Virus Scan for Compare Text With Florencesoft TextDiff

Brenda Adams Text is small. How can I enlarge text in order to read screens easily? I have searched the one page of Options and have tried right-clicking, have searched the icons, nothing let's me choose font in order to enlarge it all around the software or even any particular spot or window. Help please. Thanks.

Jan 12 2020 at 2:26am Copy Link

0

Brenda Adams Just loaded trial. Must say the differences do show up nicely using your program. When I do a side-by-side comparison, I do notice one drawback for me, it isn't letting me edit at all. No fixes allowed, etc, to either of the sides. Is there any editing allowed? I need to compare Before and After's and make edits to the After's then Save them. That is how I use my current comparison program. Again, nice showing of the differences. Clever.

Jan 12 2020 at 2:45am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Brenda, to make the text larger in the difference reports, simply press both the Ctrl and + keys at once. Each double-press will make the text larger. To make the text smaller use Ctrl - . To make the text the original size use Ctrl 0.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 2:54am Copy Link

0

Gary Smith Since this is version 1.0.0.1, it is a low version number, which implies that it might not be fully mature and bug-free.

The Fine Print does not explain what happens with updates (minor version numbers) and upgrades (major version number) changes.

Will all future updates and upgrades be available for free? Otherwise, I see the possibility of a certain degree of risk for the user when purchasing a product with a low version number.

Looking forward to your response, and thanks in advance.

Jan 12 2020 at 2:57am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Brenda's original post, TextDiff isn't a full featured compare and merge utility. Full featured tools can cost $60 USD. Our one is normally priced at $30 USD. The reason for producing Florencesoft TextDiff was to demonstrate it is possible to systematically detect text moved around in a document. Most other tools fail to do this and incorrectly mark moved text as either an addition or deletion.

TextDiff shows the differences but does not provide any functionality to merge or edit. But it does have good functionality to quickly see just the differences i.e. turn on "Show only identical paragraphs near differenes" or better still "Don't show identical, unmoved paragraphs".

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 2:59am Copy Link

2

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Gary, we would expect that small updates within a certain timeframe of the original purchase will be included, but major updates or updates after a certain time (such as 6 - 12 months) would require an upgrade purchase.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 3:23am Copy Link

0

HD What might be the Upgrade cost from this limited version to Full version?

Jan 12 2020 at 8:48am Copy Link

0

Sabrina@Home @DiffEngineX LLC
What are the benefits of Florencesoft TextDiff compared to the OpenSource software WinMerge?

Jan 12 2020 at 8:50am Copy Link

0

HJ User If I have two text files, I can import them into two MS Word files, and use MS Word tracking functions to give me a detailed comparison. Does Text Diff provide any different or better functionality?

Jan 12 2020 at 8:58am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to HD, there is only one version of the software.

It is not a full featured compare and merge utility. That is why it is being sold for half the price.

It will pin-point the differences, but does not support editing or merging of the changes.

There is not fully featured version. It is what it is.

It has advantages, such as missing out unchanged text. The compare folders will miss out unchanged files if you select that option. For people that just want to see the differences, and only the differences, it will offer some advantages over other products.

The whole point of the product is to provide a vehicle around a text difference algorithm that is entirely new and systematically can deteted text moved around in a document. A lot of other products fail at this or if they try to do this, fail.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 9:27am Copy Link

1

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to HJ User, we offer a free 30 day trial (60 comparisions) of the software, so people can try out the product for themselves and only buy it if they are happy with it.

Of course Microsoft Word does have track changes functionality.

Florencesoft TextDiff will compare two folders of plain text files against each other. Double-clicking on each pair of changed files, we show the plain text differences.

TextDiff will also spot duplicated lines in a list.

What is nice about TextDiff is the following:

1) You can omit unchanged text so you can immediately see the differences. Or alternatively just surround each difference with a user-selected amount of context.

2) TextDiff is inexpensive software but it contains a good text difference algorithm that will detect moved text in an entirely systematic way. It does not guess at moved text. It does not hope to get things right some of the time. It will spot moved text all the time, subject to the user-selected option of "minimum adjacenet words (or characters) for each move".

3) When comparing folders, unchanged files can be omitted.

