Do you need to compare two text documents and find differences in them? Then WinMerge what you need! This program will offer you to open two documents that need to be compared. Immediately after opening them, in a special column it will highlight those fragments of text that are different. Make the necessary changes and save documents directly in the program.

WinMerge is a unified and differentiated Open Source tool for Windows. The presented softwear can compare two folders and two files, identifying and highlighting differences that are easy to understand and process.

The proposed program is very useful for determining what has changed between versions of a project being developed (for example, a website), and then it allows you to merge changes between versions.

Peculiarities:

Are common

• Support Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/2008
• Supports Windows, Unix and Mac text file formats
• Unicode support
• Tabbed interface

File comparison

• Visual comparison and merging of text files
• Flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and words
• Main differences by line
• The difference panel shows the current difference in two vertical panels
• The panel layout shows a map of files compared
• Moved detection lines

Comparisonfolders

• Regular expressions, file-based filters will allow you to exclude, including items
• Quick comparison using file sizes and date
• Compares one folder or includes all subfolders
• Can show folder compare results in tree style view

Version management

• Creates patch files (normal, contextual, and unified formats)
• Color hints for file differences
• Visual SourceSafe and Rational ClearCase integration

Other

• Shell integration (supports 64-bit versions of Windows)
• supports the use of archive files - 7-Zip
• Plugin support
• Localizable interface

The article uses an example to discuss working with Compare Suite - the most powerful program for comparing text files. Comparing two simple text files

The program for comparing text files Compare Suite is a convenient and perfectly optimized utility for analyzing and synchronizing almost any documents used when working on a computer. For comparing documents created in the Microsoft office suite, PDF files, and other types. Just as easily and extremely quickly, the utility allows you to analyze and compare entire directories with documents, although the main purpose of Compare Suite is a program for comparing text files. We will focus on this function of the program on this page. Let's launch Compare Suite and select "New file comparison" from the menu. The same command is executed using the hotkey combination Shift+Ctrl+F. Then you need to tell the program which text files we need to compare; the most convenient way is to use the drag-and-drop technique - placing each file being compared in its own window with the mouse.

After this, no additional actions are required - the Compare Suite program for comparing text files will do its job automatically. By selecting another method of comparing files from the three possible in the menu (character-by-character, word-by-word or by “keywords”) you will launch a new comparison procedure. There in the menu you can also set conditions for comparison, for example - “ignore all spaces in the text”. The menu items "Go to next (previous) difference" will automatically move the cursor position to the required line. The same actions are initiated by the hotkeys "Ctrl+N" and "Ctrl+P".

It should be especially noted that the Compare Suite program for comparing text files has the ability to “highlight” special characters used in various programming and text markup languages.

In addition, the Compare Suite program for comparing text files makes it possible to compare the contents of a text file with the contents of the clipboard, and edit the text directly in its window. The edited file can, of course, be saved later. The Compare Suite program for comparing text files works correctly with various text encodings. In the screenshots given as an illustration, the “right” text file was deliberately converted to UTF-8 encoding, that is, into those very “crazy things” that the built-in Widows Notepad gives in to. The Compare Suite program for comparing text files also freely handles text files in the formats of various operating systems, such as Windows, Unix and Mac systems.

Friends, I am glad to welcome you to the pages of my blog. Today I want to tell you about 4 ways to compare files by content. The need to find differences arises quite often. You have to compare files by type or size. Comparing files in Word and Excel is also a very common procedure in offices and offices, where you constantly have to work with text documents and tables.

But for a webmaster or site owner, it is often necessary to compare two files based on content. And we are not talking about text files, although they are also analyzed in the same way, but about the formats .html, .css, .php and so on. Those files where you need to find changes in the code. And sometimes changing just one sign can cause a lot of difficulties in achieving results.

So, the last example where I used a comparison of two files was a problem with the work of comments. I mentioned this in mine. The reason was just one space. Just imagine how you can find such an insignificant difference manually.

And, in general, when working with website files, you often have to analyze the code. Doing this manually is unrealistic. It’s much easier to use available tools, tools that every webmaster and website owner should have.

Method 1. Comparing files in Total Commander.

I have been using this program for a long time. For working with files, in my opinion, this is one of the best programs. The Total Commander program is paid, but you can use the trial version for 30 days, which after the time has expired will also work, but with an offer to purchase. You can download the trial version.

