Tool to compare .dlls and disassemble the differences? [closed]

Question

Does anyone know a decent tool that will compare two different versions of the same dll and extract the differences?

thanks

Answer 1

dotPeek from JetBrains can also be used. It is also free.

• Open the assembly up in dotPeek
• Select the assembly
• File --> Export to project
• Choose a location on disk

Repeat the above for the assembly you want to compare, then open the two folders in a diff tool. I used WinMerge.

You'll notice that the vast majority of files have differences. This is because the files have a comment at the top like this

// MVID: {some guid here} 

or

// Assembly location: {some path here} 

You can create a filter in WinMerge to ignore it

• Tools --> Filter...
• Goto the "Line Filters" tab
• Add the following filter ^// MVID:
• Add the following filter (optional) ^// Assembly location:
• Check the checkbox next to your new Regular Expression
• Check the "Enable Line Filters" checkbox

When you okay the changes, it will rescan the folders and ignore any line that starts with that comment. Now you should see just the changes you're interested in.