ProductsDiffDogWord Document Compare Tool

DiffDog® 2012 includes a special compare feature for Microsoft Word® documents. If Microsoft Word 2003 or later is installed on your computer, DiffDog can compare document files by opening two embedded Microsoft Word windows and automatically display the differences side-by-side.

DiffDog® 2012 Word comparison complements DiffDog OOXML Word file diff/merge functionality and is especially useful to manage document revisions over time, particularly where change tracking was not used.

DiffDog Word document diff can also be applied to any file type that can be opened by Microsoft Word 2003 and later, including .doc files created in earlier versions of Word, .rtf files, .txt, and others.

You can choose to display a text comparison only, or a comparison of text and formatting styles.

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Powerful DiffDog Diff/Merge for Word Documents

Microsoft Word Document Comparison integrates MS Word into the DiffDog user interface and lets you use MS Word functions as you compare and edit documents within DiffDog. This allows you to view all the word processor document formatting as you apply DiffDog's powerful diff/merge engine.

To open a new Word Comparison window, select the menu option File / Compare MS Word Files or click the Compare MS Word files button in the Standard toolbar.

Selecting Word Documents for Comparison

You can select documents for Word file comparison in several ways. You can:

• Open a new Word Comparison window and select files in each document window
• Drag and drop files from the Windows Explorer into the respective panes of a Word document comparison window
• Select a pair of documents in Windows Explorer and use the context menu option to start a Word document diff in DiffDog
• Re-open a previous Word file comparison

Modifying the DiffDog Diff Options for Microsoft Word Documents

The Word tab of the Comparison Options dialog box lets you set the options for comparing Microsoft Word documents. The check boxes in the lower portion of the dialog allow you to compare or ignore document formatting as well as content.

Displaying Differences in Word Documents

After you start a Word Document comparison, the differences between the two files are displayed as blocks of highlighted text and the results of the comparison are reported in the Comparison Window Status Bar. Corresponding differences in the two documents are linked for easier identification and analysis.

The Word View toolbar gives you two options to zoom in for a better view: 100% to view the details of the document and edit them, and Fit Page to display the entire page for a better overview.

You can also use the DiffDog Word file comparison toolbar to access Word functionality to:

• Show or hide revisions and comments
• Show or hide paragraph and other formatting symbols
• Set the document zoom level to 100% or fit pages to the window

Word Document Merge

As you navigate through either document window, the current difference is highlighted in a different color than the other differences. You can merge Word files in either direction. The current difference is merged when you click the left or right button in the Diff and Merge toolbar or when you use the keyboard shortcuts.

Editing Word Documents in DiffDog

After you open a Word document comparison, you can directly edit the content of the files in the DiffDog Word file diff windows using all the features of Microsoft Word that are available via the context menu or keyboard shortcuts.

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In Word document diff/merge windows, DiffDog does not use its own Find and Replace functionality but gives you access to the Microsoft Word Find and Replace dialog box instead. You can launch Find and Replace by clicking the search tool in the DiffDog toolbar or using the Ctrl-f keyboard shortcut in either document window.

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When your edits are complete, use the DiffDog Save or Save As buttons in each Word file comparison window, or the File / Save menu option to save your work.

Find out for yourself how comparing files in a word processor view complements OOXML and other DiffDog comparison functionality – download a free trial today!