Previously, I told you how to set up via TC, which allows you to easily manage site files and carry out all the necessary operations directly from your computer, bypassing your personal hosting account. This feature alone makes it worth using this program.

Now let’s look at a tool for comparing files by content, which also allows you to edit and copy data during the analysis process.

So, launch Total Commander - in one of the panels, select the first file for comparison - in the second panel, open the folder with the second file.

A new window will open, also divided into two panels. At the very top, in each panel there will be a time limit for selecting a file. In one of them, the first file will already be selected (but may be empty). To select a file you need to click on the small button with arrows (>>) .

After selecting files to compare, click on the button "Compare". The contents of the selected file will appear in each panel. Differences will be indicated by a background color.

To make changes to the file, just click on the button "Edit". And you can start making changes. The copy and rollback, search and encoding functions will also be available here.

If you have made changes to the file, then after closing the comparison window, you will be prompted to save the result.

Method 2. Comparing files in Notepad++.

If you have ever had to edit html, css and php. You've probably heard about the free code editor Notepad++. You can download the program.

This is an excellent program, which, in addition to its innumerable advantages, also allows you to compare files according to their contents.

But this requires installing a small plugin. All this is done directly inside the editor itself.

So, launch the editor - go to the menu item "Plugins» — "Plugin Manager" — "Show Plugin Manager".

In a new window, select the plugin « Compare" and press the button « Install".

After installing the plugin, you can start comparing the contents of files. To do this, you need to open two files - go to the menu item "Plugins" — « Compare" — « Compare (Alt+D)".

The result of the file comparison will be presented in separate panels. That is, the first file will be on the left, and the second on the right. Opposite the lines in which differences are found there will be a warning sign and highlighting in the background color.

The line where small differences are found will be highlighted in yellow and indicated with an exclamation mark.

A line that is completely different will be marked on one panel with a red minus and on the other with a green plus. And highlighted in the appropriate color.

Of course, once you find a difference, you can immediately make the necessary adjustments and save the changes.

You can complete the file comparison with a key combination Ctrl+Alt+D.

Method 3. Comparing the contents of two files in WinMerge.

This program allows you to compare not only the contents of files, but also the contents of entire folders. In this way it is similar to Total Commander, only the program is free. You can download it.

Installation of the program is standard and will not be difficult. Therefore, we will not dwell on this, but will immediately move on to the process of comparing two files.

After launching the program, you need to select files to compare. Open a menu item "File" — "Open".

The comparison result is presented in two panels, just like in the other examples. Only here the exact fragment of code that differs in a specific line is highlighted.

You can also edit files in this program. And when you close the comparison window, the program will offer to save the changes to the files.

Method 4: Compare files using the Windows command line.

This method allows you to compare the contents of files without third-party programs. It is enough to use a standard tool of the Windows operating system.

Also, this method does not allow you to edit files. To do this you need to use other tools. But, nevertheless, you can cope with the task without additional programs.

To do this, open "Start" — "All programs" — "Standard" — "Command line". And enter this command:

Fc /N path to the first file path to the second file

it looks like this:

Fc /N C:\My Documents\file1.txt C:\My Documents\file2.txt

The finished result will look like this:

When the differences are small, they can be corrected quickly enough using editing programs. But when there are many differences, it is quite difficult to analyze information using this method.

So, I told you about ways to compare files, and now I suggest you watch a video tutorial in which I show comparing two files in all ways.

I am sure that now if you need to compare files, you can easily do this using one of the proposed methods.

That’s all for today, I wish you all success and good mood and see you in new articles and video tutorials!

Best regards, Maxim Zaitsev.

Free program for comparing text files and folders. It has a user-friendly interface, syntax highlighting for many programming languages, as well as extensive settings. In addition, the program can create reports and work in conjunction with many version control systems.

Human laziness can work wonders! Laziness in the good sense of the word :). Well, you must agree that it is unreasonable to do routine work manually if it is possible to entrust it to a computer. So today’s program was found precisely in an attempt to shift the labor-intensive process of comparing different text files onto the PC’s shoulders.

And it was like this... Recently Ruslan Bogdanov and I were translating website in HTML5 using Schema.org markup. At the same time, it was necessary to often compare the old (not yet edited) version of each page with the new one, in which certain edits had already been made.

