Merge

• Merge [2007 Standard Edition, 1+ Licenses, Price Per User, Includes One Year of Support and Updates]
  Usually delivered within 2 working days, electronic delivery: £77.42 - Ex. VAT
  
  
• Merge [2007 Professional Edition, 1-4 Licenses, Price Per User, Includes One Year of Support and Updates]
  Usually delivered within 2 working days, electronic delivery: £146.02 - Ex. VAT
  
  

Major enhancements

• It is now possible to create a report in HTML, HTML slideshow, XML or UNIX diff format for file comparisons. HTML reports are particularly useful for archiving and distribution.
• Reports may also be created in HTML or XML format for folder comparisons. 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, in one operation, 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.
• Merge v6.5 supports English, German, French, International Spanish and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) as user interface languages; translation of the online help to German, French and International Spanish is underway. Merge tries to choose a suitable user interface language based on the Regional Settings of the host operating system. It is also possible manually to specify the user interface language on the Application page of the Options dialog.
• Merge now provides a Virtual File System (VFS) API. All access to the filesystem (for example, by file and folder comparisons) within Merge takes place using the VFS API. Thus, third-parties are now able to write plug-ins that enable Merge directly to browse, for example, configuration management or version control repositories, FTP sites and web sites. This means that SCM vendors can now extend their integration with Merge such that Merge can compare and merge source code branches directly within the SCM repository.
• Support for the Win32 file system within Merge is implemented using the new VFS API, and full source code to this implementation is provided as an example.
• It is now possible for users to add synchronization links to tell Merge to re-synchronize the comparison at particular points. This is particularly useful in some complex comparison scenarios.
• Various enhancements have been made to the Automation API.

Application level changes

• Windows XP theming is now fully supported.
• Toolbar icons have been updated to be more in keeping with Windows XP. Some icons have been redesigned to more clearly indicate their purpose.
• More features are now available from toolbar buttons.
• Buttons on the toolbars have been re-arranged in a more logical manner.
• Toolbars can now be customized.
• There is an option not to show the splash screen when Merge starts.
• Various defects have been fixed. Where appropriate, these fixes have also been applied to recent builds of Merge v6.0.

File comparison improvements

• For file comparisons, there is now an option automatically to reload files modified outside of Merge.
• The default character encoding used by Merge can now be specified. Previously, the system encoding was used by default.
• The command line compare utility can now be used to perform an automatic merge when a three-way file comparison is launched.
• The default list of regular expressions now includes a filter for CVS style comments.
• File access related error messages are now shown directly in a file comparison pane, instead of in a separate error dialog. This is particularly helpful when multiple file comparisons are launched from a folder comparison.
• The status bar now shows the codepage of the file in the currently selected file comparison pane.
• File comparison panes now support optional line-wrapping.
• Specific columns or column ranges can be ignored when comparing files.
• Sequences of characters matching specified regular expressions can now be ignored when comparing files.
• There is a new option in file comparisons to show only a few lines of context instead of large blocks of unchanged text.
• The EUC-JP character encoding is now supported.
• Selected lines can now be marked as being resolved. They are then shown dimmed in the same way as resolved text following an automatic merge.
• It is now possible to replace text found as a result of a Find operation.
• Replace can operate within the current selection instead of the entire document.
• Merging buttons are have been made semi-transparent on certain platforms, enabling any text behind them to be perceived.
• File comparison linking lines are now drawn using anti-aliasing on Windows platforms that support GDI+. This improves their visual appearance.
• There is a new toolbar button to save all modified files.

Folder comparison improvements

• Folder comparisons are now shown within the main application window (instead of a separate window) and participate in the tab strip, if shown.

Improvements common to file and folder comparisons

• Various commonly used file and folder comparison options are now directly available from a menu associated with the Options toolbar button.
• The Windows Explorer context menu now appears as an item in file and folder comparison context menus.
• There are new toolbar buttons for jumping to the Next and Previous change. The double-arrow scrollbar buttons, which jump to the previous and next change within a specific file, are retained.
• A window showing comparison statistics for file and folder comparisons is now available.
• The default header and footer for printing has been improved. The presentation of printed pages has been enhanced.

Other changes

• New style serial numbers have been introduced. Araxis strongly recommend that you copy and paste serial numbers whenever you need to enter them. This is much less error prone than trying to type them in manually.
• A serial number is now required to use the Evaluation version of Merge. Evaluation serial numbers are available free of charge from the Araxis web site.
• Merge requires certain information about the user to be provided when it is first run (including the user's name and email address). This information is provided to Araxis whenever Merge performs an update check. Therefore, provided that you allow Merge to perform update checks, it is no longer necessary separately to register Merge on the Araxis web site following purchase.
• The information sent to Araxis during Merge update checks has been modified. Users concerned about their privacy should read the Data Collection help topic.
• The Professional, Standard and Evaluation versions of Merge are now supported by a single executable. Previously, each variant used a separate executable.
• Merge v6.5 has a new splash screen.

