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GroupDocs.Comparison for Python via .NET is a document comparison API that detects differences between source and target files — text blocks, paragraphs, words, characters, tables, images, and shapes — across 50+ formats including DOCX, PDF, XLSX, PPTX, images, CAD, and email.

• 50+ Supported Formats: Compare DOCX, PDF, XLSX, PPTX, images, CAD, email and many more file types.
• Granular Change Detection: Detect added, modified, styled, and deleted content at paragraph, word, and character levels.
• Accept or Reject Changes: Programmatically apply or reject detected changes and save the resulting document.
• Multi-Document Comparison: Compare a source document against multiple targets in a single operation.
• Streams & Custom Sources: Read inputs from file paths or streams; write results to either.
• On-Premise: No cloud or internet connection required.

GroupDocs.Comparison for Python via .NET supports a wide range of file formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, OpenDocument, Image, Email, and many others. See the full list of supported formats for details.

1. Set Up Environment: Ensure that Python 3.5+ is installed on your system.

2. Get the Code: Clone or download this repository.

   git clone git@github.com:groupdocs-comparison/GroupDocs.Comparison-for-Python-via-.NET.git

3. Navigate to the Examples Folder

   cd ./GroupDocs.Comparison-for-Python-via-.NET/Examples

4. Install Package: install dependencies with pip:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   Alternatively, download the platform-specific .whl file from the GroupDocs Releases website and install it directly (adjust the filename to your platform — win_amd64, manylinux*_x86_64, macosx_*_arm64, macosx_*_x86_64):

   pip install ./groupdocs_comparison_net-26.5.0-py3-none-win_amd64.whl

5. Configure License (Optional): run_all_examples.py automatically applies a license when one is available, looking in two places:

   • The GROUPDOCS_LIC_PATH environment variable — set it to the absolute path of your .lic file (recommended).
   • Any *.lic file in the repository root.

   With a license applied, examples run with the full feature set; without one, output documents carry an evaluation watermark and are capped at the first two pages. Get a free 30-day temporary license for evaluation.

6. Run the Examples: To run all the examples, execute the following command:

   python ./run_all_examples.py

   You can also run individual examples by navigating to the folder containing the example script and running it. Output files are placed in the same folder as the script file.

The repository ships a Dockerfile that builds a Linux image with Python 3.13, the .NET runtime dependencies (libicu-dev), and the groupdocs-comparison-net package preinstalled.

# Build the image
docker build -t comparison-examples .

# Run unlicensed (evaluation mode)
docker run --rm comparison-examples

# Run with a license mounted from the host
docker run --rm \
    -v /path/to/license:/lic:ro \
    -e GROUPDOCS_LIC_PATH=/lic/your-license.lic \
    comparison-examples

On Windows with Git Bash, set export MSYS_NO_PATHCONV=1 before docker run to prevent MSYS from rewriting the mounted license path.

The groupdocs-comparison-net wheel ships a bundled AGENTS.md reference for AI coding assistants (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot in agent mode, and similar). Once the package is installed, the reference is discovered automatically at groupdocs/comparison/AGENTS.md — it covers canonical imports, quick-start usage, licensing, the API surface table, and troubleshooting.

For on-demand documentation lookups, combine the bundled AGENTS.md with the GroupDocs MCP server at https://docs.groupdocs.com/mcp. See the AI agents and LLM integration page for the per-tool setup snippets.

The .github/workflows/ directory contains the CI matrix that runs the full example suite on every push. The matrix is reproducible locally via the Dockerfile above.

Find additional details and examples in the GroupDocs.Comparison for Python via .NET documentation.

We also offer GroupDocs.Comparison packages for other platforms:

• GroupDocs.Comparison for .NET
• GroupDocs.Comparison for Java

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