It is not meant to be a full-featured compare product at this time. That is why we don't charge $60 USD.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 9:34am Copy Link

1

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Sabrina, we offer a free 30 day (60 comparisons) trial of the software. We intend the users will try out the software for themselves for free and only purchase it if they like it.

The reason we wrote the software was as a vehicle around a new text difference algorithm. Off-the-shelf algorithms do not spot moved text and the ones that do try, only guess at it and as such are not systematic.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 9:36am Copy Link

0

Gary Smith >"...we offer a free 30 day (60 comparisons) trial of the software. We intend the users will try out the software for themselves for free and only purchase it if they like it."

Are you saying that the discounted price will be available for the next 30 days?

If I decide that I do not like the software, not much is lost. I can delete it and clean my registry or restore the registry to the same as before the trial. But if I decide that I like it, is the discount gone because your promotion has ended?

Thanks in advance.

Jan 12 2020 at 10:26am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Gary, the Bits Du Jour sale will only be limited to today and maybe if Bits Du Jour wish to continue it, for tomorrow as well.

Florencesoft TextDiff is not full-featured compare and merge software. It isn't advertised as such, nor is it priced as such.

You can download a trial right now from our website and try it out for the next 13 hours.

Change the options on its main user interface and on Options and Colors. Ctrl + and Ctrl - changes the text size on its difference viewer.

Compare two tolders of plain text files (or source code) against each other. Double-click each pair of different files.

If you like the software, you can buy it.

If you want something more full-featured, there are many other products.

Florencesoft TextDiff was launched last year. It is a small product, with some options that may appeal to some users.

It was produced as a vehicle around a brand new text difference algorithm.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 12 2020 at 10:34am Copy Link

1

Brenda Adams All over now? I hope you bring the deal back. I was very tempted. :)

Jan 13 2020 at 2:19am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC Maybe in 6 to 12 months, we might come back to Bits Du Jour.

When your free trial of Florencesoft TextDiff expires, you can still use the same text difference algorithm for evaluation purposes a bit longer. A copy of it is available as a web-page. The URL is

https://www.diff-text.com/

Unfortunately the web version isn't as good as the Windows desktop application. The web-page text panes are not resizable. There is no facility to compare folders, detect duplicated items in lists etc. Without payment the web-based version does put up nag dialogs, so it is not quite free either.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jan 13 2020 at 6:56am Copy Link

0

Egon User Hello,
Your assertion re the inability of very-well-known differ tools to identify text switches is spot-on (e.g. the "renowned" program "Beyond Compare" is unusable for this quite common task, and its developers, contacted by numerous (otherwise quite satisfied) users on this matter even 10, 12, 15 years ago, made some promises, nothing else.

Thus, even for paying users of such a program (I'm in this case myself), your differ tool is of the highest interest, even (for the time being only, hopefully?) without the possibility to edit, on one side at least: for practical purposes, this would suffice, perhaps you could a very basic editor for the text file in the right pane?

In order to avoid unwanted destruction of the "target file", the very first "refresh" command in each session (= load of file a and file b) would automatically create a renamed backup file of file b, for further "refreshs" within the same session, there should be a "simple refresh" (no further backups), and a "special refresh" command, which would then create another backup copy of file b, either overwriting the very last one (but NOT the very first backup copy of that session), or doing another (numbered) one (by option and/or dialogue). (Numbering of the very first (the automatic) one: fileb_1 (next sessions: fileb_2, fileb_3...), numbering of the other back-ups: fileb_1_1, fileb_1_2 (...) fileb_3_8, etc.)

In the meanwhile, I have a question (trialling would take quite some time, whilst you could answer from your knowledge of the program): In your screenshot, you demonstrate the tool's special ability with single paragraphs, i.e. with technical editor "lines"; what about compounds of several such paragraphs in a row? (Leaving out minor differences within such compounds in my question: I'm very well aware that there are limits to such further-down text analysis, possibly except for AI or then very elaborate traditional programming. Hence simply:)

Will the program (even currently, or rather soon then?) correctly detect shuffled compounds of "several paragraphs in a row" (provided they are in the same order, within)? And, just another suggestion, could you think about some optional "special formatting (e.g. darker blue instead of light blue) to hold them together" then, within ("target") pane b? (In its current shape, I suppose all those switched "lines"/paragraphs are correctly formatted light-blue (as in the screenshot), but without any indication in the "target pane" (which should always be pane b, if you try to make it "perfect" in both panes, it just can never be done) re their possible respective different (!) source positions in pane a?

