Does any free software compare epubs?

[Gregg Bell]

I know a lot of software compares the html files within epubs but will any free software compare the epubs themselves?

[Tex2002ans]

Calibre has a compare EPUBs built in:

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/diff.html

Open up your EPUB in Calibre's Editor, then press File > Compare to another book, and choose the one you want to compare to.

EPUBs are just HTML files in a ZIP file. You can just unzip the EPUB and use all the different Code Comparison programs to compare files:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compar...mparison_tools

and there are probably quite a few online code comparison tools.

I personally use/prefer Beyond Compare (Paid, proprietary):

http://www.scootersoftware.com/

I found it worked better than the other tools I tested. (Working on large Non-Fiction books with large paragraphs.) Some other tools I tested misaligned very easily, and the entire comparison algorithm would get thrown off beyond that point.

If you are working on something like Fiction with shorter paragraphs, those other tools may work absolutely perfectly for you.

[Notjohn]

Um, compared to what? Not checking for plagiarism, I assume. What is the benefit / utility of doing this?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

Um, compared to what? Not checking for plagiarism, I assume. What is the benefit / utility of doing this?

To compare different versions of the same epub, usually. It's very handy to know exactly what changes you made to the original. It's the heart and and soul of any version control system. Very handy when multiple people are working on the same project (or you just want to track your changes/ corrections/additions to an epub over time).

Very handy for simply double-checking your own work, as well. I would think the benefits would be painfully obvious (even if it's not something you see yourself needing).

[PeterT]

The original issue was that Greg made changes in an epub that had been created from an LO document, and then wanted to make a print version of his book. It was suggested that one way to track down his changes would be to remake the ePub from LO and then compare the two epubs to find the changes.

[BetterRed]

@Gregg Bell - I suggest you try the one in the calibre-editor first, for a start it does the unravelling of the ePubs for you etc. I've used it a few times when I've gotten myself confused with what I've already done and not done, right and wrong.

The editor can be used independently of the library manager, I have it as one of the file associations for .epubs, same as I have for Sigil, etc.

I have a recollection Kovid said he created the calibre editor's file compare tool from the tool he uses in his daily work, so a) it's tried and tested and b) having it in his toolkit made it relatively easy to fold into the editor.

BR

[Tex2002ans]

Originally Posted by PeterT

It was suggested that one way to track down his changes would be to remake the ePub from LO and then compare the two epubs to find the changes.

Depending on how extensive the actual code changes are, it also might help to have a more visual comparison too.

What I do sometimes is use Calibre to convert EPUB -> DOCX (or ODT). Then you can use the Compares in LibreOffice/Word.

In LibreOffice you can do Edit > Track Changes > Compare Document:



or in Microsoft Word you can do Review > Compare > Compare:



And here is a sample showing Calibre's EPUB Comparison:



In this case, my EPUB had hundreds and hundreds of very minor changes of Footnotes from:

<sup>##</sup> -> <a href="FootnoteStuff">[##]</a>

you might easily miss the "exPresidents" -> "ex-Presidents". Where using the visual method like in LibreOffice/Word, that tiny typo correction stands out more like a sore thumb.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

you might easily miss the "exPresidents" -> "ex-Presidents".

camelCased former Presidents :lol:
================

Greg - if the changes PeterT mentioned stem from your use of the Language Tools grammar checker, then for future use you might want to consider installing it in LO Writer. IMO the LO Writer version is easier to use, and Writer is probably a more suitable place to be doing grammar checks.

BR

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Calibre has a compare EPUBs built in:

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/diff.html

Open up your EPUB in Calibre's Editor, then press File > Compare to another book, and choose the one you want to compare to.

EPUBs are just HTML files in a ZIP file. You can just unzip the EPUB and use all the different Code Comparison programs to compare files:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compar...mparison_tools

and there are probably quite a few online code comparison tools.

I personally use/prefer Beyond Compare (Paid, proprietary):

http://www.scootersoftware.com/

I found it worked better than the other tools I tested. (Working on large Non-Fiction books with large paragraphs.) Some other tools I tested misaligned very easily, and the entire comparison algorithm would get thrown off beyond that point.

If you are working on something like Fiction with shorter paragraphs, those other tools may work absolutely perfectly for you.

Thanks Tex. I tried that Calibre comparison tool and found it hard to see the changes. I'll take a closer look at it. And thanks for that chart. I just wish it said what files (esp. epubs) they compare. And I've got Beyond Compare's free version now, but I find that for comparing html files Diff Checker does a better job.

https://www.diffchecker.com/

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Notjohn

Um, compared to what? Not checking for plagiarism, I assume. What is the benefit / utility of doing this?

What Diap said. I find I'm always looking to compare files. Stuff just comes up.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by PeterT

The original issue was that Greg made changes in an epub that had been created from an LO document, and then wanted to make a print version of his book. It was suggested that one way to track down his changes would be to remake the ePub from LO and then compare the two epubs to find the changes.

Thanks Peter. To tell you the truth I'm losing track of why I need it. I just know that there are so many situations where I'd like to compare epubs. I can do the html files but with 33 chapters that can be time consuming.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Gregg Bell - I suggest you try the one in the calibre-editor first, for a start it does the unravelling of the ePubs for you etc. I've used it a few times when I've gotten myself confused with what I've already done and not done, right and wrong.

The editor can be used independently of the library manager, I have it as one of the file associations for .epubs, same as I have for Sigil, etc.

I have a recollection Kovid said he created the calibre editor's file compare tool from the tool he uses in his daily work, so a) it's tried and tested and b) having it in his toolkit made it relatively easy to fold into the editor.

BR

Thanks Red. I've used it but only once. I found it hard to see the changes. But I'm going to go back and take another look at it.

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Tex2002ans

Depending on how extensive the actual code changes are, it also might help to have a more visual comparison too.

What I do sometimes is use Calibre to convert EPUB -> DOCX (or ODT). Then you can use the Compares in LibreOffice/Word.

In LibreOffice you can do Edit > Track Changes > Compare Document:

Attachment 155222 Attachment 155225

or in Microsoft Word you can do Review > Compare > Compare:

Attachment 155223 Attachment 155226

And here is a sample showing Calibre's EPUB Comparison:

Attachment 155224

In this case, my EPUB had hundreds and hundreds of very minor changes of Footnotes from:

<sup>##</sup> -> <a href="FootnoteStuff">[##]</a>

you might easily miss the "exPresidents" -> "ex-Presidents". Where using the visual method like in LibreOffice/Word, that tiny typo correction stands out more like a sore thumb.

Cool. I didn't know LO had such functionality. Thanks.

[BetterRed]

Greg - I usually have to increase the font size when I do compares - in anything.

In the calibre compare I also turn off mispelt word underlining. They're in Edit->Preferences->Editor Settings. And I tweaked the colours for Difference (??) in the Colour Scheme settings. My colour scheme is based on pyte-light - I think that's the default.

BR

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Greg - I usually have to increase the font size when I do compares - in anything.

In the calibre compare I also turn off mispelt word underlining. They're in Edit->Preferences->Editor Settings. And I tweaked the colours for Difference (??) in the Colour Scheme settings. My colour scheme is based on pyte-light - I think that's the default.

BR

Thanks Red. That helps a lot. I think I judged this Calibre compare too quickly. I think it's going to be good. A question though. I made three changes to a file and ran the compare. It caught all the changes but adds all this other distracting stuff that it's calling changes, which makes it harder to find the actual changes. (screenshot--I circled some of them). Is there any way to get rid of that clutter?