As submitted to http://acanac.org/blogs/geek/

Yesterday I was working on some changes to a web site when I hit a brick wall.  The site wouldn’t load without displaying some crazy and misleading error messages.  The messages were talking about something to do with configuration, and since this was a .Net web site, I figured I would start with the Web.Config.  I had the new web.config which was created by a third party, and I had the old web.config which I had intelligently backed up – but I needed to understand what was different between them.

Now, I am no stranger to comparison tools, however I have never found one that I was truly happy with.  So, I did what any hardcore Internet junkie would do, I started to Google ‘text file comparison tools’.  One of the first hits that I came across was WinMerge.  Straight from their website – WinMerge is an Open Source (GPL) visual text file differencing and merging tool for windows.  That was a mouthful.  Quite simply, it does what you expect it to.  Once you install the latest version and launch the application, you can open up the two files that you wish to compare.  WinMerge opens the files side-by-side and highlights for you the lines that have differences.  You can choose to merge lines from one side to the other, or simply ignore them, depending on your needs.

WinMerge is a flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and word wrap.  It can handle DOS, UNIX and MAC text file formats and offers Unicode support.  You can also integrate the application into the shell so that your right-click will allow you to open files for comparison.  Plugin support brings many options for improving and customizing this app.  Get your copy today, you won’t be disappointed.