Audience
Developers and any user looking for a diff and merge software tool to compare between files and directories
About TortoiseMerge
Version control is all about having the history of your working progress. But to really see and check the history, you must be able to see and check what has changed between two points in time, for example, what has changed between two releases of your product, or what was changed to fix a bug, etc. This is where TortoiseMerge helps. It is a diff/merge software tool for Windows with a tight integration for TortoiseSVN. At least for files that consist of text, TortoiseMerge can help you here. It shows you the two versions of a file side-by-side, coloring every modified line in that file. When you reformat your code or text, sometimes you don't really change anything but only split a long line into multiple ones, or you merge multiple lines into one. TortoiseMerge marks such changes with a white circle on the left gray bar of each view. If you see such a white circle, you know that no real changes were made, only changes in whitespaces.
Other Popular Alternatives & Related Software
DiffMerge
DiffMerge is an application to visually compare and merge files on Windows, OS X and Linux. Graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing. Graphically shows the changes between 3 files. Allows automatic merging (when safe to do so) and full control over editing the resulting file. Performs a side-by-side comparison of 2 folders, showing which files are only present in one file or the other, as well as file pairs which are identical or different. Right-click on any two files in Windows Explorer to diff them immediately. Rulesets and options provide for customized appearance and behavior. Identical feature set on Windows, OS X, and Linux. Graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing. DiffMerge is a UNICODE-based application and can import files in a wide range of character encodings.
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Compare and Merge
Compare and Merge is the Windows file compare utility for detecting and merging differences between text files and folders, compare source code, compare program output, etc. Compare and Merge shows you the differences between files side-by-side and makes it easy to resolve these differences. Source code, output files, HTML, XML, etc. Compare source code to older versions and identify what has changed. C++, Visual Basic, Perl, PHP, Delphi, etc. Merge your changes and those of your co-workers into one master copy. Select and click to merge a single line or an entire section of text. Unlimited undo/redo. Analyze file differences for entire folder branches. Can be used directly from the Explorer's context menu. Many customization options, fonts, colors, comparison algorithm. Works like a text editor, you can fully edit text while comparing, with dynamic refreshing. Summary bar gives quick feedback of all differences.
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DirDiff
DirDiff started as a tool to check two copies of files in separate directories, either by date or by a different modified date. From there, we had a go at building our own text-diff. Other diff's show the content of both files, and thus show the content that is equal twice. Sounds like a lot of wasted screen-space, so we show a single 'flow' and the different parts in different colors. Yes, we know we might have got green and red reversed, but since we use diff primarily to check what we've changed before commit, We like them to show up in red because it draws attention. It can also show the structure of XML documents in a tree view. If you configure the usual attribute names that holds identifying values, it will use those to show the relevant changes. If you're using TortoiseSVN, it turns out to be a good alternative diff to use with TortoiseSVN, open the settings and enter the command provided in our site for the external Diff Viewer.
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WinMerge
What is WinMerge? WinMerge is an Open Source differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle. WinMerge is highly useful for determining what has changed between project versions, and then merging changes between versions. WinMerge can be used as an external differencing/merging tool or as a standalone application. In addition, WinMerge has many helpful supporting features that make comparing, synchronising, and merging as easy and useful as possible: General Supports Microsoft Windows XP or newer. Handles Windows, Unix and Mac text file formats. Unicode support. Tabbed interface. File Compare 3-way File Comparison New! Visual differencing and merging of text files. Flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and word-wrap. Highlights differences inside lines.
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Pricing
Free Version:
Free Version available.
Integrations
Company Information
TortoiseSVN
Founded: 2004
tortoisesvn.net/TortoiseMerge.html
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Product Details
Platforms Supported
Windows
Training
Documentation
Support
Online