Compare PowerPoint Files with 'Diff Doc'

Using 'Diff Doc' is as simple as copying and pasting (or loading) the files into the application, then pressing the "Show Differences" button (or F5).  Of course, there are several options and features that need to be discussed so that you can fully leverage the 'Diff Doc's capabilities.

There are 3 main tabs within the program, " Compare Files", " Compare Options" and " Report Options". Each tab is discussed in detail below.

  Compare Files

It is within the 'Compare Files' tab that you will spend most of your time.  There are 3 or at most 4 editor boxes displayed at any time.  The top two are always there and are referred to as the "Original editor" and "Modified editor".   The text editors below are referred to as the 'Diff editor(s)'.  It is within the Diff editor(s) that the changes between the Original and Modified editors are updated and shown by the program.

The first step to comparing is to load both the Original and Modified editors either by loading files, copying and pasting data, or composing new text.  Use the File menu to load files, or position the mouse over the editor you wish to load, and use the right mouse click to display the context menu.  Copying and pasting is done differently for different programs.  However, in most cases, simply highlighting the text, and pressing CTRL-C will copy in most programs.  To paste, simply click on the Master or Source text box, and press CTRL-V.

Next press the "Refresh Diff Viewer" button (or F5). The differences between the Master and Source text boxes will be displayed in the Diff editor(s).  You can abort the refresh process by pressing the abort button on the toolbar .

Color	Meaning
Changed	Change has occurred.  Master text is shown as red, bold, with a strike through, whereas the Source text is shown in bold red.
Added	An addition to the Master document has occurred.  It is shown in bold green.
Deleted	A deletion from the Master document has occurred.  It is shown in bold blue with strike through font.

      Diff Editor Legend

Navigation of the Differences Found (F7, Shift-F7…)

Once the difference view has been refreshed, and at least one difference has been found the navigation toolbar/keys may be used.  The table below shows the available commands:

Button	Purpose
Ctrl-Shift-F7	Jump to first difference
Shift-F7	Jump to previous difference.
F7	Jump to next difference
CTRL-F7	Jump to last difference
F4	Jump to difference you specify

There is also a drop down listbox in the toolbar which can be used to select a difference based on difference number and some text clipped from the text shown to be different.

Toggle between Views (F6)

The largest button within the toolbar will alternate the diff viewer between the "All In One" and "Side By Side" views.  Typically, those dealing with literary content will like the "All In One" view, whereas programmers dealing with source code will like the "Side By Side" view.  Alternating between views also gives you a feel for how the red-lining really works.

Create Reports (F2)

The "Report" button (or F2) will create the report as specified in the " Report Options" tab.  You can also print or save any of the editors by using the right mouse button, or select the editor with the left mouse and then go to the file menu.

Swap Text within the Master and Source (F9)

The Swap text button (or F9) will take the text within the Original and Modified editors and exchange them, and then automatically refresh the diff viewer. 

Compare Options

The " Compare Options" tab has many items, but the most important are items shown below:

Setting	Description
Ignore Case	Ignore character case differences when doing a file compare
Ignore White Space	Ignore white space characters (Horizontal Tab, Vertical Tab, New Line, Form Feed, Carriage Return, and Space) when doing a file compare.
Ignore Empty Lines	Ignore lines that are completely empty when doing a file comparison. White space characters alone will make a line not empty.
Beep When Done	When set, a system beep will occur when the file comparison has completed.
Remove formatting	To do a pure text comparison, check this option to remove all formatting when comparing documents.

Report Options

The report created is dependent on the settings in the " Report Options" tab.  First and most important is the type of report you want.  Of course you can print out any of the editors, which is what most do.  In addition to this there are 4 report file types: MS Word, HTML, Text, and Comma Delimited.  HTML reports have an additional option of specifying either "All In One" or "Side By Side" view.  The report type is chosen within the "General" section.

The other 3 sections allow for additional customization of each report type.  For example you can choose to modify the default name and path of the report file created for each report type.

Printing and  E-Mailing Reports

Once the report is created it is shown in an appropriate application.  DOC and HTML Reports for example are shown in a browser, which typically has the ability to save, print and e-mail from the file menu.  Other reports may show up in Notepad, which can be printed, edited or saved from there.

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As seen in

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"I have a small (2 Attorney) law firm and do quite a bit of contract intensive business law and real estate work. Like many others I have been very frustrated by Word's erratic document comparison tool. At times it highlights entire paragraphs rather than just the changes. Like everyone else who has griped in this forum, I too found the pricing of Delta View to be prohibitively high.

After reading about Word DocDiff here, I recently downloaded the trial version from the Word DocDiff website http://www.SoftInterface.com. I found the interface very useable and the results (for my purposes) were quite good. It can provide several different views illustrating the changes made to the document as well as a combined "redline" document in word format showing all of the changes. It can also provide a report identifying the page and paragraph number where the changes are located.

I have only used the tool about twenty times so far and therefore would hesitate to say it is the greatest thing since sliced bread, however, I would say it is well worth the time to download the trial version (for free) and evaluate it for yourself." Edward S. Shelton (Shelton and Shelton)

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"I found a product called Diff Doc that seems to work quite well for comparing Word documents against other Word documents! (I don't know how well it works with WordPerfect, though the documentation claims that it is supported). Like many of you, I was looking at DeltaView and was very upset at their inability to work with us on the pricing structure. Diff Doc can also run from command line, so integration with document managers is a snap (the author modified the code over a couple of hours for me to get it to work with WORLDOX Versioning. In return, I wrote his FAQ on WORLDOX integration). Download an evaluation copy at http://www.softinterface.com." 'Diff Doc'  Troy Piersma excerpt from a TechnoLawyer Newsletter.

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"Just read the TechnoLawyer post from Troy Piersma. I concur completely.  I recently left a big firm which used DeltaView, and looked to get an equivalent program after being blown off by the DeltaView sales rep because I wasn't big enough for their policy. My Tabs and Practices master reseller, Judy Lassek, had also put me in WORLDOX, with which I am very pleased. She had heard of DiffDocs through her network, and I downloaded it and tried it out. I had a hard time comparing versions of the same document at first, but after receiving an update from DiffDocs, it has worked very well for me. My practice is transactional, requiring revising contracts regularly, and the program works great for doing that kind of comparison. I recommend that solos and others try it out, if for no other reason than the company is such a refreshing change from its competition! However, that wouldn't make much difference if the product itself weren't good."  Michael V. Mulchay, PLC

PPT Comparison from SoftInterface, Inc.  Your software solution provider!

* Diff PPT is is short for PPT Comparison.  That is, ' compare PPT ' and ' Diff PPT ' are the same phrase.