Comparing Excel PowerPivot xlsx files as zip files

[icnocop]

Hi.

Thank you for Beyond Compare 3.x.

I'd like to compare two Excel PowerPivot xlsx files.

PowerPivot xlsx files are actually zip files.

When comparing xlsx files using the "Microsoft Excel workbooks" file format add-in (http://www.scootersoftware.com/downl...oreformats_alt), it only shows some of the fields defined in the worksheet, which is okay.

However, I'd like to be able to quickly switch to comparing those files as zip files, such as using the menu:
Session > Compare Files Using > Zip Compare

I'd like to do this without having to rename the actual xlsx files.

Any ideas?

Thank you.

[Aaron]

Hello,

Renaming the files is probably the faster ad-hoc method.

You can more permanently associated .xlsx with the .zip archive type, then restart the program. This would then treat all .xlsx as .zip files and folders, but then wouldn't treat them as Excel files. Changing this option is global, and does currently require a reboot of the application to take effect.

If it helps, one other idea would be to have a Portable Install of BC that has the option set; you can then use either install to treat as one way or the other. This might work well for automated solutions like scripting.

I'll add your feedback to our Wishlist.

[twainj]

I actually found this post specifically searching for a way to permanently associate .xlsx and other OpenXML documents with the .zip archive, but I haven't been able to find how to do it.

Could you offer some guidance on where to make those associations?

[Chris]

To treat a .xlsx as a zip archive file in Beyond Compare 3, open Tools > Options.
Go to the Folder Views section.
In the Archive Associations list, select Zip.
Mask for Zip: *.zip;*.jar;*.ear;*.war;*.bcpkg;*.xlsx

To access the same setting in Beyond Compare 4, open Tools > Options and go to the Archive Types section.