Method of comparing and finding out the difference between two wsp files

Question

Is there any way of finding out the difference between two wsp files that are created using the package option in visual studio, including the parameters like the change-set version , check-in and label details in VS 2010.

I have actually created two wsp files for the prod and pre-prod environment but wanted to ensure that they are ideally the same files created at different dates.

Answer 1

Your point is actually about comparing two binary files.

First, obviously, you can compare exact size of the files: if they don't match, you know they're different.

But the best would be to use any binary file comparator, like seen in https://stackoverflow.com/questions/8166697/tool-for-comparing-2-binary-files-in-windows. That would immediately tell you if the file are the same or not.

If they are different, to spot actual differences, you can rename your .WSP files as .CAB, extract their content, and compare the contents with a folder comparison tool.

Answer 2

How about you rename the two .wsp files to be .cab files, extract all contents by "extract all" or double clicking in Explorer, selecting all files, and copying them to another directory, and then using a tool like Beyond Compare to compare all the files?

Answer 3

Yes I accept your fact Evariste , I also checked around for some of the tools that can perform the comparison of the files but they too compare only the size of the file and other parameters that visible to normal eye (physical props of the file), what I literally wanted is to disassemble the wsp file and get the details required, so it seems it is not possible now :) .

Ideal Roundabout:

So the Ideal roundabout in this scenario would be to go with trial and error of the deployment of the wsp.