Comparison of 2 text files. Comparing files in Linux. How to compare two text fragments

Free solutions

Data synchronization requires programmers to system administrators both time and relevant skills. However, the correct selection of tools is no less important. Version control, working with projects, backup, merging and visual comparison of files is far from full list tasks related to synchronization in one way or another.

The guide includes 10 programs that can be called universal in many respects: they are not tied to a specific service or application, they allow you to perform the above (and less specialized) tasks not only through GUI, but also in the mode command line.

The comparison criteria are as follows:

• Interface: support for display modes, saving sessions, customization options for toolbars and columns
• Functionality text editor, working with source code
• Merge and synchronization methods, three-way comparison capability
• Export reports, create patches (diff)
• Additional functions: integration with third party applications, support for extensions, protocols, etc.

SmartSynchronize

SmartSynchronize is a cross-platform program for comparing data, directory structures and their contents. In fact, the program is free for non-commercial use, however, a single-user license costs 39 USD.

Comparison modes are presented in the program's welcome window. In addition to the file selection dialog, you can view the history and select a saved profile. Also in the Preferences you can configure filters: file filters - to filter out files by name and extension, and directory filters - allow you to create a list of exceptions.

To compare files, a two-panel side-by-side mode is used with synchronous scrolling of the contents of both panels. Symbols There's not much in SmartSynchronize, but thanks to the linking lines, comparison and merge operations are very intuitive. SmartSynchronize specifies where and in what direction a section will be added from one file to another. Inserting text is done with one click, eliminating the need for a context menu.

Document encoding and syntax can be defined manually, syntax highlighting is provided for many programming and markup languages, line numbering and other editing functions inherent in integrated development environments (IDEs).

Overall, SmartSynchronize is highly customizable, but all settings are distributed across different sections of the menu, which takes some getting used to. There are not enough display modes or toolbar settings.

In the directory comparison mode, a list of files and the status for each of them is displayed; a preview is available at the bottom of the window. The comparison method - by content or only by size and time - is determined in the Edit → Preferences settings. The number of information columns (file type, date) cannot be increased, although existing ones can be disabled.

SmartSynchronize implements one-way data merging with left or right sides, and normal synchronization. The configuration can be saved for later loading by taking a photo file structure. As the developers explain, the program does not recognize file attributes, so there is no point in using it as a backup utility. Working with archives is also not provided, as well as with remote directories.

In addition to the above, there is an additional, three-way merging method - 3-Way-Merge, which allows you to merge differences between multiple versions of files, with each of the three documents being editable independently of each other.

Comparison functions are undoubtedly in demand by programmers during version control. Therefore, in conclusion, it is worth referring to an alternative solution from the same company -. The program is a CVS client with integrated SmartSynchronize tools.

Summary. SmartSynchronize offers good tools for working with files and directories, which in some places cannot be customized and does not go beyond the basic capabilities.

[+] Three-way merger
[+] Convenient text editor
[−] Lack of documentation
[−] Inability to synchronize remote directories and archives

WinMerge

WinMerge is a program for comparing and merging files and directories in Windows. It can be used as a standalone tool or in conjunction with projects. WinMerge has a built-in text editor with support for programming languages, highlighting and line numbering.

There are two modes of working with data, combined into a dialog for selecting files and folders. When comparing, two types of filters are available: file filters and string filters. This allows you to use various add-ons and operate regular expressions, filtering out the necessary data types during comparison.

In file comparison mode, both files are displayed in the window, on the left and right sides. For easy navigation through the content, a map (“Locations”) is provided. Lines that have differences are marked in color and can also be viewed in the Differences panel. Basic merging operations are available in the Merge section.

The functionality of the text editor deserves special attention. The appearance can be modified. In addition to syntax highlighting and line numbering, work with scripts is provided, and functionality can be expanded through add-ons. Additions relate to the unpacker, viewer and script editor.

When comparing directories, the results are displayed in a tabulated list. It contains information about the name of the file (directory), its location, the result of the comparison, date, extension and other information. You can customize the display using columns. If necessary, you can activate recursive mode or switch to a tree view for easy navigation.

