Comparing HTML Documents

Prerequisites

HTML Compare REST server running.
Two HTML or XHTML input files, or HTTP URIs pointing to them.

POST a Comparison via REST

Send a POST request to the compare pipeline endpoint:

POST /api/compare/html HTTP/1.1
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=boundary

--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="inputA"
/path/to/fileA.html
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="inputB"
/path/to/fileB.html
--boundary
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="output"
/path/to/out.html
--boundary--

Input Specification Options

Inputs can be provided as:

Type	How to specify
File path (server-side)	Plain text path in the form-data part (Content-Type: `text/plain`)
HTTP/HTTPS URI	URL string in the form-data part
Raw HTML string	Inline content with Content-Type: `text/html` or `application/xml`

Note: the output parameter only supports file paths.

Form-Data Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
`inputA`	Yes	Original (A) HTML document
`inputB`	Yes	Revised (B) HTML document
`configuration`	No	XML configuration file (defaults to built-in defaults)
`output`	No	File path to write the result to
`callback`	No	URL called when the comparison completes

Monitor the Comparison Job

Each comparison creates an asynchronous Job. Poll for status:

GET /api/jobs/{jobId}

Job states: QUEUED → SUBMITTED → STARTED → INPUTS_LOADING_A → INPUTS_LOADING_B
→ INPUT_FILTERS → COMPARISON_RUNNING → OUTPUT_FILTERS → SAVING → FINISHED

Download the Result

When jobStatus is FINISHED, retrieve the output:

GET /api/downloads/{jobId}

The response is an XHTML redline document viewable in any browser.

Example Using `curl`

Bash

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/api/compare/html \
  -F "inputA=@fileA.html;type=text/plain" \
  -F "inputB=@fileB.html;type=text/plain"