How to run Spring Comparison sample using Docker Leave feedback

You need just a few commands to run Spring Comparison sample as a Docker container. After reading this article you will have web application that can compare any documents and highlight differences

Spring Comparison sample is an application, that was created by using Spring Framework together with GroupDocs.Comparison API for Java functionality. It is just a sample, but it is still fully functional and can be used to compare any supported file formats. Furthermore, sources of the application are available on GitHub, so that you can easily add some functions or change the application in any way you want.

To run the sample as a Docker container you will need to have installed Docker itself and download Comparison application:

1. Go to official Docker page, download installer depending on your OS
2. Install Docker using instructions on the official Docker page
3. Open Comparison application GitHub page and download sample sources:
   1. Click on green button Code on the top right side of the page
   2. Click Download ZIP link
   3. After downloading, extract the archive to any directory you like

In order to launch the sample, firstly build Docker image. It must be done only once. After it will be built, you can use the image to run Docker container any times

There are lots of options to be configured in the Comparison application. Some of them are available to be changed running a Docker container, but others can be only changed before creating Docker image (actually, you can update sample to make any option to be configurable after Docker image was created, it is not difficult). To change the configuration of the application you need to edit configuration.yml file. All options are commented in it.

To set GroupDocs license:

1. Go to \Demos\Spring\ in sample folder
2. Put license file into Licenses directory

In case want any files to be inside Comparison application by default, follow next steps:

1. Go to \Demos\Spring\ in sample folder
2. Put files into DocumentSamples directory

Note: of course you can upload files after running the application using Comparison UI

To build Docker image for the sample and install it to local Docker instance, do next:

1. Go to \Demos\Spring\ in sample folder
2. Open console window in this directory
3. Run next command to build an image

That’s actually all. The image is already built and added to local Docker’s list of images.

Note: groupdocs_comparison_spring_sample in the command above is just a name of the image that will be built. You can change it as you want, but don’t forget it, because it will be used to run the application

To run Comparison Spring application having prebuilt Docker image, fallow next steps:

1. Go to \Demos\Spring\ in sample folder
2. Open console window in this directory
3. Run next command to create container of the image and run application

After that, just open link http://localhost:8080/comparison in any web browser to see the Comparison application

A little details about the command:

• my-comparer is a name of Docker container, that can be used to stop docker container with the application. It can be changed as you want
• 8080:8080 means that the application inside Docker container is using port 8080 and Docker binds it to port 8080 outside the container, thanks to what you can use it to access the application in your web browser
• flag --rm says Docker that the container should be deleted automatically after it will be stopped. The flag can be omitted if you need to keep container after it will be stopped
• groupdocs_comparison_spring_sample is a name of an image that we built before

To stop the container just run command docker stop my-comparer in command line

To have opportunity to configure application, it is possible to use some of predefined environment variables. As an example, if you want to hide download button, just pass environment variable DOWNLOAD_ON with value false in command that run container. In this way the command will be like:

There are next predefined variables:

• LIC_PATH - path to directory with license file
• DOWNLOAD_ON - enables/disables download button in Comparison application UI
• UPLOAD_ON - enables/disables button to upload files (the button is on the left of the open document dialog)
• PRINT_ON - enables/disables button to print documents
• BROWSE_ON - enables/disables document browse dialog
• FILES_DIR - path to the directory with uploaded files
• RESULT_DIR - path to the directory with result files
• HOST_ADDRESS - host name or ip for server instance

Note: Keep in mind, LIC_PATH, FILES_DIR and RESULT_DIR paths are point to the folders inside Docker container

It is usual request about keeping files between application runs. To do it you just need to use Docker’s volumes. Here is an example: add parameter -v groupdocs_comparison_spring_volume:/home/groupdocs/app/MyDocumentSamples together with passing environment variable FILES_DIR to create new volume and pass it as a directory with files. In this way command be like:

Here is a little details about the command:

• Option --env FILES_DIR=/home/groupdocs/app/MyDocumentSamples configures Comparison application to use directory /home/groupdocs/app/MyDocumentSamples inside Docker container as folder to keep files. It can be changed to any other path, physically this directory does not exist in Docker image
• Option -v groupdocs_comparison_spring_volume:/home/groupdocs/app/MyDocumentSamples configures Docker to create new volume with name groupdocs_comparison_spring_volume and to bind it into container as a directory /home/groupdocs/app/MyDocumentSamples, so that any access to MyDocumentSamples inside the container will actually make changes inside the volume. After that, stopping container that was run with an option --rm or in case of manual deleting the container, volume and files inside it will not be deleted. It is easy to run new container attaching the volume, so that files will be available again.

Note: groupdocs_comparison_spring_volume is just a name of the volume. It can be used for deleting the volume. You can change the name on your taste:)

GroupDocs.Comparison API is a modern solution to compare lots of supported file formats. It will help you to compare files, extract source/target and result texts, preview changes, accept or reject them, generate summary, generate preview of file pages and much more. Simultaneously, Docker is a modern software that gives you an opportunity to build and/or run applications without having installed environment, that is required to it. As for Spring Comparison application, you don’t need to install and configure Java, Maven and other Java things.

You can get a free temporary license in order to use the API without the evaluation limitations.

Going through the article, you learned how to run GroupDocs.Comparison for Java Spring sample. It can be used as a core of fabulous application for comparing photos, code files, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other documents. Changes are highlighted on the result document. Now it is easy to build your own comparer app or use comparison features within your Java applications by using GroupDocs.Comparison API.

For more details, options, and examples, you can go through the documentation and GitHub repository. Reach us on the forum for your queries.

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