And after a couple of hours of working in two Notepad windows, the idea occurred to me that there should be a program to automatically search for differences in text files. This question was asked to the ubiquitous Google, and such a program was found :). It's called WinMerge.

This program automatically finds and displays the difference in the contents of two text files, which allows you to compare and edit open documents much faster than with a regular visual search! In terms of its capabilities, WinMerge is only slightly inferior to paid competitors, such as, for example, Compare Suite:

Comparison with a paid analogue

In addition, both programs support a variety of encodings (including Unicode), can be included in almost any version control system and allow you to compare even archived documents (to support WinMerge this function, the installed 7-ZIP archiver and a special plugin are required).

Installing WinMerge

The program has two versions: a regular installer and a portable version. To work with a portable one, you will only need to unpack it from the archive and (if desired) run the bat file ( Register.bat) to integrate application items into the system context menu (the second “body file” ( UnRegister.bat) you can remove this item).

If you choose a standard installer, you will need to run it from the downloaded archive and follow the instructions of the installation wizard. You can agree to all offers by clicking “Next” until you get to the component selection screen:

Here, carefully check the default language(s): it should be “Russian”. You can also install additional plugins that will add several new prefilters to the program.

The next step requiring your intervention will be the window for selecting additional tasks:

By default, WinMerge only creates a shortcut in the Quick Launch bar and is integrated into the context menu. You can also create a shortcut on the Desktop (which, IMHO, is more convenient :)) and add the program folder to the system path for quick access.

Comparing text files in WinMerge

Once the installation is complete, a blank WinMerge window will open. To get started, you will need to open a couple of files that are to be compared. This can be done by calling the “Open” item from the “File” menu, or by clicking on the button of the same name on the toolbar:

In the window that opens, you are given the opportunity to specify the files that will be compared by clicking the “Browse” button, as well as select filters (used to exclude certain types of files when working with folders) and an unpacker for archived files (if the appropriate plugin is installed).

Essentially, all we have to do is select the files that will be displayed in the left and right panels, and we can click “Ok”.

The WinMerge window will look something like this:

So what can we do with all this:

1. Using the buttons on the toolbar (or the context menu), you can navigate through the differences found and quickly copy changes from one file to another.
2. Using the Difference Map (Locations window), you can quickly assess the location of differences in different documents. At the same time, there are several color symbols on the “map”:

• yellow - indicates any difference in the documents;
• red - indicates the selected difference;
• gray - indicates a missing part of the code in one of the documents.

Using the Differences window, you can see the part of the code that is different. You cannot edit the code here, but you can copy it using the function in the context menu.

And, of course, using windows with open documents, we can quickly copy code fragments and completely edit it. In fact, we have before us an ordinary text editor, like an advanced Notepad with syntax highlighting for many programming languages ​​(and you can customize the highlight colors for each language in the settings)!

I also advise you to periodically pay attention to the status bar at the very bottom of the working window when working with the program. In it you can sometimes see various hints, as well as a counter for differences found.

Upon completion of working with documents (or if necessary), you can save both both edited files or only individual ones. To do this, go to the “File” menu and select “Save file on the left” or “Save file on the right”, respectively:

Setting up the program

In principle, after installation the program is completely ready to work. However, you can slightly improve or change some of its functions. The first thing you can do is add convenience to yourself :). You can do this by going to the “View” menu and activating the “Show line numbers” and “Word wrap” items:

This will add a column with line numbering in front of the code panel, and the lines themselves will now fit into any panel size due to automatic text wrapping (while the line structure is completely preserved)!

In the same menu, you can activate some other features (such as displaying non-printing characters and tab indents), as well as disable any elements of the working window (for example, you can disable the comparison panel and/or the “map” of differences).

For some programming languages ​​and programs, WinMerge has add-ons that allow you to ignore certain parameters when comparing files. If you checked the option to install plugins when installing the program, you can find these options in the “Add-ons” menu:

Here in the “Pre-comparison” section we have access to add-ons for:

• ignoring comments;
• ignoring columns (apparently for HEX);
• ignoring punctuation;
• ignoring tabs;
• ignoring line numbers.

To be honest, I didn’t use these plugins, since the standard capabilities of WinMerge were quite enough for me, but they may be useful to someone;).

If these features of the program are not enough for you, then you can easily adjust almost everything in “Settings”:

You can get lost in these settings in no time, since there are a lot of them, but I will only pay attention to those that may be useful to us for further work.

