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Introduction

You can compare two document versions in a project to create , creating a new version showing that shows the differences as tracked changes.

How to compare documents

It is recommended to compare a newer document with an older version in order to see the marked-up changes most intuitively.

  1. On the Project tab,

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  1. next to the document version

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  1. which you wish to compare, select "Compare version" from the Actions menu

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  1. .

  2. In the 'Compare document versions' dialogue box, select the

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  1. working / snapshot version or

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  1. significant version you want to compare it to.

  2. You can provide a name for this new compared document, or one will be assigned automatically.

  3. Click Compare.

A new document version will be created, in the folder “Compare” containing the comparison between the two documents.

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Open it in the Editor to view the marked-up changes.

Reviewing changes in a Compare document

You can use the Compare function as an alternative to working with Tracked Changes

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.

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The logic works best if you select 'Compare version' on the newer document version and then select the older version to compare it with in the dialogue box.

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You can compare documents that are significant versions, working versions or snapshot versions or a mixture.

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Compare allows you to accept or reject changes between a newer and an older version of a document.

  • In the editor, navigate to the ‘Review’ panel on the right-hand side.

  • Use the icons beneath each marked-up change to Reply, Accept, Reject or Mark the change as done.

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Info

Hints and Tips

Note

There are some limitations in the Compare feature, which will be refined in future releases. It is best if the differences between documents compared are not too extensive. Known issues include:

  • If you insert or delete a

    quoted structure

    Quoted Structure, the text before it will also be marked up in an insert/delete tracked change due to the way the XML is constructed.  We will refine this logic in future so that only the quoted structure is marked as inserted/deleted.

  • Moving provision around the document

    Repositioning provisions in the document or adding new Parts, Chapters and cross-heading groupings around existing provisions can create more tracked changes than expected in the comparison output. This is due to the changes

    going on

    which occur behind-the-scenes in the document XML

    .  We have caught the main provisions but there are some that are likely to need further refinement.  The one we know about is moving definitions around in a list.  It can result in lots of tracked changes appearing within the list of definitions and we will be working on refining this for the next release.  If you spot anything similar when moving different provisions around your document, please report it to us.

  • It's possible to accept/reject changes using the 'Review' right-hand panel in your compare document version if required.

  • You can move 'compare' documents into other folderswhen moving provisions around or modifying the overall structure of a document.

We welcome any feedback relating to unclear comparison outputs - please let the Lawmaker team know if too much text is marked as having changed between versions, and we will try to refine the comparison algorithm appropriately.