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!

@nathanandelson, you should find current and old versions of bcompare at https://bit.ly/2XOI3rt

In keeping with the strace output you shared, I noticed a lot errors at the end of the trace when accessing the bash.mo file. I'm not getting those errors when I run strace bcompare in my machine. I'm not sure if it could be related with the locale or something like that.

I hope it helps.

@Musikolo, unfortunately scooter software doesn't seem to host older versions of beyond compare, so I can't running one of those. If you have a previous version stored somewhere you could share with me, that would be great. You can email me at my username at gmail.com.

I posted strace output as a gist https://gist.github.com/nathanalderson/74b415d243ff98574eeda00b76a957e6 in case anyone wants to take a look.

@nathanalderson, I would try installing the previous version to confirm whether the issue is still happening or not. If it happens, then you should check what you installed recently.

Another interesting option that could be very helpful is launching bcompare with strace:

strace bcompare

I hope it helps.

I'm hitting a core dump while trying to run beyond compare on my system. I have described the issue in detail here: https://www.scootersoftware.com/vbulletin/forum/beyond-compare-4-discussion/linux-aa/79856-core-dump-on-arch-linux

I can't reproduce it in a vanilla Arch docker image, so maybe it's an interaction with some other package I have installed. Any thoughts?

Hey @Ivellios it seems like copying lib is not necessary at all. I enabled option in settings (never knew it was there. duh!). It did not work immediately but after fiddling a bit more (which included restarting dolphin and closing bcompare) lo and behold menu became visible.

Updated to version 4.2.9.23626

Enjoy!

@Musikolo

Yes as you mentioned, KDE Plasma only needs bcompare-kde5. However "makepkg -si" in bcompare will install the entire group, i.e. bcompare and the extension for all DEs, that's why I still made the change to bcompare-kde4, which actually point bcompare-kde4 and bcompare-kde4 extension to same library so that Plasma doesn't get confused.

Uninstall all other extensions except bcompare-kde5 works fine on Plasma, and no other manual settings required.

Thanks.

@Ivellios, I'm not completely sure I'm understanding well, but if you have KDE Plasma, you only need bcompare-kde5 package. You shouldn't have installed bcompare-kde4, if this is causing conflicts with Dolphin.

Thank you.

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!