Diff’n’Merge

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You can purchase Diff’n’Merge with 15% discount by using the following RegNow Order Form.

Diff’n’Merge is a color-coded, side-by-side file and folder comparison and synchronization software. Diff’n’Merge can be used for visual comparison of source code, HTML, XML, and text files. The software has MS Office-like interface, containing two comparison panels, menu bar and standard toolbar.

Diff’n’Merge main window

User interface:
Diff’n’Merge is specifically designed for users working on the same projects consistently. The software main window contains folder comparison view, which provides for comparison and synchronization capabilities. The user can compare files from the selected folders only. In order to navigate to the folder on hard drive or networked server, the user should select the appropriate item in the Navigation drop-down list. However, some users may find its navigation functionality insufficient. For instance, the drop-down list does not contain Desktop and My Documents items. The user has to locate these folders manually on hard drive (typically, C:\Documents and Settings\Current User); besides, Back/Forward navigation buttons are also unavailable. The user can only use toolbar buttons to go the Parent folder (P), or refresh (R) the folder contents.

Folder comparison:
Diff’n’Merge folder comparison can be used for the current folders as well as all subfolders (Options >> Hierarchical File Tree Compare). Folder comparison is executed on the binary byte-by-byte basis, i.e. the application automatically compares all files in the folders, including non-text binary files. However, the user should note that this is a rather slow process for folders containing large number of files; besides, it has no cancel option. After the comparison process is complete, the files in the two folders are colored according to their comparison status. Unlike the software applications we have reviewed previously, Diff’n’Merge doesn’t allow the user to modify the pre-defined comparison status colors. The user can synchronize the two folders using any of the following options: Update Left/Right Folder, Create Missing Files, Update Different Files Based on Timestamps (old files are replaced with more recent ones), Silent Synchronization (the user can manually control the synchronization process), Move Old Files to Recycle Bin. The user can select multiple synchronization options.

You can purchase Diff’n’Merge with 15% discount by using the following RegNow Order Form.

File comparison:
In order to compare files in the current project folders in visual mode, the user has to select the appropriate files in the comparison panels, and then press either Compare text or Compare HTML button on the toolbar. If the “Synchronize File List Selection” option is selected, the files with identical names are automatically selected in the opposite comparison panel (this option is selected by default). The compared files are opened in a new window. The user can open only one file comparison window; unfortunately, multiple file comparison jobs are not supported in Diff’n’Merge. The user can compare source code in C/C++/Java, Visual Basic, Delphi and HTML/XML programming languages. When merging two files, the user can also insert the differences directly without any markers. Similar to Araxis Merge, Diff’n’Merge provides for point-and-click merge mode (Merge button >> Left/Right side is Master >> Manually Select Blocks to Include in Merge). Diff’n’Merge File Comparison window does not support context menus; the user can use toolbar buttons and menus to navigate to the appropriate diff in the compared text, or use the following options: ignore case, indent HTML code, ignore whitespaces and some others.

Price
Diff’n’Merge can be purchased online for $29. You can also download the evaluation version of this software.

You can purchase Diff’n’Merge with 15% discount by using the following RegNow Order Form.

Summary
Diff’n’Merge has no report functionality. Besides, its visual comparison capabilities are limited. For instance, Diff’n’Merge does not support line and char comparison diffs (this functionality is available in most file comparison programs) as well as keyword comparison functionality (we have reviewed this function in Compare Suite). Diff’n’Merge folder synchronization is less functional, in comparison with Araxis Merge and ECMerge.

Our rating for this software is 5/10. Unlike Compare Suite, the software is not appropriate for office document comparison. However, Diff’n’Merge byte-by-byte comparison capabilities may be useful for small comparison projects containing binary files.

Price: $29 $24.65 USD

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

Diverse comparison methods
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Integration with version control systems Yes
Folder comparison
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Folder hierarchy synchronization Yes
Custom file filters
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Byte-by-byte comparison Yes (very slow)