Comparing and Merging Documents

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At times, you might want to expedite a reviewing process by sending reviewers separate copies of an original document. Then, when reviewers return the documents, you can merge their changes into the original version of the document or compare their changes side by side. In this section of the chapter, we look at merging and comparing documents after changes have been recorded.

Merging Documents

When you merge document revisions, you can merge any number of changed documents into a single document that will show each reviewer's changes.

Note 

Although it's best if reviewers work with Track Changes enabled when you're planning to merge documents, Word can detect and show changes even if a reviewer didn't turn on the Track Changes feature.

To merge comments and changes from several reviewers into one document, follow these steps:

  1. Open the document into which you want to merge changes. Most likely, this will be the original version of the document you sent to reviewers.

  2. Choose Tools, Compare And Merge Documents. The Compare And Merge Documents dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 27-19.

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    Figure 27-19: The Compare And Merge Documents dialog box looks similar to the Open dialog box, but it provides a couple of special merge-specific commands in the lower-right corner.

  3. Navigate to and select the document that has changes to be merged.

  4. Click the Merge button arrow and choose Merge Into Current Document on the menu, as shown in Figure 27-20.


    Figure 27-20: The Merge button enables you to control how Word merges the current and selected documents.

  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to merge other reviewers' edits into the current document.

When you merge documents, you might see a message box stating that the documents being merged have one or more conflicting formatting changes, as shown in Figure 27-21. Word can store only one set of formatting changes at a time. When you merge multiple documents, you might have to choose whether you'd like to keep formatting from the current document (Your Document) or use the formatting in the document being merged (The Other Document). Select the document you want to use for formatting changes, and then click Continue With Merge. If you click Cancel, the merge procedure is aborted. If you don't want to incorporate formatting changes from the merged documents, you can clear the Find Formatting check box in the Compare And Merge Documents dialog box (shown previously in Figure 27-19) before you conduct a merge procedure.

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Figure 27-21: If you attempt to merge two documents with differing formatting, Word requires you to specify which document's formatting should take precedence.

Tip 

For best results when merging changes from multiple reviewers, choose Tools, Options, click the Security tab, and verify that the Store Random Number To Improve Merge Accuracy check box in the Privacy Options section is selected.

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Displaying Changes Between Two Documents in a Separate File

You can use the Legal Blackline option in the Compare And Merge Documents dialog box to compare two documents and display the changes in a separate file. When you do this, both documents remain unaltered and a new third document is created automatically. In the third document, the changes in the baseline document are accepted, and the changes in the compared document appear as tracked changes. You should use this option only when you're comparing two documents. If you need to compare more than two documents, you should use a different merge option, such as the Merge Into New Document option on the Merge menu in the Compare And Merge Documents dialog box.

To use the Legal Blackline option, follow these steps:

  1. Open the baseline document, and choose Tools, Compare And Merge Documents.

  2. In the Compare And Merge Documents dialog box, select the document you want to compare with the open document, select the Legal Blackline check box, and then click Compare.

  3. If either or both of the documents has tracked changes, you'll see a message box stating that Word will treat the tracked changes as if they've been accepted. Click Yes to continue the comparing procedure.

The new document displays the changed text in an unnamed document file. You'll need to save and name the file if you want to store the file for future use.

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Note 

If you've used the Versions command on the File menu to save versions of a document in one file and you want to compare the current version with an earlier saved version, you can do so. First you need to save the earlier version as a separate file using a different name. Then you can compare the current document with the newly created file. For more information about working with versions of documents, see "Working with Multple Versions of a Document".

Comparing Documents Side by Side

 New Feature   At times, you might want to compare documents without merging them. In Word 2003, you can easily compare two documents side by side. Using this feature, you can view and scroll through two documents at the same time to review differences between the two documents.

To use the Compare Side By Side feature, you must have at least two documents open. If you have more than two documents open, you can choose which two documents you want to compare by using the Window menu.

When you compare two documents side by side, Word displays the two documents vertically side by side along with the Compare Side By Side toolbar. The Compare Side By Side toolbar contains the following three buttons:

  • Synchronous Scrolling Enables you to control whether both documents should scroll simultaneously when you navigate through the documents.

  • Reset Window Position Returns the view to showing the two documents vertically side by side on-screen.

  • Close Side By Side Closes the side-by-side display and closes the Compare Side By Side toolbar.

When the Synchronous Scrolling option is turned on, you can use scrollbars, navigation keys (such as Page Up and Page Down), the Go To dialog box, mouse scroll wheels, and other document navigation tools to move through both documents simultaneously. In addition, you can change the view in both windows by changing the view in one window. For example, if both windows display the documents in Print Layout View, you can click the Normal View button in the horizontal scrollbar in one window, and both windows will change to Normal view. When the Synchronous Scrolling option is turned off, you can navigate through either document without changing the other document's view. Figure 27-22 shows two documents being compared side by side in Normal view along with the Compare Side By Side toolbar.

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Figure 27-22: The Compare Side By Side feature in Word 2003 simplifies the task of viewing and navigating through two documents at once.

To compare two documents side by side, follow these steps:

  1. Open both documents.

  2. If you have more than two documents open, make one of the documents you want to compare the active document.

  3. Choose Window, Compare Side By Side With…. Note that if you only have two documents open, the name of the other document will appear in the Window menu, in the following format: Compare Side By Side With document name.

When you finish comparing the two documents, click Close Side By Side on the Compare Side By Side toolbar. The windows will return to their previous sizes without closing. The document that is active when you close the side-by-side view displays as the active document. You can continue to access open documents by using the Window menu in Word.

Tip 

Reopen the Compare Side By Side toolbar  If you close the Compare Side By Side toolbar, you can reopen it later by using the Customize dialog box. To do so, choose Tools, Customize, click the Toolbars tab if necessary, select the Compare Side By Side check box, and then click Close.



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Microsoft Office Word 2003 Inside Out
Microsoft Office Word 2003 Inside Out (Bpg-Inside Out)
ISBN: 0735615152
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 373

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