Compare 2 VBA Projects (code)

[theta]

I have 2 VBA projects that have subtle coding differences (but this is creating a real impact on the end result).

Visual Source Safe is in use but both versions were updated offline without using checkout and so I now need a macro to compare both .xls files and show the differences in the code on a line by line basis - so that I can stitch together the relevant changes from each into a single file.

Any help appreciated as it is going to be a mammoth task if completed manually...

[Bob Phillips]

Export the modules as text files, and then use a text file comparison application to compare them.

[Bob Phillips]

BTW, what is the point of having SourceSafe if you allow modifying offline?

[theta]

I am not in control of this. I just inherited the issue.

What text comparison software would you suggest?

[Bob Phillips]

I use TextPad. It is a text editor (a very good one), but it has a compare function as well. It is shareware, but you can download it free and do what you need.

[theta]

Found a freebie - ~545kb and has a nice simple interface

http://www.mediafire.com/?csss3yal9caxlep

TestDiff

Thanks again - just a shame there is no VBA module / userform for this so I could run it as an addin in Excel (and save back to modules without the text export step).

When I become a VBA genuis I'll put one together...

[Aussiebear]

Have a look at WinMerge, a free utility for comparing vba code. Or failing that its possible to copy the code into Word and run text compare from there

[Jan Karel Pieterse]

I am not in control of this. I just inherited the issue.

What text comparison software would you suggest?

Suggestion:
www.jkp-ads.com/download.asp#exportvbaproject

[macropod]

You could also save both projects as separate Word files, then use Word's Compare/Combine tools for the comparison.

[Jan Karel Pieterse]

macropod: you'd still have to "save" each code module manually, or do you know a fast way to export everything in one go?

[theta]

macropod: you'd still have to "save" each code module manually, or do you know a fast way to export everything in one go?

If you look at the functionality of the file I uploaded - it would be amazing to have that functionality as an addin + userform. Then you could open up "Original.xls" and "Adjusted.xls" and compare the two projects in that way.

I would happily work on a project to make this a reality...

[macropod]

macropod: you'd still have to "save" each code module manually, or do you know a fast way to export everything in one go?

Well, one could export each module using vba, but for a one-off project that hardly seems worth the effort.

[Bob Phillips]

Who says it is a one-off? If they allow their source control to be ignored, they probably do this a lot

[macropod]

Maybe, or maybe they'll learn to use SourceSafe the way it's meant to be used. Otherwise they may as well ditch it.

[Paul_Hossler]

macropod: you'd still have to "save" each code module manually, or do you know a fast way to export everything in one go?

http://www.appspro.com/Utilities/CodeCleaner.htm

Rob Bovey's Code Cleaner has the option to export all modules (UF, Cls, Std) with one click

Also does other amazing things

Paul

[Jan Karel Pieterse]

Paul, macropod: the tool I referred to exports the entire VBA project into one single textfile, making comparing a breeze.

[macropod]

Hi JKP,

I take it you're referring to ExamDiff. While not for a moment suggesting Word is a better tool, I was simply pointing the OP to software they probably already have. Word, of course, won't compare userform differences, so the OP may need something more adept than either Word or ExamDiff (the web page doesn't seem to suggest any capabilities in that regard).

[Bob Phillips]

No, he is referring to the stage before that comparison, and is suggesting his ExportVBAProject tool www.jkp-ads.com/download.asp#exportvbaproject, which creates a single text file which mitigates the comparison process whichever tool is used for that comparison.

[macropod]

OK, but as I see it the crux of the issue is how to do the comparison, not how to export the code. Whether having it all in a single file makes the comparison any easier is debatable. After all, it's pretty easy to confirm that pairs of files have the same content. In a large project with multiple modules, a module-by-module comparison would, arguably, make it easier to find which modules had been changed, and where, than trying to compare the lot as a single file.

[Bob Phillips]

Beg to differ on both points.

It is a hollow victory if the comparison works easily but it takes a lot of effort to get the data to the compare stage, and vice versa. When you have a process, each step is important and should be optimised.

I would rather compare 1 file that 35 any day of the week, even in a semi-automated process. Any comparison tool worth anything will re-align after it finds differences. Jan