WinMerge allows you to perform the same tasks different ways- including using drag and drop or through the Explorer context menu. You can create projects for quick access to data and settings. WinMerge works in command line mode, and the program can also be used in conjunction with version control systems (TortoiseSVN, Visual Studio, Rational ClearCase, etc.).

Summary. WinMerge is a program primarily focused on working with projects. SVN integration, a functional editor, filters and extensions all perfectly complement the basic data comparison capabilities.

[+] Support for extensions
[+] Functional editor
[+] Integration with third-party applications
[−] No three-way comparison

Meld

Meld is a cross-platform program (OS X, Linux, Windows) for synchronizing files and directories. With its help, both two- and three-way comparisons are carried out. First of all, the Meld toolkit will be useful to developers, since integration with version control systems is possible: Git, Bazaar, Mercurial, Subversion and others.

Despite supporting multiple platforms, the application is far from stable on Windows. For example, tabs and windows do not always open and close correctly. The problems may be related to the PyGTK library included in the installer. It was not possible to launch the program immediately and only as an administrator. Errors occur all the time, as evidenced by this.

When comparing files, you can use a text filter or search (regex syntax is supported). Syntax highlighting is provided (a library is used), line numbering, space counting and other options that need to be activated through the settings, since they are disabled by default. Insertions, changes and conflicts in the document are highlighted, you can quickly navigate through the list of changes and export in diff format. The connection between files can be easily tracked using connecting lines and the required sections can be merged with one click.

Scanning directory files is very slow. This is because the comparison is based on content rather than size and timestamp. The problem can be solved by checking the box next to the corresponding option in the settings. The set of available speakers is very limited: size, modification date and resolutions. Although you can use a file filter, viewing a long list of files still turns into a routine process: you cannot instantly stop scanning, collapse the file tree, or quickly move to the desired elements.

Developers will be interested in the third operating mode of the application - Version Control View. Meld supports a command line interface, so it integrates with Git, Bazaar, Mercurial, Subversion and many others.

Summary. The Meld program has proven itself well in the Linux environment, which cannot be said about functioning on Windows. Unstable operation and inconvenient interface, lack of sessions, insufficient configuration flexibility... On the other hand, the program's tools are not bad, and a high-quality adaptation of Meld for Windows is perhaps only a matter of time.

[+] Three-way comparison
[+] Support for version control systems
[−] Slow and unstable performance in Windows
[−] Inconvenient and uninformative interface

Diffuse

Diffuse is a cross-platform product for Windows, OS X, Linux and BSD, with an interface similar to Meld (based on the PyGTK library), but with functional differences. Integration with Bazaar, CVS, Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Monotone, RCS, Subversion and other environments is announced.

Continuing the comparison with Meld: Diffuse is characterized by stability, there are no sudden freezes. Detailed documentation is available, the interface has been translated into Russian. However, directory comparison is not included in the toolkit; the program only includes functions for comparing files and editing them. In Diffuse, you can find several merging modes: - two-, three- and multi-way. Thus, there can be any number of sources of comparison, the only question is speed and convenience. Regarding the second aspect, we can only say that there are no sessions here - accordingly, working with large projects in Diffuse is questionable.

Differences are marked in color, a Comparison Summary is available near the scroll bar, and buttons on the control panel are used to navigate through the list of changes. Line numbering and syntax highlighting with the ability to manually switch are enabled by default. Unlike other similar editors, in Diffuse you cannot immediately select an arbitrary section of text; to do this, you need to double-click on the content. Otherwise, you can select text and perform other actions only line by line.

Obviously, in Diffuse there are no differences between files, so merging lines is done in a less intuitive way. All available commands are collected in the “Merge” section, where you need to go every time if there are no commands in context menu. In SmartSynchronize or other mentioned solutions, many operations are performed in one click.

Working with version control systems is possible via the command line; a list of commands with descriptions is given in.

Summary. This kind of functionality is in demand when merging several text documents. The program does not have the disadvantages inherent in Diffuse's closest analogue - Meld. But, unfortunately, comparison of directories and reporting were left out.

