Post Description

Merge is the visual file comparison (diff), merging and folder synchronization application from Araxis. Use it to compare and merge source code, web pages, XML and other text files with native application performance. Directly open and compare the text from Microsoft Office (Word and Excel), OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. Compare images and binary files. Synchronize folders. Perform code reviews and audits. Work with folder hierarchies containing thousands of files. Merge integrates with many SCM (version control) systems and other applications.

• File comparison and merging
Merge enables you to compare and work with different revisions of text files, such as program source code, xml and html files. Merge can extract and compare the text from Microsoft Office, OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. XML files can be shown with special formatting, helping you to see changes more clearly. It supports files with ascii, mbcs and Unicode character encodings. A colour-coded side-by-side comparison makes it easy to pinpoint at a glance similarities and differences between files. Linking lines are drawn between the documents showing clearly how they are related.
Point-and-click merging lets you choose the parts of each file that you would like to add to a final merged version by simply clicking buttons. The in-place editor with unlimited undo enables complete control over the merged file as you create it. The file comparison display dynamically updates as the merge progresses.
Merge shows detailed highlights of changes within lines. It can be configured to ignore differences in whitespace and line endings, as well as changes in lines matching specified regular expressions. The latter is useful for ignoring unimportant changes such as timestamps or expanded version control keywords.

• Binary and image file comparison
Merge doesn’t just compare text files. Use image comparison to compare various types of image file and instantly see which pixels have been modified. Binary comparison enables you to identify differences in data files at a byte level.

• Three-way comparison and automatic merging
Merge Professional adds advanced three-way visual file comparison and merging to the Standard Edition’s two-way visual file comparison and merging. This is particularly useful when more than one person is working on the same set of files.
Automatic Merging enables swift reconciliation of even the largest files. Three-way file comparisons can be launched directly from a three-way folder comparison, allowing efficient integration of entire branches of source code.

• Integrated folder hierarchy comparison and synchronization
Merge supports folder hierarchy comparison and synchronization, enabling you to compare and merge entire directory trees. This is ideal for detecting changes in different versions of source code or web pages. You can even use the efficient byte-by-byte comparison option to verify the contents of recordable cds or usb thumbsticks.
The Professional Edition of Merge supports three-way folder comparison, enabling two revisions of a folder hierarchy to be merged with their common ancestor or some other folder hierarchy. This can be especially useful when used in conjunction with a source code control or software configuration management system.

• Direct access to FTP sites and configuration management systems
An ftp plugin gives Merge file and folder comparisons direct access to files located on an ftp server. It is therefore possible to use a folder comparison to synchronize a local copy of a website’s content with the main site itself, provided the main site is running an ftp server.
Merge plugins for Perforce, Subversion, Visual SourceSafe, Mercurial, and Git are also provided. As well as providing access to older versions of the files you are comparing, the plugins make it possible to perform a folder comparison of a local Perforce, Subversion or VSS client workspace against the repository. Alternatively, different branches (or the same branch at different points in time) within a repository can be directly compared. A similar plugin for AllChange is available from Intasoft.

• Report generation
File comparison reports (examples: two-way, three-way) can be created in html, html slideshow, xml or unix diff format. html reports are particularly useful for archiving and distribution. Folder comparison reports (examples: two-way, three-way) can be created in html or xml format. A folder comparison report can, optionally, include file comparison reports for some or all of the files involved in the folder comparison. Thus it is possible to generate a report that is a complete record of all the differences in all of the files involved in a folder comparison. This is especially useful in code review and code audit situations, particularly as reports can be generated directly for files and folders in configuration management systems for which there is a Merge plugin.

• Print support, Automation and other advanced features
Other features include the ability to print a hard copy of file and folder comparisons, and to customize the behaviour and appearance of the application, including fonts, colours, whether the display is split horizontally or vertically, and more.
A full Automation api and Command-Line Interface are included, allowing close integration with other applications (such as source code control and software configuration management systems) or your workflow.
Comprehensive online documentation is supplied with the product and is also available from the Araxis website. Context-sensitive help is provided for every menu item, dialog and dialog control.

Differences Between Editions >>

Release Notes >>

System Requirements
This release is tested and supported on the following platforms:
- Windows 10 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 8.1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
The following platforms are also supported and expected to work, but not routinely tested:
- Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Windows Server 2012 R2
- Windows Server 2012
- Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Notes
- As of Merge 2015.4634, Windows Vista and the closely related Windows Server 2008 SP2 are no longer supported. Customers may, of course, continue to use an older version of Merge (2014.4565 or earlier) that works with those platforms.