How to use Javalin comparison sample Leave feedback

GroupDocs Comparison library can be used with lots of popular Web frameworks. One of them is Javalin Framework. Going through the article you will understand, how easy modern and powerful GroupDocs.Comparison API can be combined with Javalin Framework to create web application for comparing AutoCad drawings, PowerPoint presentations, Word, Excel and Pdf documents, photos, images and much more. The example application is completely free to use and to be changed. Sources are available on GitHub page

1. Kotlin - A modern programming language that makes developers happier. Fully compatible with Java libraries.
2. Javalin - A simple web framework for Java and Kotlin.
3. Jetty - Embedded into Javalin web server.
4. GroupDocs.Comparison API - modern comparison library for Java, Kotlin and .NET
5. Koin - Smart Kotlin injection library
6. Slf4j - Wrapper for logging system

• config - Kotlin class for mapping configuration of the application
• di - Modules of Koin dependency injection
• manager - Manager to work with paths
• model - Models that represent requests and responses
• modules - Url mappings with controllers to process requests
• usecase - business logic

In sources:

• Application.kt - application entry point
• Defaults.kt - default values for configuration options

In resources:

• application.conf - configuration of the application
• logback.xml - logging system configuration

The entry point of the sample is in a file Application.kt. It contains main function that must be executed to run the application. You can do it using favourite IDE.

Open command line in the sample directory. To run the sample execute next command

The command will start the application with a help of gradle wrapper, that is in gradle directory. Open http://localhost:8080/comparer in web browser to see sample UI.

To create distribution archive, just build the application with the next command

Then go to .\build\distributions\ directory and you will see distribution files:

• comparison-javalin-22.11.tar
• comparison-javalin-22.11.zip

There are two directories inside them, bin with scripts to run the app and lib with all application libraries

Package mudules contains sub packages, each of which is a single request. As an example, lets review compare sub package.

The package has two files:

1. CompareModule.kt - this file contains url mapping, it will be called when request to compare documents will be sent

   The class does simple things: catches request, extracts parameters, calls controller and returns response object

2. CompareController.kt - using usecases and parameters, it creates response object. Firstly, with a help of PathManager, controller checks that request paths are inside allowed directories

   Secondly, it checks that requested files are supported by the sample. To do it, controller uses special usecase, which name is AreFilesSupportedUseCase

   Thirdly, the controller creates path to the file, that will be used to save the result document of the comparison process

   There some temporary files are used. It is needed to minimize usage of RAM. Anybody can easily change the sample to avoid saving any files. There is special option in application.conf to configure path to the temporary directory. System temp directory is used by default.

   The next step is to use CompareDocumentsUseCase to compare source and target documents saving the result file. The usecase returns list of changes, that will be set into response object to send it back to client

   Usecase RetrieveLocalFilePagesStreamUseCase, is used to get input stream for each page of the result document

   And the final thing is to map ChangeInfo objects from groupdocs package into response models to be used as a result

Usecase is just a single action that can be done. Usually, it contains business logic to solve one task. Usecases must be easy for testing. In the project all usecases are configured to be created by Koin injection library. Some of them have constructor parameters, which will be injected by Koin when it will create an instance of the usecase. For example, let’s overview CompareDocumentsUseCase

There is invoke operator overridden, so that usecase can be called using it’s object like a function. The usecase has one simple aim - comparing source and target documents writing the result to provided output stream.

It takes paths of source and target documents and output stream as arguments. Result data of comparison project will be written to the provided stream. As an option, there are parameters to pass password for each document.

There is powerful and modern GroupDocs.Comparison for Java/Kotlin library used to compare documents. Comparison process is very easy with the library.

To compare documents, presentations, images and so on just do next steps:

1. Create object of Comparer class passing source document path or stream. Load options can be used to provide password for the source document. Moreover, using options you can configure Comparer to use the first argument as a source text for comparison process. Furthermore, there is an option to configure directories with fonts, specific for the document. Comparer implements Java Closeable interface, so it is very easy to free memory after using it.

2. Call add method of comparer (inside use block) to add second document or text for comparing. The method takes the same LoadOptions parameter to provide password and so on. GroupDocs.Comparison API supports multi-document comparison, so you can add more than one target document.

3. The final step is to call compare method, that will run comparing. The method takes CompareOptions object as a second argument. In the sample just a few of available options are used. In the code above the comparer is configured to process styles changes, to show content, that was deleted and to retrieve coordinates of each change in the result document. There are much more options that can be used to configure comparison process. For example, it is easy to change comparison sensitivity level, enable generating summary page, enable/disable each type of change, configure their style in result document and much more. The information can be found in the documentation. At the end of the apply block method comparer.getChanges() is used to get list of changes.

The last useful thing in the sample app is an object ModulesInjection. It gives Koin information about interfaces and classes, which Koin must create or inject. In the project, controllers, usecases and managers are configured. It is very easy to configure Koin to inject new class. Just specify it in one of modules here.

Lots of comparison settings, for example, sensitivity of comparison, generating summary page and so on, are available only when license is set. You can get a free temporary license to use the API without evaluation limitations.

In the article is described GroupDocs.Comparison sample, that was created with using Javalin web framework. Much more examples of using GroupDocs.Comparison for Java/Kotlin can be found on our GitHub page. You are free to change and use them as a core of your own application in order to compare photos, Excel, Word, code files, PowerPoint Presentations and much more supported file formats.

For getting 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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