Altova DiffDog：Compare and Merge Tool

Compare and Merge Tool

Altova DiffDog is the unique XML-aware diff / merge tool that lets you compare and merge text or source code files, XML or JSON files, and Word documents. Compare and synchronize directories, database schemas and content, and much more.

With a straightforward and consistent user interface, DiffDog is a powerful diff/merge tool for all common comparison tasks.

Compare and Merge:

1. Text Files

Compare Files with DiffDog

The DiffDog file comparison tool includes powerful capabilities to compare two text files quickly and easily. Compare and merge any type of text-based file, with support for Unicode, ASCII, MBCS, and any other file formats. DiffDog also includes additional features for intelligent, XML-aware comparisons. Comparing three text files is also supported with the same helpful functionality.

DiffDog allows you to compare and merge files on your local drives, files on your local network, and even files on remote FTP and HTTP servers (based on user privileges). This flexibility is especially suited for comparing, maintaining, and synchronizing files on live servers with the latest updates from your local machine.

When you select two or three files to compare, they are opened side-by-side in the intuitive DiffDog interface. Differences between the files are indicated by colored highlighting and connecting lines. The DiffDog display options are completely customizable, allowing you change the colors used to highlight differences and even specify source code conformant syntax coloring based on file extension.

Advanced navigation features such as synchronized horizontal and vertical scrolling allow you to move through each file without losing track of the corresponding differences in the other files.

 

Merge and Edit Files

DiffDog allows bi-directional merging as well as direct editing of both compared files. DiffDog automatically creates a backup of each file, allowing you to re-load the original file from the server or disk at anytime should you need to start over.

DiffDog also supports unlimited undo, so you can backtrack to any point in the editing and merging process. In addition, as you’re working with a file, DiffDog constantly monitors the server where the file is stored, and, if it’s modified externally, reloads the most current version into the DiffDog comparison window.

As you merge changes and edit your files, DiffDog automatically re-compares the files to indicate the current differences.

 

Generate Diff Reports

Developers and other project stakeholders often want to keep a record of changes to source code and other important files. DiffDog can create diff reports for all comparisons of text-based files, including source code files.

The Export differences dialog lets you choose to create a diff report in text format or as an XML file. Text format reports follow the well-accepted Unix diff style. Report files in XML format are human-readable with descriptive element names and record the comparison mode and the paths of the directories compared.

DiffDog Server

To automate diff reports generation for high-volume comparisons, check out DiffDog Server.

2. XML Files & XSDs

3. Folders & Directories

Compare Folders

Altova DiffDog is Windows software that makes it easy to compare and sync folders on your workstation, the local network, and even folders on local and remote FTP and HTTP servers (based on user privileges).

DiffDog provides five options for directory comparisons:

·Quick compare mode: Compares files by size and date only

·Text comparison mode: Compares actual textual content of files in each directory

·XML comparison mode: Compares actual file content with XML-aware intelligence

·Binary comparison mode: Compares non-text files such as EXEs, MP3s, JPGs, etc.

·Extension comparison mode: Automatically selects a specialized mode based on the file pair extension

 

You can open a file comparison directly from the directory comparison window by simply double-clicking the desired file.

 

DiffDog displays compared directories side-by-side as expandable/collapsible trees, and the size and date modified are indicated for each folder and file. Differences between the directories are indicated with color coding and easy to identify icons.

 

Sync Directories and Folders

DiffDog includes a special feature that allows you to update/merge entire directories, including sub-folders, with a single step.

 

The Synchronize button on the directory options toolbar opens a Synchronize Directories preferences dialog that lets you set the rules for merging files. The dialog even shows a preview of synchronization activity. You can review all the scheduled file updates across both folders, then modify the settings if you like. No changes are made in either directory until you click the Start button.

 

If you prefer a more customized merge of two similar directories, you can apply detailed settings to refine handling of different and missing files. The Enable manual override button even lets you select individual treatment for each file pair during synchronization.

4. Databases

Compare Databases

The DiffDog database comparison tool supports all major relational databases, allowing you to diff databases of the same type as well as the content of equivalent tables and entire database schemas in different database types. Then, you can merge the databases in either direction.

·Firebird 2.5, 3

·IBM DB2 for iSeries^® v6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3

·IBM DB2^® 8, 9.1, 9.5, 9.7, 10.1, 10.5

·Informix^® 11.70, 12.10

·MariaDB 10, 10.3

·Microsoft Access™ 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013

·Microsoft^® Azure SQL

·Microsoft^® SQL Server^® 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017

·MySQL^® 5, 5.1, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 8

·Oracle^® 9i, 10g, 11g, 12c

·PostgreSQL 8, 9.0.10, 9.1.6, 9.2.1, 9.4, 9.6, 10, 11

·Progress OpenEdge 11.6

·SQLite 3.x

·Sybase^® ASE 15, 16

·Teradata 16

 

Compare Database Tables

DiffDog displays database comparisons in an intuitive graphical table representation with connecting lines to illustrate column mapping between tables.