[+] Convenient work with strings
[+] CVS integration
[+] Multi-window merge
[−] No sessions
[−] Marking changes is not intuitive

Perforce P4 Merge

P4Merge is not often mentioned among other free products (for example, compared to WinMerge). In addition, it is not easy to find this program among other components of the Perforce complex. Perforce is a commercial cross-platform version control system with a wide range of applications, not least due to plugins and integration with various products (IntelliJ IDEA, Autodesk 3D Studio Max, Maya, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Eclipse, emacs, etc.). However, P4 Merge can work autonomously from the Perforce server; just download the program from the developer’s website to use it for free.

The main operations are file comparison (Diff) and merging (Merge). The document editor is extremely simple: there is numbering, but no syntax highlighting. You cannot edit files in two panels on the fly; you need to select one of the panels, enable editing mode and then save the changes. The differences are marked, and navigation buttons are provided to navigate between them. The easiest way to navigate changes is using connecting lines. In general, the P4 Merge interface is not convenient enough: there is no summary of the differences, statistics on changes are presented as a summary figure, without detail, and to view the changes you need to use a manual update.

When listing other features of the program, it is worth mentioning image comparison. In this mode, two useful functions were discovered: highlighting differences and merging two files into one. At the same time, it is not clear why the editor menu contains unused commands, such as changing encoding, comparison methods, and others that relate to comparing text files, but not images.

Summary. Of course, P4 Merge has many functional limitations, especially when compared to paid products. The application can be considered purely as an addition to the Perforce server. Perhaps, in search of the necessary tools, you should pay attention to other components available on the developer’s website.

[+] Merge diagram in Merge mode
[−] Poor functionality
[−] Inability to edit on the fly
[−] Lack of merge commands

Laziness is the engine of progress, no matter how strange it may sound, some inventions greatly simplify our lives. In my article I want to tell you how to compare two files in accessible ways.
I decided to write about this after one case when I needed to find out what changes the developers made to the procedure for the database during a new update.

And two programs that have been with me for a long time helped me with this:
1.Total Commander
2. Notepad++

Comparing files in TotalCommander

Let's say we already have two files that we need to compare.
1.Then select them in TotalCommander

2. Go to the FILE menu — -> Compare by content.

3. In the window that opens, we have two areas in each of which the contents of the files are visible.

As a result, lines with changes are highlighted in gray, specific differences are highlighted in red.

To move to the next block of differences or return to the previous one in TotalCommander, there are “Next difference” and “Previous difference” buttons in the menu. Here you can activate the editing mode by clicking the “Edit” button, after which you can change the font, copy lines from window to window, and in case of an erroneous action there is a saving “Rollback” button.

After editing, the program will ask what to do with the files: save or not save.

Comparing files in Notepad++

Notepad++ in my opinion is the best notepad that everyone should have. It has great functionality that can be expanded with plugins.

So, how can Notepad++ help us compare files? The answer is simple: you need to download the required plugin.

Open the item “Plugins” -> “Plugin Manager” -> “Show Plugin Manager”.

A large list of various plugins will appear in the manager that opens. Select " Compare " and install.

1. open two files in Notepad++.
2. We make sure that both files are open in tabs next to each other.
3. On the menu bar, go to Plugins -> Compare -> Compare, or use the hot keys – Alt + D and launch the plugin.

In the window that opens, as in TotalComander, We have two areas in each of which the contents of the files are visible.

Red minuses - what was deleted,

Yellow exclamation marks- what has changed.

Exiting Compare mode via the Plugins menu –> Compare – > Clear Results, or Ctrl + Alt + D.

An online service for comparing two texts based on the percentage of similarity in content. Comparison of texts is based on the coincidence of individual words in texts, without taking into account stop words, and the rearrangement of words is ignored. This verification method is the most accurate compared to other methods.

For comparison, fill out both fields of the form.

