C:\tmp\stable.75.5259\Docs\Users\Manual\Compare_files.xml		C:\tmp\stable.75.5260\Docs\Users\Manual\Compare_files.xml
1	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>	1	<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
2	<article id="CompareFiles">	2	<article id="CompareFiles">
.3	<title>Comparing Files</title>	3	<title>Comparing and merging files<indexterm>
		4	<primary>comparing files</primary>
		5	</indexterm></title>
		6
		7	<para>This topic describes how to use the WinMerge File Compare window to
		8	compare and merge files. To understand the basic concepts about differences
		9	used here, we suggest you read read <xref linkend="IntroductDiffing" />
		10	first.</para>
		11
		12	<section id="Compare_files_starting">
		13	<title>Starting a file compare operation</title>
		14
		15	<para>You can start a file compare operation from either the WinMerge window
		16	or a Command Prompt window.</para>
		17
		18	<variablelist>
		19	<varlistentry>
		20	<term>From the WinMerge window</term>
4		21
.5	<para>File compare window is basically two files opened to editor into two	22	<listitem>
6	horizontal panes. The editor allows user to do a basic file editing inside	23	<para>Click <menuchoice>
7	WinMerge without needing to open files to external editor program or	24	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
8	development environment.</para>	25
9		26	<guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
10	<mediaobject>	27	</menuchoice>. Use the Select Files or Folders dialog to specify the
11	<imageobject>	28	left and right source files to compare. For more details about the
12	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp1.png" format="PNG" />	29	Select Files or Folder dialog, see <xref
13	</imageobject>	30	linkend="OpenPaths" />.</para>
14		31	</listitem>
15	<caption><para>File Compare Window</para></caption>	32	</varlistentry>
16	</mediaobject>
17
18	<para>WinMerge editor is not comparable to specialized editor programs, but it
19	has basic features like <guilabel>Undo</guilabel>/<guilabel>Redo</guilabel>,
20	<guilabel>Find</guilabel>/<guilabel>Replace</guilabel> and
21	<guilabel>Goto</guilabel> (to linenumber). The editor also has a syntax
22	highlighting feature supporting several file formats (colors configurable).
23	Note however WinMerge does not syntax highlight text inside differences.
24	Syntax highlighting can be disabled from options.</para>
25
26	<tip>
27	<para>If <guilabel>Automatic rescan</guilabel> is not enabled manual refresh
28	is recommended after editing.</para>
29	</tip>
30
31	<section>
32	<title>Showing the Differences</title>
33
34	<para>WinMerge uses different (user configurable) colors to highlight and
35	select differences. By default WinMerge shows different lines with yellow
36	background and missing lines with gray background. If user selects the
37	difference, it is shown with red background and missing lines with milder
38	red.</para>
39	</section>
40		33
.41	<section>	34	<varlistentry>
42	<title>Tabs</title>	35	<term>From a Command Prompt window</term>
43		36
.44	<para>WinMerge can show open windows in tab bar below toolbar. Tab bar can	37	<listitem>
45	be shown and hidden from menu <menuchoice>	38	<para>Run <command>WinMergeU.exe</command>, which is in your WinMerge
46	<guimenu>View</guimenu>	39	install directory. In your command arguments, include the left and
47		40	right files to compare. For more information about using the command
48	<guimenuitem>Tab Bar</guimenuitem>	41	line, see <xref linkend="CommandLine" />.</para>
49	</menuchoice>. When the tab bar is shown it has one tab for every open	42	</listitem>
50	window. The tab contains last part of the folder names or file names.</para>	43	</varlistentry>
		44	</variablelist>
51	</section>	45	</section>
52		46
.53	<section>	47	<section id="Compare_files_window">
54	<title>File Headerbar</title>	48	<title>File Compare window<indexterm>
		49	<primary>File Compare window</primary>
		50	</indexterm></title>
		51
		52	<para>The File Compare window displays compared files in two File panes,
		53	side by side. The WinMerge toolbar and context menu provides functions for
		54	viewing, navigating, and merging differences. The screen shot below shows a
		55	comparison of two versions of a file.</para>
55		56
.56	<para>The file headerbar has several functionalities. See screenshot	57	<mediaobject>
57	below:</para>	58	<imageobject>
		59	<imagedata contentwidth="600" fileref="screenshots/filecomp1.png"
		60	format="PNG" />
