XML Diff and Merge Tool

Directories comparison

The directory comparison result is presented using a tree view. The directories that contain different files are expanded automatically, so you can focus directly on the differences. You can merge the directories' content using the copy actions or you can examine the content of the different files.

The tree is showing the file differences using color codes.

File filters are available: you can choose to see the differences only from the XML files or XSL files for instance. By default, the comparison is made on all file types.

Files comparison

The comparison of a pair of files is done by opening them in two editors arranged in a side by side layout. You can edit either the source or the target file. The differences are refreshed when you save the modified documents.

The inserted sections in the left side are shown in gray, while the ones from the right side are rendered in light blue. The modified sections are red. Using the buttons from the toolbar you can merge the differences from one side to the other.

The differences are presented in a graphical format, the scrolling of the two documents is synchronized so the matches are kept close one another. Guiding areas are painted between the two files to allow to easily locate visually the corresponding differences. An overview ruler helps tracking the changes.

The 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 algorithms that rely on the file structure: line based, word based and character based. Any algorithm can be used to perform differences on request, but <oXygen/> offers also an automatic selection, selecting the most appropriate one based on the files' content and size.

All the diff operations do not block the user interface, they present progress information and allow the user to cancel them at any time.

The multiple levels diff support allows you to go into a found difference and see further what is actually modified there. The second level diff has the full merging support that is found also in the first level diff.

Word Level Comparison:

Character Level Comparison:

Both the compare directory and compare file tools are available as separate applications and also integrated in <oXygen/>'s Tools menu.

The diff and merge tool is included in the standalone distribution of the editor. The Eclipse plugin uses the standard comparison view provided by the Eclipse IDE.