Comparison of two texts

Analysis of text comparison will be of interest to optimizers, copywriters and rewriters. Stop and identical words, for convenience and better perception, are highlighted with the ability to change color. It is possible to analyze text up to 20,000 characters long. Statistics are kept on the total number of words in both texts and vocabulary (without noisy words). If the percentage of similarity is about 50%, then most likely search engines will ignore the article, considering it a duplicate. We must strive for at least 20% similarity or 80% difference in comparative texts.

To compare texts there is no need to download and install additional programs. Our resource is available 24 hours 7 days a week and is free to use.

Instructions for using the service:

1. In the first field, enter the reference text.
2. In the second field, enter the changed text.
3. Click the button compare texts.

In a moment you will receive the result of comparing the similarity of texts.

In addition to webmasters, the tool will also be useful for students.

Compare is one of the most useful plugins. And if you need to compare 2 files in Notepad++, compare is what you need.

In order to compare files in notepad++, let’s check if the plugin is installed. To do this, open the plugins tab. If it is not installed, go to the Plugin Manager: Plugins - Plugin Manager - Compare - Install. After installing the plugin, the editor will reboot.

In notepad++, comparing files is quite simple: open the two files that need to be compared, press Ctrl+Alt+1 or perform an action in the menu.

After this, we have three sections of the window: the first file, the second and the Compare NavBar in which differences in documents, if any, are graphically marked. Thus, we compared two files Notepad++ editor.

In notepad++, comparing two files turned out to be quite simple, as you can see, the notepad++ editor carries out a line-by-line comparison of files with highlighting of lines with different code. For me, as for many webmasters, this editor is the best.

Often when working you have to compare various modifications of documents, for example, the original and modified editions of materials prepared in Word or in the form of PDF documents or presentations, working and updated versions price lists with changed prices in Excel, different versions of text documents, etc. In this case, the question is not which version of the files is more recent (this is already clear from the properties of the files), but what is important is what exactly has changed in the documents in terms of content. Comparing documents manually is a thankless task because it takes too much time and the possibility of errors, because it’s easy not to notice some important detail when viewing. It is much more reasonable to delegate the task of comparing files to a computer. In general, in terms of comparing Word documents, everything is going quite well even without the use of auxiliary tools, although in versions Word 2002 and Word 2003 this opportunity it is reliably hidden from prying eyes, and probably not many users are even aware of its existence. The fact is that to compare documents here you must first download the source file. Then, from the Tools menu, open the Compare and Merge Corrections command, specify the file to compare with the original, and enable the Black Lines checkbox. Only after these manipulations will the “Merge” button turn into the “Compare” button, and when you click on this button, the program will compare the files.

The results of the comparison will be shown in the newly created document in traditional review mode. With the advent of Word 2007, everything has become much easier, since now you just need to switch to the "Review" tab, click on the "Compare" button and specify the versions of the document you are comparing. The result of the comparison will be presented in a new document, where the reviewed document will be displayed on the left, taking into account the changes, and on the right (one above the other) the original and changed documents. Theoretically, in Excel it is also possible to compare documents using built-in tools, however, only when working in the mode of recording changes. However, this is inconvenient, since each of the changed cells will have to be viewed by hovering the mouse over it, since changes made to the document are displayed in pop-up windows (about the same as regular notes).

Secondly, if the named mode is not first enabled (command "Tools" > "Corrections" > "Select corrections", checkbox "Track corrections"), then it will be impossible to compare XLS files.

As for quickly comparing PDF documents, this feature, of course, is available in Acrobat 9 Pro and Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, but these solutions are not installed on every computer. Therefore, if you need to quickly compare Excel tables, PDF documents, presentations, as well as documents in other formats, in particular, text files and program codes, you have to resort to using additional tools. There are many options here, and these can be either complex solutions that allow you to work with several file formats, or highly specialized utilities. A considerable part of such solutions are offered for decent money - for example, the price of one of the most famous complex solutions in this area, Diff Doc, is $99.95, and the Araxis Merge utility, which is very popular among programmers, is priced at €119. At the same time, there are also quite affordable or generally available on the market. free programs of a similar plan, it is precisely such solutions that we will evaluate in this article. At the same time, we will focus on complex solutions, and among highly specialized tools we will note only utilities for quick comparison Excel tables because it is one of the most current issues, and comparing Excel documents with complex solutions, although possible, is less effective than using highly specialized utilities.

