svn diff for binary file(excel file)

Question

I have configured svn repository for an excel file,

So I checked out and create myworkingdirectory Then I changed the excel file and I wanted to see the changes by svn diff

which It says that file marked binary eventhough I have changed

Subversion client configuration file and

[miscellany]
enable-auto-props = yes

and also I have added this line

*.xlsx = svn:mime-type=application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

When I use

svn proplist --verbose /path to /myworkingdirectory/file.xlsx

it lists the mime-type and its value

I dont know what else to do to see the changes by svn diff like its possible to see in text format files

Hello! I think this question is applicable for your question too: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/659740/how-well-does-svn-work-for-office-2007-documents — Roman Makhlin, Oct 03 '13 at 12:50
@ProtosZetZ Thanks for the comment, I am really confused if its doable at all ? I have seen most of these questions before posting my question but I could not conclude any consensus — shaq, Oct 03 '13 at 13:04

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 04 '13 at 01:38

1

There are plugins for TortoiseSVN that let you diff Office documents:

http://freemind.s57.xrea.com/xdocdiff/e/index.html

answered Oct 04 '13 at 01:38

randy-wandisco

3,649
16
11

1

quite outdated, as far as I see – bahrep Oct 04 '13 at 13:12

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 03 '13 at 12:58

0

Xlsx are nothing more than zip containing several XML files. SVN will not be able to diff them as text files since they are binary.

answered Oct 03 '13 at 12:58

AcDa

1

So there is noway I can see the changes that I made? – shaq Oct 03 '13 at 13:00
1

No, you can't. You can store them revision per revision, but the diff will only show binary chars. A cumbersome solution can be unzip those xlsx files and commit them as folders. Then, after downloading an update, zip to xlsx. After editing in excel, before commit, unzip them again. But, as said before, is not a convenient solution, although theoretically it should work. – AcDa Oct 03 '13 at 13:43

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 17 '18 at 09:24

if you have Windows & Office Professional Plus 2013 or Office 365 ProPlus I recomend to use Spreadsheet Compare as this analyses also the xls built in history.

Call this small xlsdiff.bat from SNV:

set path2=%1
set mine=%2
set mine=%mine:"=%
ECHO %mine% > tmp.txt
dir %path2% /B /S >> tmp.txt
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\DCF\SPREADSHEETCOMPARE.EXE" tmp.txt

Configure svn to call "xlsdiff.bat %base %mine"

svn diff for binary file(excel file)

3 Answers3