When you compare different database types, DiffDog even resolves datatype naming inconsistencies. This means you can compare the customers table in your SQL Server database with a backup copy, for example, or you can compare the contents of any MySQL tables, or your entire database schema between, for instance, an IBM DB2 9 database and an Oracle 11g implementation.

 

Database Table Diff Options

Automatic table mapping options let you instruct DiffDog to map columns based on name, datatype, or column position. If the results of automatic mapping are inaccurate or incomplete, you can also manually map comparisons by dragging connecting lines between table columns.

 

Merge Data Differences

You can open detailed results windows for each table comparison, and you can filter the results to display or hide your preference of equal or unequal rows, or rows that only contain data in the table on the right or left side.

It’s easy to merge differences in table content in either direction by updating individual cells or entire tables.

 

Database Schema Comparison

Database schema differencing lets you compare database structures and visually identify and merge differences. You can diff two databases of the same type, for instance a developer’s version and the production version of your database, or you can compare two schemas of different database types.

You can choose to compare individual tables, groups of tables, or entire database schemas. Your selections are displayed in the DiffDog schema comparison window. When you connect tables to begin the comparison, DiffDog automatically connects matching elements inside the tables. You can also manually connect non-matching elements to compare them or disconnect any automatic connection and re-map it differently.

When you click the compare button on the toolbar, DiffDog updates the comparison window with colors and icons to indicate differences between your database schemas.

 

Merge Options

You can merge differences by clicking either the left- or right-merge button on the toolbar. The right-click context menu offers more comprehensive merge options, including a choice to immediately open a database content comparison for the selected tables.

Whichever merge option you select, DiffDog always creates a SQL change script for you to review. You have several options for processing the SQL change script. You can save the SQL change script to a file, send the script to a SQL Editor window in DatabaseSpy, execute the SQL change script directly from DiffDog, or cancel your merge request and abandon the script.

SQL dialects and datatypes vary among relational database vendors. DiffDog accounts for these inconsistencies and generates a change script compatible with your target database syntax, even if the source database is a different type.

5. ZIP Archives

6. OOXML Documents

7. Word Documents

Compare Two Word Documents

When you compare Word documents (.doc or .docx), two instances of Microsoft^® Word are opened side-by-side in DiffDog. Differenced between the two Word documents are highlighted, and you can merge the differences between the documents in either direction.

Comparing Word documents in DiffDog is a great way to monitor and understand document revisions over time, especially when change-tracking is not enabled by the document author.

As you compare Word documents, you can use many common Microsoft Word functions (Find, Replace, Copy, Cut, Paste, Undo, Redo, etc.) directly in the diff tool. This allows you to use Microsoft Word's formatting and editing features together with DiffDog's powerful comparison engine.

 

Compare Word Documents: Options

Depending on the content of your two Word documents, you may wish to customize the DiffDog comparison options. For instance, you can compare at the sentence or paragraph level, ignore blank lines, detect case-sensitive differences, and so on. You can even compare Word document formatting changes.

During comparison, you also have the option show/hide formatting symbols and show/hide comments in the Word documents.

Merge Two Word Documents

It's easy to merge two Word documents by copying all changes from one pane to the other, or by copying some changes from left to right and others from right to left. Then, save the merged Word documents, or choose save-as to create a new document from the merged changes.

Automate Word Document Comparison

To automate diff report generation to compare high volumes of Word documents and other files, check out DiffDog Server.

8. Compare 3 Files

Compare Files with DiffDog

Whether you need to compare two text files or compare three text files at once, DiffDog includes powerful capabilities to identify differences and let you merge them in either direction. Compare and merge any type of text-based file, with support for Unicode, ASCII, MBCS, and any other file formats. DiffDog also includes additional, XML-aware features for comparing 3 XML files.

 

DiffDog allows you to compare and merge files on your local drives, files on your local network, and even files on remote FTP and HTTP servers (based on user privileges). This flexibility is especially suited for comparing, maintaining, and synchronizing files on live servers with the latest updates from your local machine.

 

When you select three files to compare, they are opened side-by-side in the intuitive DiffDog interface. Differences between the three files are indicated by colored highlighting and connecting lines. The DiffDog display options are completely customizable, allowing you change the colors used to highlight differences and even specify source code conformant syntax coloring based on file extension.

 

Advanced navigation features such as synchronized horizontal and vertical scrolling allow you to move through each file without losing track of the corresponding differences in the other files.