⇡ Comprehensive solutions for quick comparison of documents

Compare Suite 7.0

After selecting the comparison method, in the “File” menu you need to select the “New file comparison” command and indicate the files to compare in the left and right panels. The program will analyze the files and highlight all existing differences (added, changed and deleted fragments) in different colors. Additionally, you can create a comparison report with detailed information about the files being compared (command "File" > "Report"). When comparing files other than text, you should keep in mind that their comparison in all complex solutions (both in Compare Suite and in other utilities) is carried out after conversion to text format. In practice, this means, for example, that if in the compared versions of a Word document the same word in a particular sentence appears on different lines, then it will be included in the list of changes. When comparing XLS documents, data from tables is extracted before analysis, and the differences found are displayed line by line in text format, indicating the sheet name and column names, which allows you to navigate the data. The same scheme is used to compare PDF documents and PowerPoint presentations.

Compare It! 4.1.2174

Developer: Grig Software
Distribution size: 1.79 MB
Spreading: shareware Compare It! - a convenient tool for quickly comparing files of various formats, including text files, MS Word and MS Excel documents, RTF documents, files in PDF formats, etc. It is possible to compare files in binary mode, files in ZIP archives, and compare folders . When comparing program listings in C++, Java, C#, Delphi, HTML, syntax highlighting is provided. The demo version of the program (available in Russian localization) is operational for 30 days and is fully functional. The cost of the commercial version is $29. It is offered on the website grigsoft.ru and in the Softkey.ru store outdated version of this utility (3.86) for 300 rubles. (home license) or 400 rub. (commercial license). This version supports smaller list file formats(in particular, it cannot be used to compare DOCX, XLSX documents) and there may be problems with comparing a number of XLS files. By default, Compare It! launches with an English interface. To switch to the Russian interface, select the menu "Options" > "Options", on the "Language" tab, set the "Russian" option and restart the program. File comparison options are set in the Preferences dialog box (Settings > Preferences) on the Compare tab. Here you can configure the program to ignore spaces, special escape characters, line breaks, etc. when comparing, and also enable/disable the so-called Alternative Comparison, designed to make modified strings easier to read and useful for comparing source code.

To compare files in Compare It! You need to select the “Compare files” command in the “File” menu and specify the documents being compared one after another (you can do it right away if the files are in the same folder). After this, the utility will load the files into the left and right panels and immediately highlight the identified differences in them. Differences in text fragments in the compared documents are highlighted in color, and fragments missing from one of the files are conventionally displayed as a shaded area. Information about differences can be saved as a report (File menu > Report). Comparison of non-text documents is usually implemented, that is, after conversion to text format. Note that when comparing Excel documents, columns are even maintained, which we really liked and was not noted in other similar solutions. But the results of comparing Word and PDF documents were not very inspiring. The fact is that in this utility the principle of displaying differences is somewhat different - fragments with changes are highlighted completely. If when comparing program code and Excel tables did not seem inconvenient to us, but when comparing documents with paragraphs it did not cause delight. And for the simple reason that in the end too much text ends up being highlighted, and your eyes just get tired. But, alas, exactly this principle selection seems to be considered the norm by developers, since in other utilities discussed below, we encountered a similar situation.

Beyond Compare 3.1.9

In principle, through the “Data Compare” module in the utility, it is possible to compare tables, but only if two conditions are met. Firstly, we are talking about comparing completely identical documents in which individual values ​​(say, prices) have simply been changed, and not about tables in which columns or rows have been added or deleted. Second, the tables must be in data files (say, CSV), meaning that you will first have to save them in CSV format before comparing Excel tables. Of course, this is not a very convenient option, and the results are given somewhat specifically - with row offsets, but it still works. Switching between the "Text Compare", "Data Compare" and other modules is done through the "Session" > "New Session" menu. If you do not do this, but simply open new files for comparison, then the utility will compare them using the templates of the previously activated module. If the listed options for comparing documents are not enough, then you should turn to plugins, thanks to which the utility will learn to compare documents of other formats. After downloading, the plugins need to be connected using the "Tools" > "Import Settings" command and specifying the appropriate plugin on your hard drive. Having carried out a similar operation, we tried to compare Word and Excel documents using the "Text Compare" module - the results turned out to be quite decent, although the Beyond Compare developers are overly keen on completely selecting fragments with the presence of changes.

