Compare zip files as binary, how to?

[chjfth]

Sometimes, I'd like to compare two .zip files as binary, however, I find it very cumbersome to accomplish. BC always compare files inside the zips.

In order to compare non zip file, I can always select Context menu "Select Left file for Compare/Merge" for first file, then context menu "Hex Compare" for the second file.



However, for zip files, I cannot find the "Hex Compare" menu.



What I have to do now is to add .bin suffix to the zips, so that I can see "Hex Compare" context menu -- quite cumbersome.

So how to accomplish my goal easily?

Thank you.

BC 3.2.3

[Aaron]

Hello,

Currently, all archives are treated as folders by the shell extension. To get this behavior, you would need to disable the Zip archive association. Go to the Tools menu -> Options dialog, Folder Views section, and in the Archive Associations list, scroll to Zip. Delete *.zip. Restart BC3.

This will allow the shell extension to work, but will also prevent treating zips as folders and expanding them in the Folder Compare.

[chjfth]

Well, thank you for pointing out where I can add/remove archive association.

However, most of the time I still need the archive compare feature, but use binary compare sometimes. So removing archive association is much more inconvenient than just temporarily rename the zip files.

Would you please add the "Hex compare" menu item(in both Explorer context and main GUI) for archive types as well, in furture releases?

I've confirmed that current latest BC 3.3.7 behaves as stated in my post.

[Aaron]

It is an item on our Customer Wishlist, and I'll add your notes to our entry on the subject.