 

Merge Three Files

DiffDog allows bi-directional, 3-way merging as well as direct editing of the three compared files. It automatically creates a backup of each file, allowing you to re-load the original file from the server or disk at anytime should you need to start over.

 

DiffDog also supports unlimited undo, so you can backtrack to any point in the editing and merging process. In addition, as you’re working with the three compared files, DiffDog constantly monitors the server where each file is stored, and, if it’s modified externally, reloads the most current version into the DiffDog comparison window.

 

As you merge changes and edit your files, DiffDog automatically re-compares the files to indicate the current differences.

 

Generate Diff Reports

Developers and other project stakeholders often want to keep a record of changes to source code and other important files. DiffDog can create diff reports for all comparisons of text-based files, including source code files.

 

The Export differences dialog lets you choose to create a diff report in text format or as an XML file. Text format reports follow the well-accepted Unix diff style. Report files in XML format are human-readable with descriptive element names and record the comparison mode and the paths of the directories compared.

 

DiffDog Server

To automate diff reports generation for high-volume comparisons, check out DiffDog Server.

 

DiffDog Highlights:

·Diff/merge tool

·File differencing

·Folder differencing

·2- and 3- way file compare modes

·Generate diff reports

·XSLT code for XML Schema differences

·Save comparison settings for easy reuse

·DiffDog Server for automating diff report generation

 

File Comparison Tool

DiffDog includes powerful capabilities that let you compare and merge any type of text-based file, with support for Unicode, ASCII, MBCS, and any other file formats.

DiffDog allows bi-directional merging as well as direct editing of both compared files. DiffDog automatically creates a backup of each file, allowing you to re-load the original file from the server or disk at any time should you need to start over.

DiffDog also supports unlimited undo, so you can backtrack to any point in the editing and merging process.

 

XML Diff/Merge/Edit Tool 

The XML differencing and editing features in DiffDog draw on Altova’s legacy as creator of XMLSpy, the world’s leading XML development. With robust features such as well-formedness and validation checking, code completion, DTD/schema based entry helpers, and more, DiffDog is a must-have differencing utility for Web and software developers working with XML.

DiffDog recognizes when two files are XML equivalent even if they contain differences in namespace prefixes, order of XML attributes, or order of child elements that can be irrelevant to XML processors, but prevent files from appearing equal in a simple text comparison.

 

DiffDog offers two options for displaying XML files: advanced text view and enhanced grid view. Advanced text view includes visual and navigation aids such as line numbers, book marks, and a source folding margin.

 

Enhanced Grid View displays the hierarchical structure of an XML document through a set of nested containers. These can be easily expanded or collapsed to visualize the document's tree-like structure.

 

3-Way File Comparison

DiffDog allows users to compare and merge differences between three files side-by-side. This feature is especially relevant for files managed in any source control system where two users may started from the same source file then make different changes which must be reconciled.

 

A three-way file compare permits display and navigation of all differences between both new versions and the common ancestor file. For each encountered difference, DiffDog users can decide which change ("left", "right", or "middle") should be kept.

XML Schema Comparison 

DiffDog includes powerful XML Schema differencing functionality that extends and complements XML-aware file comparison of .xsd documents and eases conversion of XML data.

 

The DiffDog Schema comparison tool automatically maps schema elements with the same names. You can select different root elements for each XML Schema, and you can also manually connect dissimilar elements to map them, or override automatic element mappings.

After you map two XML Schemas, DiffDog lets you generate an XSLT file to transform existing XML documents for the new schema, saving significant time and effort compared to writing and debugging XSLT code by hand.

 

DiffDog lets you generate a fully editable MapForce mapping file between the schemas for more complex mappings that require data processing functions. Check out the DiffDog online manual for complete details on XML Schema comparison.

 

Folder Compare and Directory Sync Tool

The diff/merge tool is a powerful, easy-to-use tool for comparing and merging directories on your workstation, the local network, and even folders on local and remote FTP and HTTP servers (based on user privileges).

DiffDog provides five options to compare folders: Quick compare mode compares files by size and date only, Text comparison mode compares actual textual content of files in each directory, XML comparison mode compares actual file content with XML-aware intelligence, and Binary comparison mode for non-text files such as EXEs, MP3s, JPGs, etc. Extension comparison mode automatically selects a specialized mode based on the file pair extension.

 

You can open a file comparison directly from the directory comparison window by simply double-clicking the desired file.

 

The Synchronize Directories dialog lets you set the rules for merging folders. You can review all the scheduled file updates across both folders, then click the Start button to synchronize.

 

Zip File Differencing Tool

Altova DiffDog includes enhanced support to diff/merge ZIP archives and the files contained in them.

