Arch Linux User Repository

You can build the last version of Beyond Compare v4 I packaged (4.4.7.28397) by doing this:

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/bcompare.git/
cd bcompare
git checkout dcf8794f1301c9213558b2583a956c04cf2a2135
makepkg -crs

Since you have a license for v4, you might be interested in looking at the upgrade policy at https://www.scootersoftware.com/kb/upgradepolicy .

I hope it helps!

plasma-desktop 5.14.3-1
dolphin 18.08.2-1
bcompare 4.2.8.23479-2

Finally made context menu work in KDE Plasma 5 + Dolphin.
As @Musikolo said, already enabled in "Tools -> Options -> File Manager Integration", and in "Dolphin -> Control -> Configure Dolphin -> Services", beyond compare service already enabled, but still not shown in right click context menu.

> pacman -Ql bcompare-kde4  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/lib/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/lib/kde4/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/lib/kde4/bcompare_ext_kde.so  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/share/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/share/kde4/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/share/kde4/services/  
bcompare-kde4 /usr/share/kde4/services/bcompare_ext_kde.desktop  
> pacman -Ql bcompare-kde5
bcompare-kde5 /usr/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/qt/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/qt/plugins/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/qt/plugins/kf5/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/qt/plugins/kf5/kfileitemaction/
bcompare-kde5 /usr/lib/qt/plugins/kf5/kfileitemaction/bcompare_ext_kde5.so

See what's missing? There is no service file for bcompare-kde5.

If you check bcompare_ext_kde.desktop, it will load library bcompare_ext_kde.so. However if you check the library, you will get: qtplugininfo: bcompare_ext_kde.so: No plug-in meta-data found: Failed to extract plugin meta data from './bcompare_ext_kde.so'. If you check kde5 plugin:

qtplugininfo /usr/lib/qt/plugins/kf5/kfileitemaction/bcompare_ext_kde5.so

you will get:

IID "org.kde.KPluginFactory" Qt 5.6.2 (release)
User Data: {
    "KPlugin": {
        "Icon": "bcomparefull32",
        "MimeTypes": [
            "application/octet-stream",
            "inode/directory"
        ],
        "Name": "Compare/Merge files with BeyondCompare",
        "ServiceTypes": [
            "KFileItemAction/Plugin"
        ]
    },
    "MimeType": "application/octet-stream;inode/directory;"
}

The "Name" string matches what listed in Dolphin service.

So it looks Dolphin loads the kde4 service file, but only kde5 library works.

Simply solution:

cp /usr/lib/kde4/bcompare_ext_kde.so /usr/lib/kde4/bcompare_ext_kde.so.backup
cp /usr/lib/qt/plugins/kf5/kfileitemaction/bcompare_ext_kde5.so /usr/lib/kde4/bcompare_ext_kde.so

Now you can use Beyond Compare from context menu.

Just found the way to make KDE Plasma 5 service menus working. It is required to enable File Manager Integration under Tools -> Options from Beyond Compare interface.

Enjoy!

Updated to version 4.2.8. Integrated new KDE Plasma 5 dynamic service menus, although unfortunately it still does not work.

Enjoy!

I have now reported the issue mentioned below to Scooter Software.

The problem is now on their todo list for an upcoming BC release. No ETA at the moment.

I have not been able to see the context menus in Thunar lately.

Looking at the installed Thunar extensions on my system, it looks like bcompare is the only one that tries to use the thunarx-2 interface, where all the other extensions are using thunarx-3.

I suspect that this is why there are no menus showing up. Has anybody else seen something similar?

@scooterchris, thanks for the heads up!

The bug is now solved.

Please, let me know if you have any further issues.

Thank you!

The 4.2.6 AUR doesn't install HTML help to the correct location so opening Help > Contents fails.

Help files on 64-bit Linux should be installed in /usr/lib64/beyondcompare/help/, but the AUR installs help in the folder /usr/share/doc/beyondcompare/, this causes Help > Contents to fail.

Help should be placed in the help subfolder of the executable's folder or there should be a symlink in that folder pointing to the help folder.

Workaround for 64-bit Arch: ln -s /usr/share/doc/beyondcompare/ /usr/lib64/beyondcompare/help

Updated to version 4.2.6.23150

Enjoy!

@rku, I've tried really hard to get a new bcompare-kde5 package ready. However, no matter what I do it doesn't work. I can see the service listed under Dolphin --> Control --> Configure Dolphin... --> Services, but when you right click one or more files, there is nothing in the service menus (Actions). I've tried everything single thing I've been thought about, and nothing worked.

The situation it's a bit strange: 1.- The desktop file is installed under /usr/share/kservices5 which matches the output of kf5-config --path services command. I've seen other services being installed under /usr/share/kservices5/ServiceMenus but this changes nothing. 2.- The binary plugin file is installed under /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/plugins. However, the output of kf5-config --path qtplugins is /usr/lib/plugins/:/usr/lib/qt/plugins/plugins/ in my machine. None of these two directories exist. Nonetheless, I've noticed all KDE plugins I've got installed are located under /usr/lib/qt/plugins. No matter which location I use for the plugin, it doesn't work.

So, I've got the feeling that either the KDE5 BCompare service menu is buggy or KDE Arch Linux has something wrong in the plugin system (not very likely though).

If anybody has additional ideas, those would be more than welcome.

I'll let you know as soon as I get any update.

Thank you!

Thank you for the update. This version introduced context menu option for plasma5 desktop. Could we get that in aur package as well?