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Using Bouncy Castle Java cryptography API, HashTool is an application that can help you calculate file and text checksums. It also has a comparison feature available, which is practical for matching two hash strings to determine whether two files are identical in structure.

The alphanumerical characters are calculated based on predefined algorithms, which means that they can be identified by anyone using a tool with support for those signature types.

HashTool offers support for MD2, MD4, MD5, RipeMD128, RipeMD160, RipeMD256, RipeMD320, SHA1, SHA224, SHA384, SHA512, Tiger, GOST-3411, Whirlpool, ADLER32 and CRC32 hash algorithms. However, it cannot autodetect the hash type for comparison tasks.

You can store the downloaded files anywhere on the disk and directly launch the .jar executable file. Before doing so, it's necessary to run "BCDownloader.jar" and make sure the downloaded files are placed in the "lib" folder. Also, Java Runtime Environment must be installed or this won't work.

Wrapped in a user-friendly interface with a tidy layout, the hash comparison app keeps all settings in plain sight, giving you an overview of what it has to offer.

You can open any file from the computer, regardless of its extension, select the hash algorithm from a menu, and just click a button to find out the alphanumerical value. The same steps can be taken when switching to string mode for text encryption.

To boost security, you can instruct the utility to use a secret cryptographic key (Hmac) in addition to the hash type. Bear in mind that the output code is calculated dynamically, which means it turns completely different at the slightest modification. To decrypt text, for example, you will have to remember both the hash algorithm and Hmac key.

To compare two hash types, you simply have to paste the second code in a box and press the "Compare" button. A message dialog pops up to tell you whether the strings are identical or different.

Unfortunately, HashTool doesn't support batch processing, so it can calculate checksums for only one file at a time. Although there are no copy or export buttons available, you can select and copy text the old fashioned way (with the mouse or Ctrl+A and Ctrl+C).

To sum it up, HashTool is an approachable hash calculator for files and text, featuring support for many popular checksum algorithms. It can also integrate cryptographic keys to improve security as well as compare two hashes at a time.