 

DiffDog ZIP differencing lets you compare and merge text or source code files stored in ZIP archive just like comparing uncompressed files. Or, compare and edit XML files stored in ZIP format with advanced XML-aware functionality. DiffDog even recognizes whether binary files stored in ZIP archives are identical or different.

DiffDog applies the correct comparison options based on file extensions, so you examine the files and merge differences with the same functionality available when comparing the uncompressed originals.

 

Word Document Compare Tool 

DiffDog 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 display the document differences side-by-side.

DiffDog Word comparison is especially useful to manage document revisions over time, particularly where change tracking was not used.

 

You can directly edit the content of the files in the DiffDog Word file diff windows using all the features of Microsoft Word via the context menu or keyboard shortcuts. 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.

 

OOXML Differencing Tool 

Altova DiffDog includes enhanced support to diff/merge Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML) files.

 

Many diff/merge tools treat Office Open XML (OOXML) files as binary file types that are simply recognized as identical or different based on file size and modification date. DiffDog empowers you to compare and display detailed differences in the contents of Office 2007 (and higher) OOXML file pairs.

DiffDog lets you merge differences in either direction, with full support for all the advanced XML-aware differencing options DiffDog offers during XML file comparisons. You can also display and edit file pairs stored inside OOXML files in Grid View. In many cases Grid View can provide a more easily comprehensible representation of the file contents.

 

Diff Report Files 

Developers and other project stakeholders often want to keep a record of changes to source code and other important files. DiffDog can create diff reports for all comparisons of text-based files, including source code files.

 

DiffDog can also create differences reports for directory comparisons. The Export differences dialog lets you choose to create a diff report in text format or as an XML file. Text format reports follow the well-accepted Unix diff style. Report files in XML format are human-readable with descriptive element names and record the comparison mode and the paths of the directories compared.

 

You can also use the DiffDog directory report functionality to create diff reports for comparisons of Zip archives or OOXML documents.

 

Database Content Comparison Tool 

Altova DiffDog lets you easily compare and merge the contents of database tables. Based on the powerful database table compare and merge functionality introduced in the award-winning Altova DatabaseSpy, DiffDog displays database comparisons in an intuitive graphical table representation with connecting lines to illustrate column mapping between tables.

DiffDog can compare different versions of a table in the same database type, or you can compare and merge the content of equivalent tables in different database types. When you compare different database types, DiffDog even resolves datatype naming inconsistencies.

 

Automatic table mapping options let you instruct DiffDog to map columns based on name, datatype, or column position. If the results of automatic mapping are inaccurate or incomplete, you can also manually map comparisons by dragging connecting lines between table columns.

 

Supported Databases:

·Firebird 2.5, 3

·IBM DB2 for iSeries^® v6.1, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3

·IBM DB2^® 8, 9.1, 9.5, 9.7, 10.1, 10.5

·Informix^® 11.70, 12.10

·MariaDB 10, 10.3

·Microsoft Access™ 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013

·Microsoft^® Azure SQL

·Microsoft^® SQL Server^® 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017

·MySQL^® 5, 5.1, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 8

·Oracle^® 9i, 10g, 11g, 12c

·PostgreSQL 8, 9.0.10, 9.1.6, 9.2.1, 9.4, 9.6, 10, 11

·Progress OpenEdge 11.6

·SQLite 3.x

·Sybase^® ASE 15, 16

·Teradata 16

 

Database Schema Diff/Merge Tool 

DiffDog lets you compare database structures and visually identify and merge differences. You can compare databases of the same type or you can compare two schemas of different database types.

You can choose to compare individual tables, groups of tables, or entire database schemas.

You can merge differences by clicking either the left- or right-merge button on the toolbar. The right-click context menu offers more comprehensive merge options, including a choice to immediately open a database content comparison for the selected tables.

 

Whichever merge option you select, DiffDog always creates a SQL change script for the target database for you to review. You can save the SQL change script to a file, send the script to a SQL Editor window in DatabaseSpy, execute the SQL change script directly from DiffDog, or cancel your merge request and abandon the script.

 

DiffDog Server

DiffDog Server is high-performance server software that takes advantage of the power of today's parallel computing environments to automate high-volume comparisons and generate diff reports comparing files, directories, and URLs.

 

New in DiffDog 2019 Release 3

Version 2019r3 of Altova DiffDog became available on April 2, 2019. Learn about all the new features below and update to the latest version.

DiffDog® 2019r3 (April 2, 2019)	Enterprise	Professional
Support for additional database versions
Open JDK support	?	?
Support for Windows Server 2019	?	?

 

Support for additional database versions

For database comparisons, DiffDog now support the latest version of the following databases:

·PostgreSQL 10

·IBM DB2 for iSeries^® 7.2, 7.3