In the first group of settings (“Basic”), I would recommend activating two options: “Automatically set to first difference” (for greater convenience) and “Folder comparisons” in the “Enable multiple comparison windows for” section. The last option will allow you to open an unlimited number of tabs with comparisons when comparing folders (which we will talk about below).

The following settings to be changed are located in the “Comparison” section:

In principle, you don’t have to change anything here, but during the work I encountered a number of inconveniences that can be avoided by activating some items in this settings section.

First, you can disable the comparison of non-printable characters. This can significantly narrow down the search for differences in files.

Secondly, you can activate the skipping of empty lines and commands in different registers, which will also reduce the number of mismatches between files.

Thirdly, there is an option to filter comments, which is similar to that in the “Add-ons” menu. All these settings are optional, but can sometimes significantly reduce the number of differences found in files.

Compare folders

In addition to the fact that in WinMerge we can automatically compare files, we can also compare folders, finding all the changed files in them! However, there is no special button for opening a folder in the program. How to be? We need to indicate in the “Left” field any file from the directory we need, and then remove its name, leaving only the folder name:

After this manipulation, the “Right” field will automatically switch to the “Directory Selection” mode and we will only have to select the desired folder.

A special feature of the folder comparison mode is that all files are displayed in one general list. Wherein:

Now, if in “Settings” you have activated the option of multiple tabs when comparing folders, then you can open any subfolders and files - their comparison will open in a new tab.

Generating reports

If you work in a development team or need to present the results of your work to third parties, then the function of creating reports based on comparison results will be useful to you. You can find this function in the “Tools” menu:

The report generation window contains only two fields: in the first we specify the file to save (possibly non-existent), and in the second we select the report style. There are four style options available in WinMerge:

1. Comma separated list (plain text, e.g. TXT file).
2. List with delimited tabs (also a text file).
3. Simple HTML (web page format (in my opinion, the most convenient)).
4. Simple XML (also better to open in a browser, since this format allows you to collapse unnecessary comparison branches).

Select any of the styles, and then click “Browse” and indicate in which folder and under what name (as well as with what name extension) to save the report. Click “Ok” and rejoice :).

Here (in the “Tools” menu) you will find a few more items that will appeal only to serious developers. These are functions for creating patches and filtering the contents of files and directories.

The first allows you to create files containing a list of differences in different versions of the source code. This list can be used, for example, to automatically correct the final version in the final project using various version control systems.

The second function allows you to set exceptions for compared files in directories by mask or file type. There are also ready-made presets for various types of projects and the ability to create your own filters of any complexity.

Advantages and disadvantages of the program

• high accuracy of difference recognition;
• the ability to quickly replace text fragments;
• the ability to compare folders;
• reporting function;
• extensive settings.

• You cannot compare more than two documents;
• to support archives, installation of additional software is required;
• There is no keyword search function.

conclusions

After testing several free file comparison programs, I found that WinMerge works the most correctly. The percentage of errors when matching files was minimal, which means that the program can be used in everyday activities. At the same time, the number of false recognitions can be further reduced by working with the settings.

If you work with texts and often need to compare different versions of the same document, then WinMerge can significantly facilitate and speed up your work. But the computer was created for this purpose: to take on as much routine as possible, leaving us time for creativity;).

P.S. Permission is granted to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.

Free solutions

Data synchronization requires programmers, system administrators and time and appropriate skills. However, the correct selection of tools is no less important. Version control, working with projects, backup, merging and visual comparison of files is not a complete list of tasks related to synchronization in one way or another.

The guide includes 10 programs that can be called largely universal: they are not tied to a specific service or application, and allow you to perform the above (and less specialized) tasks not only through a graphical interface, but also in command line mode.

The comparison criteria are as follows:

• Interface: support for display modes, saving sessions, customization options for toolbars and columns
• Text editor functionality, working with source code
• Merge and synchronization methods, three-way comparison capability
• Export reports, create patches (diff)
• Additional features: integration with third-party applications, support for extensions, protocols, etc.

SmartSynchronize

SmartSynchronize is a cross-platform program for comparing data, directory structures and their contents. In fact, the program is free for non-commercial use, however, a single-user license costs 39 USD.

Comparison modes are presented in the program's welcome window. In addition to the file selection dialog, you can view the history and select a saved profile. Also in the Preferences you can configure filters: file filters - to filter out files by name and extension, and directory filters - allow you to create a list of exceptions.

