Are there any FTP programs out there that do a file comparison as well, so I can select the local and remote files and see what actually changed? I didnt find any when I googled. But it doesnt seem like a very advanced use case to me. Surely many others would have felt the need for it.. right?
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rsync, or any version control system should be better options than plain FTP. There is nothing in the FTP protocol, apart from downloading the file and checking locally, that can help you on this use case.
1
Not free, but really worth its price: Beyond Compare
You can test it 30 days for free (really 30 test days, not 30 days after installation).
You can compare folders (with subfolders) and files. FTP sites and zip files are integrated.
See also a screenshot on the website of the producer and the documentation for FTP profiles.
Kind of tricky to do a local or remote compare without downloading the file for analysis. So why not just download it or mount the FTP as a folder?