Also, just blanks or blank lines ("empty paragraphs" in such compounds) should not make a difference in the comparison, at least upon option, whilst on the other hand, very minor character differences would show (and thus also "break" such compounds), since they might be typos in just one of the files - this detail shows, btw, that in the long range, editing should be made possible in both panes, but, with editing in the the left, the "source pane a" then needing a "complete refresh" (save and reload of both files) if it's anything more than just some editing within (!) a line (i.e. no line shuffling, and possibly no (non-blank) new lines either allowed in the "source file", without such a "complete refresh" then) - otherwise, the (very welcome) sophistication of the comparison code would quickly become conceptually impossible.

Btw., I think that the relative absence of available "shuffle differs" can at least partly be explained by developers trying to make "full editing" possible on both sides (i.e. within both files, as is the standard in such programs indeed), and then, with shuffling, they quickly become aware that the "necessary" code then amounts to heights they simply cannot manage anymore.

Thus, your differ here, devised from scratch, should very quickly stand out from the lot if in your coding efforts, you concentrate on a clear distinction between "source (a)" and "target (b)", and don't allow any editing which would complicate the code but within the "target pane" only, any such editing in the "source pane" requiring a "full refresh", i.e. their non-taking into account in "live processing" (but reload and new analysis).

Jun 9 2020 at 3:54am Copy Link

2

bvssunnydale Would there be any way to see, specifically, what was deleted (I'm thinking via strike-though)? Thanks very much.

Jun 9 2020 at 6:49am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC Yes, there is.

Hit the Colors button on the main part of the user interface.

At the top of the dialog box, you will see a checkbox with the label

"Use strike-through to aid identification of original text".

Simply make sure this check box is unchecked.

This will enable you to see the deleted text more easily.

You may also want to uncheck the other box for underlined text.

I find looking at text easier, if I change the background text to black and select a brighter shade of red, green, blue and gray for the other colours. Looking at a bright white background can be tiring on the eyes.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 9 2020 at 6:59am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to "Egon User", Florencesoft TextDiff is entirely systematic with regards to detecting text moved up and down in a document.

A paragraph can have modifications and then be moved about and the moved text will still be spotted.

Several paragraphs, with some modifications, can be moved about and all of them will be coloured grey (moved down) or blue (moved up).

To make sure all moves are spotted, make sure that "Whole Word" is selected rather than "Whole Paragraph/Line" on the Options dialog.

Obviously make sure "Actively look for moved regions" is still checked.

There is a combo box labelled "Minimum adjacent words (or characters) for each move".

This is an important setting. If it is set at too low a number, it will mark every single little word or character as moved. If you set it too high, it will not detect moves.

Its default setting is 5 words. You might want to increase is to 10, 15, 20 or even 30, depending on the balance between spotting large amounts of moved text and ignoring trivial movements.

If you don't want to install the software on Windows practically the same functionality is available on our website https://www.diff-text.com/

However the website does not have all the functionality of our Windows desktop software available at a discount from this website for a limited time.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 9 2020 at 9:25am Copy Link

1

Egon User Wow, this is much more elaborate already than I had assumed, from the low version number 1001! So it's just the missing edit functionality which might be a ( /an intermediary) deal breaker for some, and as said, this should be quite easy to implement if you do it just one-sided, which, let alone the technical coding aspects, would also make sense from the use case perspective: in most cases, there would be a "reference" (/ "original", "previous") file, and a "changed one" (also in groups of "consecutive" files), so the use of the (technical, not desirable) possibility to make "real" changes (except for some typos perhaps) on both sides would quickly obfuscate the user's editing task anyway, from the user's own perspective.

So, when do you intend to implement (limited) editing? Quite soon?

As it is currently, I think I could edit on a 2- (or big-) screen setup, in an external editor (in which I load the "target" version concurrently), but there would not just be a lot of searching of the strings identified (in the "target" differ pane) to be edited (since there will of course no automatic synced display with the external editor) but also quick de-sync between that pane and the external editor (i.e. the real current state of the "target" file), which puts a strain on the user's memory and/or will quickly cause editing errors, even though frequent new manual loading of the "target" file into the differ will lessen these risks.

