This topic provides information about native code comparison options.
Use the Options window to adjust the main settings of Code Compare to your needs. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The General page of the Code Compare node contains the following options:
Show result choice dialog only when more than one file has been modified
This option means that the Result choice dialog will be shown only in case several files have been modified.
Activate application from command line
This option brings the application window to front after opening a comparison from the command line.
Prevent Code Compare closing
This option defines the rules of Code Compare closing.
Show dialog on closing
This option defines the rules of the Choose Closing Behavior Dialog Box display.
The Visual Studio add-in menu also contains the following settings:
Font size
Specifies the document font size. In the standalone version, font size can be changed in the text editor settings.
Use the Options window to set up colors to highlight different text blocks. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The Colors page of the Code Compare node contains the following options:
You can select a color for any type of a different block using the colored Modified blocks, Inserted blocks and Missing blocks buttons.
Moved blocks shadowing
This option sets shadowing of moved blocks.
Alpha channel
This field sets up transparency of the coloring.
Please note that these options will be applied after Visual Studio restart.
Use the Options window to configure your file comparison. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The File page of the Code Compare node contains the following options:
Ignore whitespaces
This option allows you to ignore differences in whitespaces.
Ignore comments
This option omits comments from comparison in compared files.
Ignore line breaks
This option allows you to ignore differences in line breaks.
Ignore case
This option allows you to ignore character case in words. Select this check box to enable this option or leave deselected to take symbol case into account.
Compare content
This drop down list allows you to select a comparison mode: Line by line, Symbol by symbol or Word by word. Please refer to the Code Compare Commands article for more information.
Similar Lines Detection
This option allows you to turn on the ability to detect similar lines in the document.
Enable structural code comparison
This option enables structure comparison.
Speed and Quality
This slider allows you to set balance between comparison quality and comparison speed.
Enable scroll synchronization
This option enables scroll synchronization.
Use Outlining
This option enables code outlining.
Smart Collapse after file opening/refresh
This option collapses code blocks containing no changes.
This topic provides information about Code Compare folder options.
Use the Options window to configure folder filtering options. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The Filters page in the Folder node contains the following options:
Compare system/hidden files
This option enables comparison of system/hidden files.
Exclude files bigger than
This option allows skipping files that are bigger than the specified size.
Include file filter (separated by ‘;’)
This option allows you to include file types to comparison. For example, you can use the following filters: “.;.cs;.vb”.
Exclude file filter (separated by ‘;’)
This option allows you to exclude certain file types from comparison list. For example, you can use the following filters “.~;.exe”.
Exclude folder filter (separated by ‘;’)
This option allows you to exclude some folders from comparison list. For example, you can use the following filters “bin;obj;resources”.
Note
These options will be applied for all future comparisons. For the open comparisons, the options will be applied only after refresh.
Use the Options window to configure folder comparison options. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The Comparison page in the Folder node contains the following options:
Never compare files with equal size and timestamp
With this option enabled, files with the same size and timestamp will be treated as equal.
The following two options are presented as radio buttons. You can enable only one of them at a time:
Binary comparison
Files are compared byte-by-byte, ignoring encoding and line breaks.
Rules-based comparison
Select this option to be able choose rules, which will be used when comparing files. This is the default option.There are three rules, all of which are disabled by default:
Ignore case
Character case will be ignored during comparison.
Ignore whitespaces
Files will be compared with spaces ignored.
Ignore empty lines
Empty lines will not be taken into account during comparison.
Use the Options window to configure the rest of folder options. To open it, choose Options from the Tools menu.
The Miscellaneous page in the Folder node contains the following options:
Highlight modified only when collapsed
This option allows highlighting modified folders when they are collapsed. Expanded modified folders will not be highlighted.
Auto expand changes to level
This option allows expanding modified, added and missing folders to a specified level.
Hide identical files
This option hides identical files on both panes.
Hide empty folders
This option hides empty folders present on one of the panes only.
Show columns
This option allows you to choose columns to be shown during comparison:
Name
Show file names.
Size
Show file size.
Modified Date
Show the last modification date.