Comparing documents
- Matthew Lynch (Unlicensed)
- Benjamin Brown
- Edward Griffiths
- Matt Lynch
You can compare two document versions in a project, creating a new version 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.
On the Project tab, next to the document version which you wish to compare, select "Compare version" from the Actions menu.
In the 'Compare document versions' dialogue box, select the working / snapshot version or significant version you want to compare it to.
You can provide a name for this new compared document, or one will be assigned automatically.
Click Compare.
A new document version will be created, in the folder “Compare” containing the comparison between the two documents. 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.
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.
Hints and Tips
If you compare a version of a document in which the Table of Contents has been re-inserted, the whole of the Table of Contents will be marked as a change.
You can move the generated comparison documents out of the ‘Compare’ folder and into other folders. See the steps described here: https://lawmaker.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/USERMANUAL/pages/688786/Documents+and+folders+on+the+Project+Tab#How-to-move-a-working-version-to-another-folder
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, 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.
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 which occur behind-the-scenes in the document XML when 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.