		61	</imageobject>
58		62
.59	<para><inlinemediaobject>	63	<textobject>
60	<imageobject>	64	<phrase>File Compare Window</phrase>
61	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/file_headerbar1.png" format="PNG" />	65	</textobject>
62	</imageobject>	66	</mediaobject>
63	</inlinemediaobject></para>
64		67
.65	<para>Headerbar shows full path to the open file. If the path is longer than	68	<section>
66	available space one part of the path is replaced with an ellipsis (...).	69	<title>File panes<indexterm>
67	Headerbar also shows:<itemizedlist>	70	<primary>File panes</primary>
68	<listitem>	71	</indexterm></title>
69	<simpara>the current active file with sunken border (like in the above	72
70	screenshot), the non-active file is shown with flat	73	<para>The left and right File panes show the text contents and differences
71	headerbar.</simpara>	74	of the two files being compared. The File panes are the main area for
72	</listitem>	75	navigating and merging differences, and also allow you to edit the text
		76	directly. This section describes the features that support these actions,
		77	and ways that you can customize the File panes.</para>
		78
		79	<section>
		80	<title>File pane header</title>
		81
		82	<para>The header at the top of each File pane shows the full path of the
		83	source file. The left and right file names are also identified in the
		84	header of the Compare Window, above the File panes.</para>
		85
		86	<para>One of the File panes is always active (indicated by the dark
		87	header background); the other is inactive and has a lighter header bar.
		88	You can edit only in the active pane (as described in <xref
		89	linkend="CompareFiles_editing" />). Click in either side to make it
		90	active and make the other side inactive.</para>
		91
		92	<para>An asterisk (*) before the filename in the header indicates that
		93	there are unsaved changes in the file.</para>
		94
		95	<para>The header bar's context menu has shortcuts that are useful for
		96	copying and pasting file information:</para>
		97
		98	<variablelist>
		99	<varlistentry>
		100	<term>Copy Full Path<indexterm>
		101	<primary>Copy Full Path function</primary>
		102	</indexterm></term>
		103
		104	<listitem>
		105	<para>Copies the full path of the source file into the system
		106	clipboard.</para>
		107	</listitem>
		108	</varlistentry>
		109
		110	<varlistentry>
		111	<term>Copy Filename<indexterm>
		112	<primary>Copy Filename function</primary>
		113	</indexterm></term>
		114
		115	<listitem>
		116	<para>Copies just the source filename into the system
		117	clipboard.</para>
		118	</listitem>
		119	</varlistentry>
		120	</variablelist>
		121	</section>
		122
		123	<section>
		124	<title>Difference colors in File panes<indexterm>
		125	<primary>difference colors</primary>
		126
		127	<secondary>in File panes</secondary>
		128	</indexterm></title>
		129
		130	<para>Unless your files are identical, the content of the File panes
		131	includes some differences. Difference blocks are marked with background
		132	colors, which you can configure in WinMerge options. The basic
		133	difference color is dark yellow, by default. When selected, the
		134	difference color is red. Identical lines (like the second line in the
		135	preceding screen shot) have white backgrounds.</para>
		136
		137	<para>WinMerge inserts one or more gray blank lines in one version of a
		138	difference when the other version has more lines. These empty lines
		139	(which change from gray to light red when the difference is selected) do
		140	not represent blank lines in the source file; they are only placeholders
		141	in the display. The purpose of placeholder lines is to keep the left and
		142	right versions of differences vertically aligned.</para>
		143
		144	<para>By default, different words within difference lines are also
		145	marked with a background color. You can disable this coloring, or (for
		146	even more granular highlighting) add character-level difference
		147	coloring. Both are controlled by the Line Difference Coloring settings
		148	in the Editing page of WinMerge options. To change the various
		149	difference colors used, edit the values in the Colors page of WinMerge
		150	options.</para>
		151	</section>
		152
		153	<section id="CompareFiles_editing">
		154	<title>File pane editing features<indexterm>
		155	<primary>editing</primary>
		156
		157	<secondary>features in File Compare window</secondary>
		158	</indexterm></title>
		159