WinMerge 2.12.4

Developer: Thingamahoochie Software
Distribution size: 3.06 MB
Spreading: free WinMerge - simple utility for visual comparison of text documents (Windows, Unix and Mac), distributed under the GNU/GPL license. When comparing program codes, syntax highlighting is provided for a number of programming languages, including C++, C#, Delphi, Visual Basic and XML/HTML. It is possible to compare folders. The functionality of the utility can be expanded by connecting plugins. For example, the xdocdiff plugin will allow you to use the utility to compare Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, PDF files, as well as a number of others. The program (available in Russian language localization) can be downloaded and used completely free of charge. To compare text documents in WinMerge, just use the “File” > “Open” command and specify the files being compared in the “Left” and “Right” fields. After this, the utility will produce a result in which in each of the compared documents all different lines will be highlighted. The program can also show in more detail the differences within the line specified to it (in a special area at the bottom of the main window), for which you just need to double-click on the line of interest. Plugins (there are only two of them on the developer’s website so far) are not included in the package, and therefore are downloaded and installed (with subsequent copying of the files and folders specified in the instructions to the utility folder) separately. Their use is not entirely obvious. For example, in order to make it possible to compare documents using the xdocdiff plugin, you need to additionally specify its unpacker in the file opening window.

After this, WinMerge begins to compare Word documents no worse than commercial solutions. We were also impressed by the results of comparing Excel tables, which were also at the level of commercial analogues. As for PDF files, the experiment with our test files failed. And this is not surprising - the fact is that converting such documents into a text format is quite difficult to implement in practice, due to the specific structure of the PDF format. As a result, the presence of the declared support of this format in a particular utility does not indicate a 100% comparison of any PDF files without exception. This is exactly what happened in the WinMerge program, to which we (as well as our competitors) initially fed PDF files that were not generated in Adobe Acrobat, and in the Document2PDF Pilot utility that is at hand. And only after we were not too lazy to install the Adobe Acrobat Pro package and create test files in it, WinMerge demonstrated its ability to compare PDF documents.

Active File Compare 2.0

File comparison results are displayed with special icons to the left of the text. There are two such icons - a “red triangle” signals the presence of differences in the corresponding line, and a “cross on a yellow background” indicates an empty line.

⇡ Tools for quickly comparing Excel tables

Compare Spreadsheets for Excel 1.1.5

Then you need to decide what to focus on (looking for deleted, added or changed rows or columns) and choose a comparison method. The simple cell overlay method searches only for changed cells, while the alignment method searches not only for changed cells, but also for deleted and added cells.

After this, you need to specify which columns or rows of the left range of cells should be compared with the rows or columns of the right range of cells, and configure the comparison parameters - by formulas or values, whether to take into account case and/or cell format. If desired, at the last stage you can adjust the report parameters, that is appearance highlighting of added, deleted and changed cells. The result of the comparison opens in a separate window, with added cells highlighted by default green, deleted ones are in blue, and changed ones are outlined in a red frame, which in practice turns out to be very convenient for perception.

Excel Compare 2.3

Upon completion of the analysis, a new workbook with a difference report will be created, in which the unique data in the first and second compared ranges (or sheets as a whole) will be marked in green and blue. Theoretically, the data obtained during comparison (deleted, added and changed) can be divided into three separate sheets, but for this, the corresponding checkbox must be enabled in the comparison settings window.

Xc Excel Compare Tools 1.0

Developer: xcexcelcompare
Distribution size: 39.7 kb
Spreading: free xc Excel Compare Tools is a macro designed to quickly compare specified working Excel documents - sheets or workbooks; in this case, not only values, but also formulas can be compared. This macro (there is no Russian localization) can be downloaded and used completely free of charge. Before running a workbook with a macro, you need to change the macro security level to "medium" by selecting the corresponding checkbox in the "Security" window, called by the command "Tools" > "Macro" > "Security". After launching a workbook with a macro in Excel, an additional xcCompare Tools toolbar will appear.

