Compare by Contents says files are different when equal

[ghisler(Author)]

The internal compare tool isn't made to compare such huge files interactively. Why? After finding a difference, it maps the two files into memory and then compares them as if they were two big memory blocks. Unfortunately this fails if the memory is already very fragmented (a reboot may help then), or the two files together are too large to be mapped into memory.

[RickyGold]

Clear and shared, thanks for reply.

On the other hand, can we say that in case of identical files, even if very big, we are never going to encounter the "not enough memory" message ? (and by the way, what is the maximum dimension of them ?)

And as last, someone knows how the external compare toll add-on behave in such cases ?

Thank you a lot.

[sqa_wizard]

how the external compare toll add-on behave in such cases ?

The external tool gets the filenames only.
So it is up to your tool how to handle it ...

[ghisler(Author)]

On the other hand, can we say that in case of identical files, even if very big, we are never going to encounter the "not enough memory" message ?

Yes, that's correct, TC compares the files byte by byte before trying to open them in the interactive compare tool - which will only happen if TC finds a difference. Otherwise it will show "The two files are identical!".

The maximum depends on the amount of RAM you have, but cannot exceed about 2 GB (both together) in the best case.

[RickyGold]

Brilliant, THX !!!