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How to merge two documents into one

Owned by Matt Lynch
15 Sept 2023
2 min read

This guide explains how to merge the content of two documents (e.g. two Bills or two SIs) into one document.

It assumes that you will create a third document containing the merged provisions.

Step 1

Make sure the two documents you want to merge are in the same project.

If they are in different projects, then use the Copy document to another project feature on the Project Tab to copy one of them into the same project as the other - see Copying a document to another project .

Step 2

Create an empty document in the project that you can use to contain the merged provisions.

You can do this from the Project Tab - see Creating an empty document in a project.

Step 3

Open the new, empty document in the Editor - see Opening a document in the Editor .

Step 4

In the Tools menu select Copy provisions between documents

In the dialog box that appears, select Pull from the options at the top.

In the Target dropdown menu, select the name of the first document you want to merge.

Select all the provision of that first document (or those you want to merge)

Click Copy.

Repeat these steps for the second document you want to merge.

The end result should be all the provisions in both documents combined in the document you have open in the Editor. Any schedules will have been placed at the end but otherwise the provisions from the second document should follow those from the first.

See Copying provisions between documents - push/pull

Issues you may encounter

  • If the top-level provision is different in the two documents, e.g. if one document is divided into Parts but the other is not, then the structure of the combined document may end up being invalid.

  • To avoid this, edit the documents first (e.g. by wrapping provisions in one document in a Part so it matches the other document) before merging.

  • Alternatively, you are more likely to get a valid result if you merge the document containing divisions like Parts before you merge a document that doesn’t contain divisions - in that case the provisions from the latter document will be merged into the last Part from the first document.