Araxis Merge is a revolutionary comparison software, which enables the user to compare various revisions of text, including ascii, mbcs and Unicode files. Araxis Merge has a powerful side-by-side color-coded interface with lines linking related elements of the compared text documents. Araxis Merge can also synchronize and compare folder hierarchy, including comparing and merging entire directory trees.

User interface:
Araxis Merge is available for Windows operating system only. The user interface of the software is localized in English, German, Japanese, French, International Spanish and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified). Araxis Merge main window consists of two comparison panels for visual text comparison (Standard Edition), menu bar and advanced toolbar. The comparison panel can be arranged horizontally and vertically. The Professional Edition of Merge supports three-way file and folder comparison, enabling the user to compare files and folders with their common ancestor. This feature can be used by a team of developers working on the same project. Araxis Merge provides for powerful text navigation capabilities. Aside from traditional Find/Go To features, the user can set bookmarks in the compared text, mark specific lines as resolved, indent and un-indent lines. Comparison text is colored according to the status of the compared lines. Araxis Merge can also use regular expressions to ignore differences in specific lines.

File comparison:
Araxis Merge supports comparison of text files, C++, Java, Web pages, resource and definition files. In order to compare MS Office documents, the user should manually copy and paste the text from MS Office application into the Araxis Merge comparison panel. Araxis Merge point-and-click merging capabilities allow the user to select the parts of the compared files to include them in the final text version. Professional Edition of the software also provides for Automatic Merging of the files which supports swift reconciliation of even the largest files. The user can view the comparison statistics at any stage of the project (by going to View >> Comparison Statistics menu). The statistics data can be copied to clipboard, printed or saved to a file. The user can export the entire comparison project to a file (*.Comparison) in order to continue to work on the project later.

Folder comparison:
Araxis Merge supports folder hierarchy comparison and synchronization, enabling the user to compare and merge entire directory trees. Araxis Merge provides for outstanding byte-by-byte comparison which allows the user to check the integrity of recordable CDs. The user can also launch file comparison for the selected files in a separate comparison panel. The Professional Edition of Araxis Merge provides for three-way folder comparison, which can be specifically effective when used in conjunction with a source code control or software configuration management system.

Reports:
File comparison reports can be generated in HTML, HTML slideshow, XML, and UNIX diff format. Folder comparison reports can be generated in HTML and XML format. Besides, a folder comparison report can include file comparison statistics for some or all of the files involved in the folder comparison. It allows the user to save project statistics for all files and folders in a single report.

Command line: supported
Araxis Merge contains Automation API and Command Line features, which provide for close integration with various version control systems.

Price
Araxis Merge is available in Standard and Professional Editions (differences between Araxis Merge Editions are described here). Standard Edition can be purchased online for US $129; Professional Edition is available for US $269. The price for the software is much higher than the price for similar file and folder comparison utilities: for instance, Compare Suite file and folder comparison software is available for US $60 (please see our previous posts). You can evaluate Araxis Merge for 30 days by registering on Araxis website and downloading evaluation version (24 MB).

Summary
In conclusion, Araxis Merge is a feature-loaded and powerful software suite designed for IT professionals. It has extensive functionality for multiple version control. Our rating for this software: 10/10. However, Araxis Merge is provided at a much higher price than similar file and folder comparison utilities. We recommend Araxis Merge for extensive comparison and version control projects which include a large number of files in various formats.

Price: Standard Edition: $129, Professional Edition: $269

Supported file formats: plain text, HTML/XML, source code, binary files

Diverse comparison methods
Three-way comparison Yes
Text navigation
Report functionality
Merge functionality
Integration with version control systems Yes
Folder comparison
Folder hierarchy synchronization Yes
Custom file filters
Byte-by-byte comparison Yes