Visual patch 2.0 : file diff

[Nagesh]

I devloped patch a for the version 1.0, 1.2 for the code base given to me.
the code base has a config file which is version specific but all other files are unknow type which dont carry the version etc .patch is working fine. i added all files for the both versions . Patch.exe size is 6 mb
the original code base 17mb. I would like to know how the viusal patch supports creating diff files . is the right way doing the patch. like to know compression capability of this vp2.0 sw .

Please explain

Using the vp2.0 trial version

-Nagesh

[Lorne]

As with all binary patching, the compression level depends entirely on the exact data that is contained within the files. Some files compress better than others. (For example, one of my test cases during development involved data files that were greater than 1 GB in size with relatively few changes...it achieved better than 99.99% compression.)

Even the encoding scheme that Visual Patch uses to "represent" the differences is very compact and efficient (especially compared to other encoding schemes e.g. VCDiff).

Note that Visual Patch has built-in support for both binary and whole-file patching, and it chooses the appropriate method to use on a per-file basis.

For more information, see "Patching Methods" on page 32, and "Patching Strategies" on page 34 of the user's guide. (A pdf version can be seen here.)

Tip: It's sometimes possible to coax a bit more compression for some file types by adjusting the settings on the Optimizations tab of the Build Settings dialog (Publish > Settings).

[Nagesh]

Still i am getting 6 mb.

The code base directory structure is as follows.
codebase/data/v1/filename.xml - for version1
codebase/data/v2/filename.xml - for version 2

key file is config file which show the file location as above path.

In the above the scenario how the visual path works.

if i change the direcory structure v1 or v2 to v then vp application is considering as same file. but if i use the code base v1 ,v2 directory, then
vp application considers the filename.xml files are different .

The application code base directories are not changeble in my scenario.

Is there any way to resolve this issue.

-Nagesh

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by Nagesh

Still i am getting 6 mb.

Sorry Nagesh, I don't understand...are you expecting it to be larger or smaller than 6 MB?

Note: The individual file diff sizes and zip compression sizes are reported in the build log which appears when you build the patch.

The code base directory structure is as follows.
codebase/data/v1/filename.xml - for version1
codebase/data/v2/filename.xml - for version 2

key file is config file which show the file location as above path.

In the above the scenario how the visual path works.

if i change the direcory structure v1 or v2 to v then vp application is considering as same file. but if i use the code base v1 ,v2 directory, then
vp application considers the filename.xml files are different .

The application code base directories are not changeble in my scenario.

My apologies again, Nagesh, but I'm not sure what you're trying to describe. Are those two folder paths (v1 and v2) for the source files on your development system, or for the installed files on the user's system? What do you mean by "changing the directory structure v1 or v2 to v?"

Visual Patch needs a complete "set" of your software's files for each version of your software. So if you have two versions of your software, version 1 and version 2, you need to have two whole directories set up on your system (where you build the patch), each one containing the files for a single version.

For example, if your program was called Foo, and it consisted of these files:

Foo.exe
Foo.chm
Data/images.dat
Data/settings.xml

Then on your system, where you build the patch, you would need folders set up like this:

c:\archive\Foo 1.0\Foo.exe
c:\archive\Foo 1.0\Foo.chm
c:\archive\Foo 1.0\Data\images.dat
c:\archive\Foo 1.0\Data\settings.xml

c:\archive\Foo 2.0\Foo.exe
c:\archive\Foo 2.0\Foo.chm
c:\archive\Foo 2.0\Data\images.dat
c:\archive\Foo 2.0\Data\settings.xml

c:\archive\Foo 2.1\Foo.exe
c:\archive\Foo 2.1\Foo.chm
c:\archive\Foo 2.1\Data\images.dat
c:\archive\Foo 2.1\Data\settings.xml

...etc.

[Nagesh]

What i mean to say my code base for each version have different direcotory structure .but most of the files are same. The set of the source code as follows

Codebase 1

c:\Foo\Data\v1\Filex.xml

Codebase 2
c:\Foo\Data\v2\Filex.xml

The code base 3
c:\Foo\Data\v3\Filex.xml

v1,v2,v3 incremental in our code base

the Filex.xml is changed in all code bases.

When i do patch , the vp software making the Filex from code base1 is different to the codebase 2 file.

I am asking the is there anyway the software considers filex.xml from the both code bases is same file.

-nagesh

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by Nagesh

Codebase 1
c:\Foo\Data\v1\Filex.xml

Codebase 2
c:\Foo\Data\v2\Filex.xml

The code base 3
c:\Foo\Data\v3\Filex.xml

v1,v2,v3 incremental in our code base

the Filex.xml is changed in all code bases.

When your software is installed, where is the Filex.xml file installed to? Is it put in a v1, v2, v3, v4...etc. folder?

When i do patch , the vp software making the Filex from code base1 is different to the codebase 2 file. I am asking the is there anyway the software considers filex.xml from the both code bases is same file.

I thought you said they were different?

[Nagesh]

yes

the folder name's are different fro one version to another .
but i want to make patch from them .Is VP sofware , the diff files are created based on the filenames or directoryname/filename . I would like to know.

nagesh

[Lorne]

Originally Posted by Nagesh

yes

the folder name's are different fro one version to another .
but i want to make patch from them .Is VP sofware , the diff files are created based on the filenames or directoryname/filename . I would like to know.

Ah, I understand you now.

It's based on directory and filename. You will need to either change your folder structure or use actions to supplement the patching process, e.g. patch the file in the v1 folder and then rename the folder to v2, or something similar.