<oXygen/> offers both directory and file comparison, six different diff algorithms to choose from for file comparison and multiple levels of comparison.
The complete diff solution includes two XML diff algorithms (XML Fast and XML Accurate), one Syntax Aware algorithm that gives very good results on all file types known by <oXygen/> and three all-purpose algorithms: line based, word based and character based. Any algorithm can be used to perform differences on request, but <oXygen/> offers also an automatic selection of the algorithm, selecting the most appropriate one based on the files' content and size.
If enabled <oXygen/>'s Diff tool will be used for all diff operations performed on XML documents. Disabling this option will disable <oXygen/>'s Diff tool
Select from the list the algorithm that will be used as default when you open the Compare files dialog
Auto makes an automatic selection of the diff algorithm, based on the files' content and size.
Characters computes the differences at character level.
Words computes the differences at word level..
Lines computes the differences at line level.
Syntax aware : for the file types known by <oXygen/>, this algorithm computes the differences taking into consideration the syntax of the documents.
XML Fast is designed for XML documents. It works better than XML Accurate on large files, but it is less precise.
XML Accurate is designed for XML documents. It works best on smaller XML files and it is most precise.
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XML Fast and XML Accurate work for XML documents. If you'll try to use them for other types of files, you'll be prompted with the message "content not allowed in prolog" |
This option, if checked, allows the diff algorithm to ignore the whitespaces.
This set of options allows you to specify the types of differences that will be ignored in the XML Fast and XML Accurate algorithms:
in node / type:
Processing instructions
Comments
CDATA
DOCTYPE
Text
in namespaces / prefixes
Namespaces
Prefixes
Namespace declarations
in the attributes order
If checked, it considers adjacent differences as one and they are presented in this way in the side-by-side editors. If unchecked, every difference is represented separately.
If checked, end tags of modified elements are presented as differences.
If checked, empty elements in both expansion states are considered matched.
This option allows you to specify the maximum number of differences between your documents that you might be interested to see. If the number of differences is larger than the one specified here, you'll be notified by the message "Too many differences".
For the directories comparison you can specify the criterion for the component files comparison and a default file filter.
Content
Timestamp (last modified date/time)
specifies the default type of files that will be compared in Diff Directories