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I ran across two questions which are marked as duplicates, but which appear to be asking slightly different questions (I say "appear" since the wording is ambiguous), and whose answers are answering those respective questions:

As asked and answered, the first question appears to be asking how to view the list of files within a ZIP archive. The second appears to be how to view the contents of a file within a ZIP archive. The solution to these is very different, as is evident by the top-voted answer in each.

It seems like the "duplicate" question should be reopened, and its wording clarified to reflect the difference.

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  • Looks OK to me. They both come down to the same thing in the end. Any any viewers finding the 2nd question are redirected to the dupe if they want more info.
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Commented Apr 20, 2017 at 17:57
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    @DavidPostill — The problem in my opinion is that they have different info. The first question doesn't state at all how to view the contents of a single file within the ZIP, only the closed duplicate question does. So if that's what you're attempting to do (as it was in my case), you don't have a way of doing that from the open question. In fact, there is no open question (that I know about, at least) that actually answers that question. And it would seem inappropriate to move that answer to the open question, since it's not clear that that is the question being asked.
    – M. Justin
    Commented Apr 20, 2017 at 18:00
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    @DavidPostill Just my 2¢ worth here. Consider "How can I list the files in a directory without cding into it?" and "How can I view a file without cding to the directory it is in?" Different issues, different options, and different answers. An archive file is, in essence, a special kind of directory. Seems to me that just because both questions above deal with zip files is not enough to make them duplicates. How to list files in a zip, and how to list files in a tar.gz would be close enough to call duplicates, as long as an answer of the 'prime' question would work for both formats.
    – Chindraba
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 6:13
  • There was a little group think in the answers on the closed question, with people misinterpreting the question. I was one of the close voters and I probably missed that point in looking at the answers. You're right, viewing the contents of a file is different from viewing the directory of files. @GypsySpellweaver's comment is definitely worth more than 2¢. :-) I voted to reopen.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 17:24
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    @DavidPostill, take a look at the comments on superuser.com/questions/462788/…. It looks like both questions might be somewhat of a mishmash of interpretations. Any thoughts on the best way to handle the collection of questions and answers?
    – fixer1234
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 20:33
  • @fixer1234 I've reopened the closed as dupe question. I'm not sure what to do about tiyding everything up ...
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 20:36
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    @DavidPostill — Given the nature of the answers on the question, plus the fact that the accepted answer of the "View files in ZIP archive on Linux" indicates that the asker was asking about the list of files, would it make sense to just reword the title and question for that one to make it explicit? So that once would be "View the list of files in a ZIP archive on Linux" with a similar change to the question body? That leaves things in a clear state, and the upvoted answers will agree with the texts for each question.
    – M. Justin
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 20:40
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    @M.Justin That would work. I've made that change.
    – DavidPostill Mod
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 20:43
  • The newer question even references the older one and explains why that's not enough. Also, I don't see a duplicate tag anymore. I do not think these questions are duplicates.
    – YetAnotherRandomUser
    Commented May 2, 2017 at 14:12

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