This macro is quite convenient for comparing completely identical documents (price lists), in which individual values, say, prices, have simply been changed. To carry out such a comparison, you need to click on the “Compare” button and specify the source books in the window that opens. In the case of comparing books, you can immediately click on the “Compare Book” button, and when comparing sheets, you must additionally highlight the sheets and click on the “Compare Sheet” button. If necessary, in the same settings window you can adjust what needs to be compared - values ​​or formulas.

The generated difference report is created in a separate Excel workbook, in which cells with differing data are displayed, indicating the row and column numbers of these cells and the values ​​in them.

At the same time, different cells in the compared documents are highlighted, which allows you to instantly find your bearings.

But comparing Excel documents in which columns or rows have been added/deleted is not very convenient here. The fact is that xc Excel Compare Tools “does not understand” these kinds of differences and simply records the different values ​​in the report.

Spreadsheet Compare 1.15

Then you need to configure the comparison areas and define the parameters of the report to be created and click on the "Compare" button. At the end of the analysis, which takes longer than in the other solutions considered, all the different cells in the original table will be marked with color. In addition, a resulting table with the corrected values ​​will be created in the new workbook. And the generated differences report will indicate the numbers and values ​​of the differing cells.

As practice has shown, this plugin can be used to analyze identical tables with values ​​that have changed in some cells. But comparing tables with added and/or deleted columns/rows will be ineffective, since the plugin “does not understand” such operations and simply conscientiously records different values.

⇡ Conclusion

We tried to consider the most affordable or even free solutions for quickly comparing documents. At the same time, we limited ourselves to only the very minimum information about each of them and are well aware that the description, for example, of tools such as Compare Suite or Beyond Compare turned out to be somewhat modest. But we did not set out to describe all the capabilities of the programs under consideration, but limited ourselves only to the functions that are of interest in the context of this article, that is, a quick comparison of documents. In conclusion, I would like to note that, in our opinion, it is still more convenient to compare Word documents using the editor itself, since in utilities that provide comparison of this kind of files, the latter are first converted into text format with all the ensuing consequences. That is, completely identical words that appear on adjacent lines in the compared documents are identified as different, which complicates working with documents. With regard to all other formats considered, it is impossible to do without specialized programs for quickly comparing documents. If you have to deal with different formats at work, you need to focus on programs such as Compare Suite, Compare It!, Beyond Compare or WinMerge (see Table 1). And if you only need to compare Excel tables, then it is better to use one of the utilities specifically designed to work with such data (see Table 2), since the effectiveness of comparing tables in them is not comparable to comparing tables using complex solutions. Regarding whether it is worth purchasing paid program or limit yourself to free or simply cheaper, but theoretically having similar (within the framework of document comparison) functionality, then everything is not entirely obvious. Take, for example, the Compare Suite and WinMerge solutions. Both utilities have a Russian-language interface and can compare text files, program listings (with syntax highlighting in a variety of languages), Word and Excel documents, PowerPoint presentations and files in PDF formats. Only the first one is offered for $60, and the second one is free. It is clear that the majority will immediately choose WinMerge, but this will not be for everyone the right decision. Why? The fact is that by installing Compare Suite, you can immediately begin solving the main task, that is, comparing documents. At the same time, having chosen WinMerge, you will first have to deal with the configuration nuances color scheme, because by default they are extremely unsuccessful and do not allow you to instantly capture with your gaze the fragments that differ in the compared documents. And then you will also have to worry about the problem of downloading and configuring plugins, without which the utility’s capabilities will be limited only to comparing text documents. Well, in addition, do not forget that Compare Suite has three methods for comparing files and a more convenient principle for recording differences, which makes the comparison process more efficient. So you have to pay for the pleasure of working immediately and comfortably.

Table 1. Utility functionality for quick document comparison

table 2. Utility functionality for quickly comparing Excel tables