how to hide main window until compare started?

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jp2112
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Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 3:09 pm

how to hide main window until compare started?

Post by jp2112 »

I just bought ExamDiff Pro because the free version was not letting me drag and drop files onto the compare form in windows 10. So that feature is now working with Pro.
However now when I launch Pro it opens the 2-pane main window full screen in addition to bringing up the file form window (the free version didn't do this). How can I tell it not to open the main window until I click the compare button?
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psguru
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Re: how to hide main window until compare started?

Post by psguru »

You cannot hide the main window in ExamDiff Pro bu you can enable the "Compare Dialog always on top" option under Options | Misc, and then DnD into the compare dialog.
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JeremyNicoll
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Re: how to hide main window until compare started?

Post by JeremyNicoll »

If when you launch EDP you're about to set up a compare, I can't see why it would matter that the main window is open behind the pane where you enter filenames etc.

If you use explorer integration to select the first file then the second file (by right click on their leafnames in the explorer view) you'll go straight to the results of the compare.

If on the other hand what you want to do is start EDP then minimise the window, so the app's waiting ready for use, then instead of however you start it now, start it so it actually does a fast-as-possible compare of two unequal files - I suggest one containing one byte that's an "a" and another containing one byte eg "b". You could start EDP then with a command like

"C:\wherever\you\putit\ExamDiff.exe" "C:\onebytea.txt" "C:\onebyteb.txt"

When the results window is displayed, minimise it to get it out of the way. I should think you could automate that minimisation too with something like an AutoHotkey or AutoIt script, which you could - if it was a one-shot script - start from a .bat file just before issuing the command to start EDP.
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