		160	<para>Although WinMerge is a not a full-featured editor or IDE, it does
		161	provide basic editing functions, like <guilabel>Undo</guilabel> and
		162	<guilabel>Redo</guilabel>, <guilabel>Find</guilabel> and
		163	<guilabel>Replace</guilabel>, and <guilabel>Goto</guilabel>. These basic
		164	editing tasks are often needed during merging (for example, to change
		165	text within differences). You can edit in the active File pane
		166	(remember, click in a pane to make it active). Changes are not written
		167	to a file until you save a pane to a result file.</para>
		168
		169	<para>WinMerge editing features also include syntax highlighting. This
		170	optional feature supports several file formats, and you can configure
		171	the colors used. Note that syntax highlighting is not applied within
		172	differences, as the preceding screen shot shows.</para>
		173
		174	<tip>
		175	<para>Make sure that <guilabel>Automatic rescan</guilabel> is enabled,
		176	as described in <xref linkend="Compare_files_scan" />. If it is not,
		177	manually refresh your view (press F5) before and after editing a file,
		178	to ensure that WinMerge difference detection is up to date.</para>
		179	</tip>
		180	</section>
		181
		182	<section>
		183	<title>File pane fonts<indexterm>
		184	<primary>fonts</primary>
73		185
.74	<listitem>	186	<secondary>choosing in File Compare window</secondary>
75	<simpara>if the file has been modified (has unsaved changes). This is	187	</indexterm></title>
76	indicated by adding asterisk (<guilabel>*</guilabel>) before the
77	filename, like in the screenshot.</simpara>
78	</listitem>
79	</itemizedlist></para>
80		188
.81	<para>Headerbar has a context menu with items to copy full path or filename	189	<para>You can choose fonts for the File pane by clicking <menuchoice>
82	to clipboard.</para>	190	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
83	</section>
84		191
.85	<section>	192	<guimenuitem>Select Font</guimenuitem>
86	<title>Statusbar</title>	193	</menuchoice>. WinMerge supports only fixed width fonts.</para>
87		194
.88	<para><inlinemediaobject>	195	<para>Here are font suggestions for using WinMerge with East Asian
89	<imageobject>	196	languages:</para>
90	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_statusbar1.png" format="PNG" />	197
91	</imageobject>	198	<itemizedlist>
92	</inlinemediaobject></para>	199	<listitem>
		200	<simpara>Simplified Chinese: <guilabel>SimSun</guilabel> or
		201	<guilabel>SimHei</guilabel> fixed-width fonts</simpara>
		202	</listitem>
		203
		204	<listitem>
		205	<simpara>Traditional Chinese: <guilabel>MingLiU</guilabel>
		206	fixed-width font</simpara>
		207	</listitem>
		208
		209	<listitem>
		210	<simpara>Japanese: <guilabel>MS Gothic</guilabel> or <guilabel>MS
		211	Mincho</guilabel> fixed-width fonts</simpara>
		212	</listitem>
93		213
.94	<para>Statusbar upper line shows information about current line. In first	214	<listitem>
95	pane:</para>	215	<simpara>Korean: <guilabel>GulimChe</guilabel> fixed-width font (not
		216	<guilabel>Gulim</guilabel>, because this variant uses
		217	proportional-spacing glyphs that are not centered in grid cells and
		218	poorly aligned in fixed-width mode).</simpara>
		219	</listitem>
		220	</itemizedlist>
		221	</section>
96		222
.97	<itemizedlist>	223	<section>
98	<listitem>	224	<title>File pane margins<indexterm>
99	<simpara><guilabel>Ln</guilabel> : current linenumber</simpara>	225	<primary>margins</primary>
100	</listitem>
101		226
.102	<listitem>	227	<secondary>in File panes</secondary>
103	<simpara><guilabel>Col</guilabel>: current column for cursor and total	228	</indexterm></title>
104	number of columns in line</simpara>
105	</listitem>
106		229
.107	<listitem>	230	<para>The File panes have optional gray margins that show line numbers
108	<simpara><guilabel>Ch</guilabel> : current char for cursor and total	231	and some symbols. To show or hide the margins, clicking <menuchoice>
109	number of chars in line</simpara>	232	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
110	</listitem>
111		233
.112	<listitem>	234	<guimenuitem>View Margins</guimenuitem>
113	<simpara><guilabel>EOL</guilabel> : current line EOL style (shown only	235	</menuchoice>. If you are using multiple File Compare windows, you can
114	when <guilabel>Preserve original EOL chars</guilabel>-option is	236	control margins for each window independently. The margin can show any
115	enabled)</simpara>	237	or all of these features:<indexterm>
