Compare two XML strings ignoring element order

Question

Suppose I have two xml strings

  a
  b



  b         


        

Answer 1

Cross-posting from Compare XML ignoring order of child elements

I had a similar need this evening, and couldn't find something that fit my requirements.

My workaround was to sort the two XML files I wanted to diff, sorting alphabetically by the element name. Once they were both in a consistent order, I could diff the two sorted files using a regular visual diff tool.

If this approach sounds useful to anyone else, I've shared the python script I wrote to do the sorting at http://dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=3225