For software engineers and web site developers: compare, understand and combine different source file versions. Work quickly and accurately, whether you are comparing individual files or reconciling entire branches of source code. Use three-way comparison to integrate changes made by you, and those made by a colleague, with a common ancestor version.

For release and quality control managers: compare different source code branches to give total confidence that you know and understand every change made to every file for a specific release. Compare product releases to be certain that only the expected files have been modified. Create an HTML or XML report of changes for audit purposes.

For code reviewers and auditors: identify in context every change made between two or three source code hierarchies. Create a standalone HTML or XML report of your findings.

Other users: Whether you are working with multiple revisions of text files or need to keep multiple folder hierarchies in sync, Merge might help save time and reduce errors by helping you to work quickly and accurately.

A licence is needed for each machine where the product is to be used. The only exception to this is that the primary user of a computer for which a licence has been purchased may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a second computer.

The sole difference between the Standard and Professional editions is that only the Professional Edition contains features related to three-way comparison and merging. In the tables below, a feature is not present in an edition if there is no text against the feature in that edition's column.

The tables below summarize the major features in both the Standard and Professional editions of Merge v6.5.

File comparison and merging

• File comparison and merging Instant Overview - Learn how to compare and merge files with Merge in just a few minutes.
• Two-way comparison and merging - Identify and reconcile insertions, removals and changes between different versions of source code, configuration files, XML documents, web pages or any other text file. * Reports in HTML, HTML slideshow, XML and UNIX diff format - Create reports on file comparisons for archiving, distribution or export to other applications.
• Comparison statistics window - See a summary of the current comparison.
• Integrated folder comparison - Quickly and efficiently compare and merge all the files changed between different folder hierarchies. Process entire sets or branches of source code, web pages or other text files. * Point-and-click merging - Copy inserted, removed or changed blocks of text from one file to another (or delete them) using a single mouse click. Files can be manually merged very quickly.
• In-place editing - Make fine-grained changes directly to the files being compared in the file comparison window itself. You do not have to opening a separate editing window.
• Linking lines - Related blocks of text are graphically linked enabling you to see at a glance how files are related. Linking lines eliminate the need for blank padding lines to keep corresponding lines adjacent to one another.
• Synchronization links - Users may add synchronization links to tell Merge to re-synchronize the comparison at particular points. This is particularly useful in some complex comparison scenarios.
• Side-by-side or horizontally-split display - Display files side-by-side with linking lines or vertically, with one file above the other (useful for files with long lines).
• Optional wrapping of long lines - See all of the text within each line without having constantly to scroll from side-to-side.
• Synchronized scrolling - Related parts of files are kept aligned in the vertical centre of the file comparison display as any file is scrolled.
• Highlighting of changes within lines - Identify at-a-glance inserts, removals and changes made within lines down to the level of individual characters.
• Mark selected lines as resolved - Lines marked as resolved are dimmed (in the same way as following an automatic merge). This makes it easy to keep track of the areas of a file with which you are finished.
• Unicode and MBCS support - Compare and merge Unicode or MBCS encoded text files (ASCII files are also supported). Critical for working with many non-English language files. For the benefit of Araxis Japanese customers, EUC-JP encoding is also supported.
• Input method editor (IME) support - Facilitates convenient entry and editing of text in character-rich Asia-Pacific languages.
• Overview strips - Provides an instant visual indication of the extent of the changes between files and where those changes occur. Clicking on a change in an overview strip will jump directly to that change.
• Edit markers - Visual history of any changes (edits or copies from another file) made to a file during the merging process.
• Bookmarks - Makes it easy to mark and return to particular points of interest in a file.
• Go to line - Jump directly to a line using its line number.
• Read-only and modified indicators - Visual indication of whether a file is read-only and whether it has been modified since last saving.
• Change summary - Indicates the number of changes between each pair of files.
• Column/line number indicator - Identifies the current location of the cursor when editing a file.
• Drag and drop files - Open files by dragging from the Windows Explorer.
• Printing support - Produce a hard copy (or a PDF file using Acrobat Distiller) of comparisons for reference or audit. Printed comparisons contain all the highlighting and linking lines of the on-screen presentation. To save paper, you can choose to print just the pages that contain changes.
• Print preview - See how a comparison printout will look before committing it to paper.
• Source code control and software configuration management integration - Integrate Merge with popular source code control and software configuration management systems such as Perforce and Continuus/CM.
• Automation API - Control Merge from other applications or integrate it with your workflow.
• Virtual File System (VFS) API - Enables third parties to extend Merge to browse directly, for example, configuration management or version control repositories, FTP sites and web sites.
• Command line - Control Merge from other applications or integrate it with your workflow.
• Flexible whitespace handling - Prevents flagging of whitespace differences when whitespace is not considered important.
• Flexible line ending support - Allow intelligent cross-platform file sharing: work with files containing UNIX (LF), Windows (CR LF) or Mac (CR) style line endings. Choose whether to ignore differences in line endings when comparing files.
• Display line ending characters - Optionally see individual CR and LF characters to identify differences in multiple-platform originated files.
• Regular expression support - Ignore differences in comments, source code control keywords and other defined text patterns when comparing files.
• Block indent/un-indent - Easily set the correct indentation level of entire blocks of text when merging text from different files.
• Find/Replace - Search for, and optionally replace, specified text within a files or selection.
• Customize fonts and colours - Change the style of presentation to suit your preferences or needs.
• Customize printed headers and footers - Set the headers and footers of printed pages to suit your requirements.
• Customize toolbars - Keep toolbars uncluttered with only the buttons that you need.
• Keyboard shortcuts - Save time by controlling Merge using the keyboard.
• Drag and drop text editing - Conveniently move arbitrary text between files or within a file using the mouse.
• Jump to next/previous change - Quickly move between changes in a file using the mouse or keyboard shortcuts.
• Replace file commands - Conveniently replace the contents of one file with that of another. Useful when one revision is entirely correct and its contents need to be copied to another revision.
• Tab strip - Switch between multiple file comparison windows with a single mouse click.
• Toolbars - Easily access frequently used commands.