116	</listitem>	238	<primary>line numbers</primary>
117	</itemizedlist>	239
		240	<secondary>in File panes</secondary>
		241	</indexterm><indexterm>
		242	<primary>bookmarks</primary>
		243	</indexterm><indexterm>
		244	<primary>word wrapping</primary>
118		245
.119	<note>	246	<secondary>in File panes</secondary>
120	<para><guilabel>Col</guilabel> counts <keycap>TAB</keycap> as	247	</indexterm></para>
121	<replaceable>X</replaceable> chars (as defined in editor options) and
122	<guilabel>Ch</guilabel> counts <keycap>TAB</keycap> as one
123	character.</para>
124	</note>
125		248
.126	<para>Other three panes are:</para>	249	<itemizedlist>
		250	<listitem>
		251	<para>Line numbers, if <menuchoice>
		252	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
127		253
.128	<para><itemizedlist>	254	<guimenuitem>View Line Numbers</guimenuitem>
129	<listitem>	255	</menuchoice> is enabled.</para>
130	<simpara>read-only: <guilabel>RO</guilabel> is shown in the pane if	256	</listitem>
131	the file is read-only / protected</simpara>
132	</listitem>
133		257
.134	<listitem>	258	<listitem>
135	<simpara>encoding: this pane shows codepage number for ANSI files and	259	<para>Bookmarks, if <menuchoice>
136	Unicode encoding type for Unicode files</simpara>	260	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
137	</listitem>
138		261
.139	<listitem>	262	<guisubmenu>Bookmarks</guisubmenu>
140	<simpara>EOL style: EOL style can be <guilabel>Win</guilabel> for	263	</menuchoice> is enabled. A bookmark is a blue circle, in the
141	Windows/DOS files (CRLF), <guilabel>Unix</guilabel> (LF) or	264	margin next to a line, that you can make WinMerge remember and
142	<guilabel>Mac</guilabel> (CR)</simpara>	265	return to.</para>
143	</listitem>	266
144	</itemizedlist>Note there are two different ways to show EOL style. When	267	<itemizedlist>
145	per-line EOL style is not remembered, EOL style is shown on own pane in	268	<listitem>
146	statusbar. And when per-line EOL style is remembered line's EOL style is	269	<para>To set a bookmark on a line, double-click in its margin
147	shown after char number. When per-line EOL style is used there is no	270	(or press (<keycombo>
148	file-wide EOL style.</para>	271	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		272
		273	<keycap>F2</keycap>
		274	</keycombo>). The same action deletes an existing
		275	bookmark.</para>
		276	</listitem>
		277
		278	<listitem>
		279	<para>To navigate bookmarks, click <menuchoice>
		280	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
		281
		282	<guimenuitem>Bookmarks</guimenuitem>
		283	</menuchoice> and choose <guimenuitem>Next</guimenuitem> or
		284	<guimenuitem>Previous</guimenuitem>.</para>
		285	</listitem>
		286
		287	<listitem>
		288	<para>Double-click a single bookmark to delete it (or press
		289	(<keycombo>
		290	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		291
		292	<keycap>F2</keycap>
		293	</keycombo>).</para>
		294	</listitem>
		295
		296	<listitem>
		297	<para>Click <menuchoice>
		298	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
		299
		300	<guimenuitem>Bookmarks</guimenuitem>
		301
		302	<guimenuitem>Clear All Bookmarks</guimenuitem>
		303	</menuchoice> to delete all bookmarks.</para>
		304	</listitem>
		305	</itemizedlist>
		306	</listitem>
		307
		308	<listitem>
		309	<para>Word wrap arrow symbols, if <menuchoice>
		310	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
		311
		312	<guimenuitem>Wrap Lines</guimenuitem>
		313	</menuchoice> is enabled.</para>
		314	</listitem>
		315	</itemizedlist>
		316
		317	<para>The following screen shot shows a margin with bookmarks and word
		318	wrap enabled. Without line numbers, the margin width is minimal.</para>
		319
		320	<mediaobject>
		321	<imageobject>
		322	<imagedata contentwidth="384"
		323	fileref="screenshots/filecomp_margin1.png" format="PNG" />
		324	</imageobject>
		325
		326	<textobject>
		327	<phrase>File Compare window margin with bookmark and word
		328	wrap</phrase>
		329	</textobject>
		330	</mediaobject>
		331
		332	<para>The next screen shot shows a margin with bookmarks and line
		333	numbers enabled. Notice that the margin is wider. In fact, the margin is
		334	wide enough for the largest line number. Thus, the margins for large
		335	files with many lines can be quite wide.</para>
		336
		337	<mediaobject>
		338	<imageobject>
		339	<imagedata contentdepth="77" contentwidth="384"
		340	fileref="screenshots/filecomp_margin2.png" format="PNG" />
		341	</imageobject>
		342
		343	<textobject>
