Messages

1

Best File/Folder Compare Tool / Re: Araxis Merge is still my favorite

« on: August 31, 2008, 03:10 PM »

Build 2008.3569 of Araxis Merge was released not too long ago.  This version adds a couple of handy features: XML support and automatic text extraction from some popular document formats.

The XML support is pretty handy. Take the following two XML files:

file1.xml--

[Select]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?><validation profile="Database Testing"><query name="Test" sql="SELECT Field1, Field2, Field3, Field4, Field5&#xA;FROM dbo.Test"><row><column name="Field1">A</column><column name="Field2">A</column><column name="Field3">A</column><column name="Field4">A</column><column name="Field5">A</column></row><row><column name="Field5">B</column><column name="Field1">B</column><column name="Field2">B</column><column name="Field3">B</column><column name="Field4">B</column></row></query></validation>

file2.xml--

[Select]

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<validation profile="Database Testing">
  <query name="Test" sql="SELECT Field1, Field2, Field3, Field4, Field5&#xA;FROM dbo.Test">
    <row>
      <column name="Field1">A</column>
      <column name="Field2">A</column>
      <column name="Field3">T</column>
      <column name="Field4">U</column>
      <column name="Field5">V</column>
    </row>
    <row>
      <column name="Field5">Y</column>
      <column name="Field1">Z</column>
      <column name="Field2">B</column>
      <column name="Field3">B</column>
      <column name="Field4">B</column>
    </row>
  </query>
 </validation>

Merge will leave the XML file format intact on disk but allow you to merge elements in a readable fashion:

2

Best File/Folder Compare Tool / Re: Finally！Beyond Compare3 released

« on: August 31, 2008, 02:42 PM »

I did install the trial of BC3 to see the various changes.  One thing I will say is that the interface is some what confusing to me.  I did install the beta over a month ago, and it is nice to see that there are three panes for the 3-way merge side by side now.  It would be nice to get rid of the window at the bottom though.

Why is editing not permitted in every pane though?  The fifth feature listed in the original post doesn't seem to apply, since you can only edit in one pane:




I really do like the portable install option though.  It hasn't changed a thing in my system, so when my evaluation ends, I can simply delete the folder where the files are.

3

Best File/Folder Compare Tool / Re: Araxis Merge is still my favorite

« on: November 19, 2007, 08:09 AM »

I agree with the first post 100%.  I think Araxis Merge is a better comparison and merge utility.

I actually used and licensed Beyond Compare prior to using Araxis Merge, but it has a few short comings that I believe is handled better in Araxis Merge.  After evaluating Merge for a couple of weeks, I licensed it and use it more than Beyond Compare.

Here's my main reason why:

Araxis Merge does not reformat the appearance of files being compared.  Beyond Compare will add spacing between lines to match lines it believes are the same for two files being compared.  The reality is that it's not always correct in its assumptions, and I end up looking at a mess.  I prefer Merge's way of handling this with synch lines.  In addition, when the assumptions for matched lines are indeed incorrect, manually aligning in Beyond Compare is not intuitive at all.

We all know what else Merge offers that BC does not, so I won't bother repeating it.