Araxis Merge 2009.3713 is a File Compare product from araxis.com, get 5 Stars SoftSea Rating, Merge is the two and three-way visual file comparison/merging and folder synchronization software from Araxis. Use it to compare, understand and combine different versions of source code, web pages and other text files, or even text copied and pasted from another software (e.g. Microsoft Word).
Merge is a compelling choice for program developers, lawyers, product release managers, web designers and other experts who work with multiple revisions of text files, including ASCII, MBCS and Unicode files. Merge integrates with most version control (VC) and program configuration management (SCM) systems that allow a third-party comparison/merging tool to be specified.
For legal experts: instantly identify every change by copying text from different contract drafts being edited in another software (such as Microsoft Word) and pasting it directly into a file comparison window.
For program engineers and web 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. Synchronize a website with its staging area via FTP using the supplied FTP plugin.
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/auditors: identify in context every change made between two or three source code trees. Create a standalone HTML or XML report of your findings. Add bookmarks and comments to a file or folder comparison, then save it as a single-file archive for emailing to other team members for review.
Benefits:
1. For legal and publishing experts: instantly identify every change between different contract or manuscript drafts. Directly open and compare the text from Microsoft Office (Word and Excel), OpenDocument, PDF and RTF files. Copy text from other applications (such as Microsoft Word) and paste it directly into a text comparison window.
2. For program engineers and web 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. Synchronize a website with its staging area via ftp using the supplied ftp plugin.
3. 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.
4. 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. Add bookmarks and comments to a file or folder comparison, then save it as a single-file archive for emailing to other team members for review.
5. Other users: Whether you are working with multiple revisions of text files or need to keep multiple folder hierarchies in sync (for example, between a desktop and laptop machine), Merge could help save time and reduce errors by helping you to work quickly and accurately.
File comparison and merging:
Merge enables you to compare and work with different revisions of text files, such as software 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 check the integrity of recordable cds.
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 program 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.
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.
Print support, Automation and other advanced features
Other features include the capability 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. The license of this file & disk software is Free Trial Software, the price is EUR119.00, you can free download and get a free trial before you buy. If you want to get a full or nolimited version of Araxis Merge, you can buy this file & disk software.