4

I need to visually compare two documents of different formats, hence I would like to be able to vertically scroll in two different applications at the same time. I'd prefer to use the mouse wheel to do so. I know Notepad++ has a similar functionality.

Currently I'm viewing the documents in Adobe Reader and Safari.

Do you know a software that would help, under Windows?

slhck
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kowalski
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3 Answers3

3

I suggest you use AutohotKey for this. You then can try to

  1. Listen for MouseWheel Event in either Application (Reader, Safari)
  2. Switch focus to the other application, Send Mousewheel Event
  3. Switch back

I Hope this is fast enough to appear "seemless"

[EDIT]

Here is the script I have made following this answer :

WheelDown::
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
IfWinActive, SafariTitle ; Replace 'SafariTitle' by the title of the safari windows
{
        CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
        WinGet, active_id, ID, A
        IfWinExist, Adobe
        {
                Send {WheelDown}
                WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
                Send {WheelDown}
                Send {WheelDown}
                WinActivate, ahk_id %active_id%
        }
}
Else
{
        Send {WheelDown}
}
return

WheelUp::
SetTitleMatchMode, 2
IfWinActive, SafariTitle ; Replace 'SafariTitle' by the title of the safari windows
{
        CoordMode, Mouse, Screen
        WinGet, active_id, ID, A
        IfWinExist, Adobe
        {
                Send {WheelUp}
                WinActivate ; Automatically uses the window found above.
                Send {WheelUp}
                Send {WheelUp}
                WinActivate, ahk_id %active_id%
        }
        }
        Else
        {
                Send {WheelUp}
        }
return
kowalski
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Cilvic
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1

Notepad++ has the ability to do sync'd vertical scrolling for plain text docs and source code - as do many other 'dev'-type document apps - but as slhck says it would help to know what you are currently using and what type of docs you are trying to view.

Edit: based on your useful feedback - here's a possible solution:

It's pretty straightforward to convert any doc to a PDF so if you get both docs in that format you can use something like DiffPDF to scroll through them both:

http://www.qtrac.eu/diffpdf.html (program description and downloads)

http://soft.rubypdf.com/software/diffpdf (Windows version)

DiffPDF can compare two PDF files. It offers two comparison modes: Text and Appearance.

By default the comparison is of the text on each pair of pages, but comparing the appearance of pages is also supported.

Linker3000
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0

Another generic solution for alternate use cases is to use a x windows like mouse behavior.

You can use wizmouse to do that. What I do is, use the mouse to scroll one window and the keyboard to scroll the other. i.e.

  1. Launch the Wizmouse app
  2. keep the active focus on the window you wish to control via the keyboard.
  3. move the mouse to the inactive window.
  4. use the keyboard to scroll the active window
  5. use the mouse to scroll the inactive window as the same time

While this won't give an ideal smooth scrolling on both sides. It's a simple solution for a rare use case.

/tangent rant: why can't we have multiple cursors on the screen at once, controlled by different people!? We already have multi-touch, mutli-cursor should be a trivial extension.

Vijay
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