		344	<phrase>File Compare window margin with bookmark and line
		345	numbers</phrase>
		346	</textobject>
		347	</mediaobject>
		348	</section>
		349	</section>
		350
		351	<section id="Compare_files_functions">
		352	<title>Toolbar and menus<indexterm>
		353	<primary>toolbar, with File Compare window</primary>
		354	</indexterm><indexterm>
		355	<primary>menus, with File Compare window</primary>
		356	</indexterm></title>
		357
		358	<para>The WinMerge toolbar and menus provide a range of functions to
		359	navigate, select, and merge differences within files.</para>
		360
		361	<note>
		362	<para>WinMerge shortcuts have the same names and buttons whether you
		363	open a Folder Compare or File Compare window. However, the functions
		364	behave differently: with a File Compare window, the functions operate on
		365	differences within files, not on differences within folders.</para>
		366	</note>
		367
		368	<para>The difference functions you can use depend on your context, which
		369	often changes as you work. This means that a function is available only
		370	when its operation is possible for a given location or other condition in
		371	your WinMerge environment. For example, if you click in a line of text
		372	within a difference, you might notice several navigation and merge buttons
		373	become enabled in the toolbar. If you click in another area of text that
		374	is not within a difference, these functions become unavailable. </para>
149		375
.150	<para>Difference between column and char is that column counts tabulator	376	<para>Difference functions are available in the WinMerge toolbar,and also
151	character as so many (space) chars as it occupies (4 by default, can be	377	through these alternate mechanisms:</para>
152	changed from options). But char count counts tabulator char as one
153	char.</para>
154		378
.155	<para>Lower line in statusbar shows current difference and amount of	379	<itemizedlist>
156	differences. Text can be:<itemizedlist>
157	<listitem>	380	<listitem>
.158	<simpara><guilabel>Identical</guilabel> : files are identical there	381	<para>WinMerge menus, especially <guimenu>Merge</guimenu></para>
159	are no differences</simpara>
160	</listitem>	382	</listitem>
161		383
162	<listitem>	384	<listitem>
.163	<simpara><guilabel>X differences Found</guilabel> : amount of	385	<para>Context menus within the File Compare window (when you
164	differences, no difference is selected</simpara>	386	right-click in text)</para>
165	</listitem>	387	</listitem>
166		388
167	<listitem>	389	<listitem>
.168	<simpara><guilabel>Difference X of Y</guilabel> : amount of	390	<para>Keyboard shortcuts</para>
169	differences (<guilabel>Y</guilabel>) and number of selected difference
170	(<guilabel>X</guilabel>)</simpara>
171	</listitem>	391	</listitem>
.172	</itemizedlist></para>	392	</itemizedlist>
173	</section>
174		393
.175	<section>	394	<para>Difference functions are described in <xref
176	<title>Editor Margin</title>	395	linkend="Compare_files_nav" /> and <xref linkend="Compare_files_merge" />,
		396	later in this topic. <xref linkend="QuickStart" /> and <xref
		397	linkend="IntroductDiffing" /> provide examples of comparing and
		398	merging.</para>
		399
		400	<section>
		401	<title>Merge Mode<indexterm>
		402	<primary>merge mode</primary>
		403	</indexterm></title>
		404
		405	<para><menuchoice>
		406	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
		407
		408	<guimenu>Merge Mode</guimenu>
		409	</menuchoice> restores these WinMerge 1.7.1 single keyboard shortcuts
		410	for difference merging and navigating functions:</para>
177		411
.178	<para>The editor panes (file panes) have optional gray margin area for line	412	<itemizedlist>
179	numbers and some symbols. This margin can be shown/hidded from menu	413	<listitem>
180	<menuchoice>	414	<simpara><keycap>Up</keycap> and <keycap>Down</keycap> keys for the
181	<guimenu>View</guimenu>	415	<function>Previous Difference</function> and <function>Next
182		416	Difference</function> functions.</simpara>
183	<guimenuitem>View Margins</guimenuitem>	417	</listitem>
184	</menuchoice>. The margin shows:</para>
185
186	<itemizedlist>
187	<listitem>
188	<simpara>Line numbers (from menu <menuchoice>
189	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
190		418
.191	<guimenuitem>View Line Numbers</guimenuitem>	419	<listitem>
192	</menuchoice>)</simpara>	420	<simpara><keycap>Left</keycap> and <keycap>Right</keycap> keys for
193	</listitem>	421	the <function>Copy Left</function> and <function>Copy