To compare files, a two-panel side-by-side mode is used with synchronous scrolling of the contents of both panels. There are few conventions in SmartSynchronize, but thanks to the linking lines, comparison and merge operations are very intuitive. SmartSynchronize specifies where and in what direction a section will be added from one file to another. Inserting text is done with one click, eliminating the need for a context menu.

Document encoding and syntax can be defined manually, syntax highlighting is provided for many programming and markup languages, line numbering and other editing functions inherent in integrated development environments (IDEs).

Overall, SmartSynchronize is highly customizable, but all settings are distributed across different sections of the menu, which takes some getting used to. There are not enough display modes or toolbar settings.

In the directory comparison mode, a list of files and the status for each of them is displayed; a preview is available at the bottom of the window. The comparison method - by content or only by size and time - is determined in the Edit → Preferences settings. The number of information columns (file type, date) cannot be increased, although existing ones can be disabled.

SmartSynchronize implements both one-way data merging with left or right sides, as well as regular synchronization. The configuration can be saved for later loading by taking a snapshot of the file structure. As the developers explain, the program does not recognize file attributes, so there is no point in using it as a backup utility. Working with archives is also not provided, as well as with remote directories.

In addition to the above, there is an additional, three-way merging method - 3-Way-Merge, which allows you to merge differences between multiple versions of files, with each of the three documents being editable independently of each other.

Comparison functions are undoubtedly in demand by programmers during version control. Therefore, in conclusion, it is worth referring to an alternative solution from the same company -. The program is a CVS client with integrated SmartSynchronize tools.

Summary. SmartSynchronize offers good tools for working with files and directories, which in some places cannot be customized and does not go beyond the basic capabilities.

[+] Three-way merger
[+] Convenient text editor
[−] Lack of documentation
[−] Inability to synchronize remote directories and archives

WinMerge

WinMerge is a program for comparing and merging files and directories in Windows. It can be used as a standalone tool or in conjunction with projects. WinMerge has a built-in text editor with support for programming languages, highlighting and line numbering.

There are two modes of working with data, combined into a dialog for selecting files and folders. When comparing, two types of filters are available: file filters and string filters. This allows you to use various add-ons and operate with regular expressions, filtering out the necessary data types when comparing.

In file comparison mode, both files are displayed in the window, on the left and right sides. For easy navigation through the content, a map (“Locations”) is provided. Lines that have differences are marked in color and can also be viewed in the Differences panel. Basic merging operations are available in the Merge section.

The functionality of the text editor deserves special attention. The appearance can be modified. In addition to syntax highlighting and line numbering, work with scripts is provided, and functionality can be expanded through add-ons. Additions relate to the unpacker, viewer and script editor.

When comparing directories, the results are displayed in a tabulated list. It contains information about the name of the file (directory), its location, the result of the comparison, date, extension and other information. You can customize the display using columns. If necessary, you can activate recursive mode or switch to a tree view for easy navigation.

WinMerge allows you to perform the same tasks in different ways - including using drag-and-drop or through the Explorer context menu. You can create projects for quick access to data and settings. WinMerge works in command line mode, and the program can also be used in conjunction with version control systems (TortoiseSVN, Visual Studio, Rational ClearCase, etc.).

Summary. WinMerge is a program primarily focused on working with projects. SVN integration, a functional editor, filters and extensions all perfectly complement the basic data comparison capabilities.

[+] Support for extensions
[+] Functional editor
[+] Integration with third-party applications
[−] No three-way comparison

Meld

Meld is a cross-platform program (OS X, Linux, Windows) for synchronizing files and directories. With its help, both two- and three-way comparisons are carried out. First of all, the Meld toolkit will be useful to developers, since integration with version control systems is possible: Git, Bazaar, Mercurial, Subversion and others.

Despite supporting multiple platforms, the application is far from stable on Windows. For example, tabs and windows do not always open and close correctly. The problems may be related to the PyGTK library included in the installer. It was not possible to launch the program immediately and only as an administrator. Errors occur all the time, as evidenced by this.

When comparing files, you can use a text filter or search (regex syntax is supported). Syntax highlighting is provided (a library is used), line numbering, space counting and other options that need to be activated through the settings, since they are disabled by default. Insertions, changes and conflicts in the document are highlighted, you can quickly navigate through the list of changes and export in diff format. The connection between files can be easily tracked using connecting lines and the required sections can be merged with one click.

