compare the structure of 2 table.
Like matching names, type and sizes?

[Stan Mathews]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

There's a built in function to get the structure so comparison should be simple.

table1 = ui_get_table("Table One","Table")
table2 = ui_get_table("Table One","Table")

if table1 = "" .or. table2 = "" .or. (table1 = table2)
	ui_msg_box("Alert","Invalid table selection.")
end if 

struct1 = table.external_field_name_get(table1,"N,T,W,D")
struct2 = table.external_field_name_get(table2,"N,T,W,D")

found_same = word_in_common(struct1,struct2,crlf())
ui_msg_box("Same fields",found_same)

unq_to_table1 = word_subtract(struct1,found_same,crlf())
ui_msg_box("Only in "+table1+" (or different.)",unq_to_table1)

unq_to_table2 = word_subtract(struct2,found_same,crlf())
ui_msg_box("Only in "+table2+" (or different.)",unq_to_table2)

rslt = ui_msg_box("Results","Save to file?",UI_YES_NO)
if rslt = UI_YES_SELECTED
	fil = ui_get_file("Name (with .txt)","Text(*.txt)","C:\\","N")
	if alltrim(fil) = ""
		end
	end if
	com_fields = "Common fields:"+crlf()+found_same+crlf(2)
	only1 = "Only in "+table1+" (or different.)"+crlf()+unq_to_table1+crlf(2)
	only2 = "Only in "+table2+" (or different.)"+crlf()+unq_to_table2
	save_to_file(com_fields+only1+only2,fil)
end if

[MikeData]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

Great find. This will help a lot.
Thanks

[MoGrace]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

There's a new feature added to CompareDBF to allow file names to be tagged with a short comment.

The amended installation instructions are as follows:

1. Copy the supplied file named 'CompareDBF.aex' to your Alpha5 'addins_installed' folder (e.g. c:\program files\Alpha5v9\addins_installed\ ),

2. Copy the supplied file named 'CompareDBF.new_code' to your Alpha5 'Control_Panel_Addins' folder (e.g. c:\program files\Alpha5v9\Control_Panel_Addins\ ),

3. Restart Alpha5.

To start CompareDBF type 'CompareDBF()' (without the quotes) at the Control Panel / Code tab / Interactive Window and press <Enter>. Or alternatively run CompareDBF from the Alpha5 Control Panel / Code tab / right-click / Addins option (see below).

The new version of CompareDBF is available from the same download location as before.

I have also attached below a screen shot of the CompareDBF startup display.

I received a 'not a valid archive' from Winzip which told me to try and download it again - it didn't help.

[brett s]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

I received a 'not a valid archive' from Winzip which told me to try and download it again - it didn't help.

OK, problem now fixed.

[brett s]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

That was great Bret.
Is there a utility to compare the structure of 2 table.
Like matching names, type and sizes?

Good suggestion.

I have added this feature to CompareDBF. The new version can be downloaded from the same link here.

There is now an option on the CompareDBF main menu to allow you to include the field type and field size along with the field name - see the screen shot below. This information then appears in the first record of the output csv file.

I noticed during testing of this new feature that most compare utilities show any field definition differences OK except for Scooter Software's Beyond Compare 3. It has a bug and won't show any differences in the first record of a csv file containing field names. So I have reported the problem and hope the good folk at Scooter Software can fix it shortly.

[brett s]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

OK, Scooter Software say it's not a bug! Either way Beyond Compare 3 won't show differences in field definitions (type and size) until you:

o Select "Tools > File Formats".

o Then select the "Comma Separated Values" format. Go to the "Type" tab. Change the "First line contains" dropdown from "Detect" to "Cell data", then save the changes.

Also apparently some are having difficulty downloading the latest version of CompareDBF. So here are a couple of download alternatives:

o zip format
o 7-zip format

[MikeData]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

That is great, Many thanks

[martinwcole]

Re: Compare two versions of any Alpha5 table

Jim Chapman wrote a program that not only compared two databases, but also the field rules in each (including event coding) and displayed/printed the results/differences. Unfortunately it will not work in V10.5.

He wrote in V6, back when many were having an issue where Alpha would assign the field rules from one table to another.