Here's how to ignore text differences in files in the Folder Compare:

  1. Load two folders in Beyond Compare's Folder Compare.
  2. Double click to view a pair of XML files in the Text Compare.
  3. Click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon).
  4. Click Edit Grammar.
  5. Click New.
  6. Name it MyElement.
  7. Select Delimited as the category.
  8. Text from: <myElement> to: </myElement>.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Uncheck myElement to make it unimportant.
  12. Change the dropdown at the bottom of the dialog from Use for this view only to Use for all files within parent session or Update session defaults.
  13. Close the Text Compare tab.
  14. In the Folder Compare, click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon).
  15. Check Compare Contents and select Rules-based comparison.
  16. Click OK.
  17. Make sure View > Ignore Unimportant Differences is turned on.

The default settings in the Folder Compare use file size and modified date for comparison. Rules-based comparison uses the same content comparison method as double clicking to view file contents.

See also the article Define Unimportant Text in Beyond Compare. It describes ignoring differences when viewing a pair of files in the Text Compare.

Answer from Chris Kennedy on Stack Overflow
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Scooter Forums
forum.scootersoftware.com โ€บ home โ€บ beyond compare 3 discussion โ€บ scripting
Beyond Compare 3 Comparing two XML-Files and show output in HTML - Scooter Forums
Hello, The combination of script and parameters don't quite line up with our expected syntax. Let me break down the two approaches: Your script is written in a way to load a folder comparison, select all the xml content, and then generate a single report (containing all the different content of the selected files).
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Tales from the Evil Empire
weblogs.asp.net โ€บ lorenh โ€บ comparing-xml-files-with-beyond-compare-3-brilliant
Loren Halvorson's Blog - Comparing XML Files with Beyond Compare 3...Brilliant
The base tool itself is great, but I was really thrilled when I followed the link on the Download page to Additional file format downloads for version 3. There I found something I've been looking for years...and in fact a while ago had written a plug-in for BC2 to do...the ability to compare Tidied XML. How many times have you tried to compare two dense XML files to find out their differences only to be faced with a block of differences that looks like this: Beyond Compare notices that there are differences in there somewhere, but can't really show you where with any precision.

Here's how to ignore text differences in files in the Folder Compare:

  1. Load two folders in Beyond Compare's Folder Compare.
  2. Double click to view a pair of XML files in the Text Compare.
  3. Click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon).
  4. Click Edit Grammar.
  5. Click New.
  6. Name it MyElement.
  7. Select Delimited as the category.
  8. Text from: <myElement> to: </myElement>.
  9. Click OK.
  10. Click OK.
  11. Uncheck myElement to make it unimportant.
  12. Change the dropdown at the bottom of the dialog from Use for this view only to Use for all files within parent session or Update session defaults.
  13. Close the Text Compare tab.
  14. In the Folder Compare, click the Rules toolbar button (referee icon).
  15. Check Compare Contents and select Rules-based comparison.
  16. Click OK.
  17. Make sure View > Ignore Unimportant Differences is turned on.

The default settings in the Folder Compare use file size and modified date for comparison. Rules-based comparison uses the same content comparison method as double clicking to view file contents.

See also the article Define Unimportant Text in Beyond Compare. It describes ignoring differences when viewing a pair of files in the Text Compare.

Answer from Chris Kennedy on Stack Overflow
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Exefiles
exefiles.com โ€บ en โ€บ software โ€บ scooter-software โ€บ beyond-compare โ€บ extensions โ€บ xml โ€บ all-files
Download Scooter Software Beyond Compare XML Files - Files Directory
This section of our website provides a complete list of all Scooter Software Beyond Compare XML files in our download database. You can browse all Beyond Compare-associated XML files and quickly find the file that you are seeking. Visit this page now and find your file now!
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Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org โ€บ wiki โ€บ Beyond_Compare
Beyond Compare - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - Beyond Compare also was featured in the March 2005 issue of the Windows IT Pro magazine in the "What's Hot" section. Scott Mitchell, writing for MSDN Magazine, identified the program's comparison rules as its most powerful feature. The customizable rules control which differences between two files should be flagged as such. A set of predefined rules is included for the comparison of common file types, such as C++ source code, XML, and HTML files.
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ExtendsClass
extendsclass.com โ€บ xml-diff.html
XML diff - Compare xml online
You can also click on "Browse XML file" button to load your XML data from a local file. You can also directly compare two XML files by specifying their urls in the GET parameters url1 and url2.
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Scooter Software
scootersoftware.com โ€บ kb โ€บ morerules
Scooter Software - Home of Beyond Compare
Download Compare Microsoft SQL Server 7 and 2000 (not 2005) user generated select statements. ... Download Uses Microsoft Word to convert .doc and .docx files into plain text. ... Download Converts OpenOffice.org files (*.odt, *.ods, *.odp, and others) into text. ... Download Converts Oracle forms, reports, libraries and menus (*.mmb, *.olb, *.RDF, *.fmb, *.pll) into text or xml format.
Find elsewhere
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Jamf Nation Community
community.jamf.com โ€บ t5 โ€บ jamf-pro โ€บ configuring-beyond-compare โ€บ m-p โ€บ 236421
Configuring Beyond Compare - Jamf Nation Community - 236421
March 4, 2025 - Im wondering if anyone has deployed Beyond Compare and also tried to lockdown any settings ? Beyond Compare stores the settings in an XML file under the Users location in /Users/Username/Application Support/Beyond Compare/BCPreferences.xml The file doesnt exist until the user starts the program ...