The same problem, and the same solution (!), would arise for comparing two non-plain text text bodies: Creating, by the export function of the original application, text-only versions, loading these into the differ, identifying what's to do in its "target" pane, make the changes in the original file (displayed concurrently in its original application), then, whenever necessary, do a new export, load the export file into the differ, and so on.

That's cumbersome, but it's the best (decently-priced) solution you'll get for such a task (and which is clearly way above what you'd get with "Beyond Compare" et al. there), with non-plain text files to compare, and it's worthwhile noting that this possibility is even available today, with the introduction of editing within the differ not making any difference here.

Thus, my hoping for the introduction of "inline" editing as soon as possible notwithstanding, I'm a happy buyer even now (as having bought your Excel differ here some days ago).

Jun 12 2020 at 4:08am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC We have made a note of your comments and they have been helpful, along with the comments from the last sale here. It is very helpful to know what people want, especially given that there are so many text compare tools availble on the Internet. We didn't want to implement functionality with no demand.

As regards timescales and functionality, it is best to email us using the Contacts page on our website.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 12 2020 at 8:17am Copy Link

1

Brenda Adams I currently use a program called CompareIt. It has some editing abilities for both the Before and the After (I call them).

The idea for my use (and I have many friends who use it for same reason) is: for a certain recipe software users have created a tool that preps plain text layouts of recipes, readying them for user import into their recipe software. The user-made software makes some good changes, making corrections (even spelling) and such and adds 'tags' regarding placement of text but sometimes the program OR the user have made mistakes and so a comparison program comes in very handy to see what text was the starting point (the Before) and what the software has modified (seen in the After). User then edits the After, saves, and the software then does further prepping and imports the batch (or single) into our recipe software program, done, finished, perfect. :)

Always looking for a great comparison program that will work even better for us. Yours looks promising, but we sure need edit ability. :)

Jun 12 2020 at 1:51pm Copy Link

0

Mark Krieger Are you planning to add an ini-compare function?

There used to be the inicompare.io website, but that disappeared.

It would need to show sections added/deleted and within each section the settings could move around, so it is hard for regular comparison programs to find actual differences. Especially also if sections move around.
But with your paragraph move detection you may have a better starting point than they do?

Jun 13 2020 at 12:31pm Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Mark Krieger, we offer a trial software of our software at

https://compare-text-file...loads.html

Plus some of the software is duplicated at https://www.diff-text.com/

You may want to give it a go to see how it does as it is.

Look on the Options Dialog, switch between comparing "Whole Paragraph/Line" and "Whole Word" and use the one that gives the best results.

Certainly if you compare at the level of Whole Lines and ignore blue (moved up) and grey (moved down) lines, you will end up just seeing what has been changed.

Also try changing to "Don't show any identical paragraphs" on the main part of the user interface and then you will really only see the changes in the .ini file.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 13 2020 at 1:23pm Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to "Brenda Adams", thanks for your comment. It is good to know what features are needed, especially because there are a vast number of compare text utilities around and we don't want to implement stuff that is not in demand.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 13 2020 at 1:26pm Copy Link

1

Brenda Adams I would like option to enlarge font. Thanks.

Jun 14 2020 at 4:44am Copy Link

0

DiffEngineX LLC In reply to Brenda Adams, to enlarge the font use

Ctrl +
i.e. press the + button and the Ctrl button at the same time.

To reduce the font size, use Ctrl -

To go back to the default font size, using Ctrl 0 (that is the numeric zero 0, not the letter o)

Also look on the Colors dialog, if you want to turn off underlining and strike-through of text, which can get in the way of seeing what is going on.

I recommend also changing the background colour to black and changing the colours for red, blue, green and gray into more brighter equivalents.

To me the most useful feature is
"Don't show identical, unmoved paragraphs"
and
"Don't show any identical paragraphs"

With these on, you only see the differences.

DiffEngineX LLC - Jun 14 2020 at 5:31am Copy Link

0

Virus Scan for Compare Text With Florencesoft TextDiff

Compare and Find Differences Between Text Files

Download Virus Scan - Florencesoft TextDiff for Windows 10

Download Virus Scan - Florencesoft TextDiff for Windows 7 or Windows 8

Website Malware/Phishing Scan - DiffEngineX LLC

Website 100% Clean Badges

What are people saying about Compare Text With Florencesoft TextDiff