Scanning directory files is very slow. This is because the comparison is based on content rather than size and timestamp. The problem can be solved by checking the box next to the corresponding option in the settings. The set of available speakers is very limited: size, modification date and resolutions. Although you can use a file filter, viewing a long list of files still turns into a routine process: you cannot instantly stop scanning, collapse the file tree, or quickly move to the desired elements.

Developers will be interested in the third operating mode of the application - Version Control View. Meld supports a command line interface, so it integrates with Git, Bazaar, Mercurial, Subversion and many others.

Summary. The Meld program has proven itself well in the Linux environment, which cannot be said about functioning on Windows. Unstable operation and inconvenient interface, lack of sessions, insufficient configuration flexibility... On the other hand, the program's tools are not bad, and a high-quality adaptation of Meld for Windows is perhaps only a matter of time.

[+] Three-way comparison
[+] Support for version control systems
[−] Slow and unstable performance in Windows
[−] Inconvenient and uninformative interface

Diffuse

Diffuse is a cross-platform product for Windows, OS X, Linux and BSD, with an interface similar to Meld (based on the PyGTK library), but with functional differences. Integration with Bazaar, CVS, Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Monotone, RCS, Subversion and other environments is announced.

Continuing the comparison with Meld: Diffuse is characterized by stability, there are no sudden freezes. Detailed documentation is available, the interface has been translated into Russian. However, directory comparison is not included in the toolkit; the program only includes functions for comparing files and editing them. In Diffuse, you can find several merging modes: - two-, three- and multi-way. Thus, there can be any number of sources of comparison, the only question is speed and convenience. Regarding the second aspect, we can only say that there are no sessions here - accordingly, working with large projects in Diffuse is questionable.

Differences are marked in color, a Comparison Summary is available near the scroll bar, and buttons on the control panel are used to navigate through the list of changes. Line numbering and syntax highlighting with the ability to manually switch are enabled by default. Unlike other similar editors, in Diffuse you cannot immediately select an arbitrary section of text; to do this, you need to double-click on the content. Otherwise, you can select text and perform other actions only line by line.

Obviously, in Diffuse there are no differences between files, so merging lines is done in a less intuitive way. All available commands are collected in the “Merge” section, where you need to go every time if there are no commands in the context menu. In SmartSynchronize or other mentioned solutions, many operations are performed in one click.

Working with version control systems is possible via the command line; a list of commands with descriptions is given in.

Summary. This kind of functionality is in demand when merging several text documents. The program does not have the disadvantages inherent in Diffuse's closest analogue - Meld. But, unfortunately, comparison of directories and reporting were left out.

[+] Convenient work with strings
[+] CVS integration
[+] Multi-window merge
[−] No sessions
[−] Marking changes is not intuitive

Perforce P4 Merge

P4Merge is not often mentioned among other free products (for example, compared to WinMerge). In addition, it is not easy to find this program among other components of the Perforce complex. Perforce is a commercial cross-platform version control system with a wide range of applications, not least due to plugins and integration with various products (IntelliJ IDEA, Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Eclipse, emacs, etc.) . However, P4 Merge can work autonomously from the Perforce server; just download the program from the developer’s website to use it for free.

The main operations are file comparison (Diff) and merging (Merge). The document editor is extremely simple: there is numbering, but no syntax highlighting. You cannot edit files in two panels on the fly; you need to select one of the panels, enable editing mode and then save the changes. The differences are marked, and navigation buttons are provided to navigate between them. The easiest way to navigate changes is using connecting lines. In general, the P4 Merge interface is not convenient enough: there is no summary of the differences, statistics on changes are presented as a summary figure, without detail, and to view the changes you need to use a manual update.

When listing other features of the program, it is worth mentioning image comparison. In this mode, two useful functions were discovered: highlighting differences and merging two files into one. At the same time, it is not clear why the editor menu contains unused commands, such as changing encoding, comparison methods, and others that relate to comparing text files, but not images.

Summary. Of course, P4 Merge has many functional limitations, especially when compared with paid products. The application can be considered purely as an addition to the Perforce server. Perhaps, in search of the necessary tools, you should pay attention to other components available on the developer’s website.

[+] Merge diagram in Merge mode
[−] Poor functionality
[−] Inability to edit on the fly
[−] Lack of merge commands