Folder comparison and synchronization

• Folder comparison and synchronization Instant Overview - Learn how to compare and synchronize folders with Merge in a few minutes.
• Two-way folder comparison - Identify file insertions, removals and changes between two folder hierarchies. Efficiently process entire sets or branches of source code, web pages or other text files.
• Reports in HTML and XML format - Create reports on folder comparisons for archiving, distribution or export to other applications. 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, in one operation, 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.
• Comparison statistics window - See a summary of the current comparison.
• Folder synchronization - Reconcile differences between folder hierarchies either by copying files from one folder hierarchy to another (or even to a completely separate location) or by launching file comparisons for changed files. Efficiently process entire sets or branches of source code, web pages or other text files. Keep folder hierarchies on different machines (for example, a desktop and a laptop) in sync with one another.
• Integrated file comparison - Identify and reconcile differences within corresponding files as well as between folder hierarchies by launching file comparison windows for selected files.
• Printing support - Produce a hard copy (or a PDF file using Acrobat Distiller) of comparisons for reference or audit. Printed comparisons contain all the highlighting of the on-screen presentation. To save paper, you can choose to print just the pages that contain changes.
• Print preview - See how a comparison printout will look before committing it to paper.
• Visibility filters - Show only the files and folders of interest that match criteria you define.
• Selection filters - Select files and folders of interest that match criteria you define. Enables complex sets of files to be selected for file merging or folder synchronization.
• Thorough comparison option - Compare corresponding files in folder hierarchies using the criteria (whitespace significance, line ending handling, etc) defined for file comparisons.
• Byte-by-byte comparison option - Speed up folder comparisons by comparing corresponding files in folder hierarchies that are larger than a certain size using a quick and memory efficient byte-by-byte comparison algorithm.
• Quick comparison option - Save time by performing an extremely fast folder comparison using just the sizes and timestamps of corresponding files.
• Customize fonts and colours - Change the style of presentation to suit your preferences or needs.
• Customize printed headers and footers - Set the headers and footers of printed pages to suit your requirements.
• Customize toolbars - Keep toolbars uncluttered with only the buttons that you need.
• Drag and drop folders - Select folders for comparison by dragging from the Windows Explorer.
• Toolbar - Easily access frequently used commands.

Other features

• Automatic/manual update checking - Stay up to date with the latest version of Merge and try preview versions.
• Comprehensive documentation - Quickly find relevant documentation. All documentation is available both as a single integrated set of online help (included with the product) and also on the Araxis web site.
• Full context sensitive help - Easily find specific help for every menu item, dialog and dialog control. Context sensitive help is tightly integrated with the main documentation, allowing you to read around a particular topic.
• Install/uninstall support - Conveniently install and uninstall Merge from your machine.

The following features are included in only the Professional edition of Merge v6.5.

File comparison and merging

• Three-way comparison and merging - Compare and merge changes in two updated revisions of a file with their common ancestor (or any other file). Use to reconcile conflicting changes made to a set of files by multiple developers or to merge branches in a source code control or software configuration management system.
• Automatic merging - Quickly and safely merge changes in two updated revisions of a file with a common ancestor (or any other file). Automatically merged text is marked with edit markers and any conflicting sections flagged for later manual processing. Automatic merging is an undoable operation, making it safe and easy to try an automatic merge speculatively to see exactly what it will do.
• Conflict highlighting - After an automatic merge, any conflicting sections of the files being merged are flagged for manual processing. Commands and shortcut keys are provided to jump between conflicts. Even difficult files can thus be processed swiftly using a combination of automatic and manual merging.

Folder comparison and synchronization

• Three-way folder comparison - Identify file insertions, removals and changes between two folder hierarchies and a common ancestor (or some other) folder hierarchy. Use to reconcile conflicting changes made to a set of files by multiple developers or to merge branches in a source code control or software configuration management system.