		422	Right</function> functions.</simpara>
		423	</listitem>
		424	</itemizedlist>
194		425
.195	<listitem>	426	<para>Merge mode omits the <keycap>Alt</keycap> key for these common
196	<simpara>Bookmarks (menu <menuchoice>	427	operations (making them quicker to use than the normal mode). Note that
197	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>	428	the <keycap>Shift</keycap> and <keycap>Alt</keycap>
		429	<keycap>Arrow</keycap> key combinations work in merge mode in the same
		430	way as normal mode.</para>
		431
		432	<para>Merge mode is indicated in the status bar by the text,
		433	<guilabel>Merge</guilabel>.</para>
		434	</section>
		435	</section>
198		436
.199	<guisubmenu>Bookmarks</guisubmenu>	437	<section>
200	</menuchoice>)</simpara>	438	<title>Location pane<indexterm>
201	</listitem>	439	<primary>Location pane, File Compare window</primary>
202		440	</indexterm></title>
203	<listitem>	441
204	<simpara>Word wrap symbols, when word wrap is enabled</simpara>	442	<para>The Location pane, to the left of the File panes, maps the entire
205	</listitem>	443	length of the compared files into two vertical bars (corresponding to the
206	</itemizedlist>	444	left and right File panes). It is especially useful for working with files
		445	that are too long to easily navigate in the File panes.</para>
		446
		447	<para>The Location pane shows several kinds of items:</para>
		448
		449	<variablelist>
		450	<varlistentry>
		451	<term><inlinemediaobject>
		452	<imageobject>
		453	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		454	fileref="screenshots/locpane_diffs.png" />
		455	</imageobject>
		456
		457	<textobject>
		458	<phrase>Location pane diff lines</phrase>
		459	</textobject>
		460	</inlinemediaobject> Difference blocks</term>
207		461
.208	<para>When line numbers are not shown then margin is shown like screenshot	462	<listitem>
209	below.</para>	463	<para>Each difference block in the File panes is indicated in the
		464	Location pane by a horizontal line across each vertical bar. The
		465	thickness, color , and locations of these lines are clues about of
		466	the size (number of lines), types and distribution of all
		467	differences in the files. For example, the color of a line is the
		468	same as the color of the corresponding difference block. The
		469	Location pane in the preceding screen shot shows many basic
		470	differences (gold) and some empty difference blocks (gray).</para>
		471	</listitem>
		472	</varlistentry>
210		473
.211	<para><inlinemediaobject>	474	<varlistentry>
212	<imageobject>	475	<term><inlinemediaobject>
213	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_margin1.png" format="PNG" />	476	<imageobject>
214	</imageobject>	477	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
215	</inlinemediaobject></para>	478	fileref="screenshots/locpane_currentdiff.png" />
		479	</imageobject>
		480
		481	<textobject>
		482	<phrase>Location pane current diff pointer</phrase>
		483	</textobject>
		484	</inlinemediaobject> Current difference</term>
216		485
.217	<para>Blue circle is a Bookmark. And arrow marks word-wrapped line. Next	486	<listitem>
218	screenshot shows same lines without word-wrap and with linenumbers.</para>	487	<para>If you have selected a difference, the Location pane marks the
		488	current difference line with a pair of small triangles on either
		489	side of the vertical bars. If you navigate to another difference,
		490	the pointer moves up or down with the location. Scrolling the File
		491	pane does not change the location of the difference pointer (or any
		492	of the difference lines) in the location pane.</para>
		493	</listitem>
		494	</varlistentry>
219		495
.220	<para><inlinemediaobject>	496	<varlistentry>
221	<imageobject>	497	<term><inlinemediaobject>
222	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_margin2.png" format="PNG" />	498	<imageobject>
223	</imageobject>	499	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
224	</inlinemediaobject></para>	500	fileref="screenshots/locpane_viewbar.png" />
		501	</imageobject>
		502
		503	<textobject>
		504	<phrase>Location pane view area bar</phrase>
		505	</textobject>
		506	</inlinemediaobject> View area</term>
225		507
.226	<para>If linenubmers are not visible it takes pretty minimal width. Note	508	<listitem>
227	that with linenumbers the margin width is set so that the longest line	509	<para>The area of the files currently visible in the File panes is
228	number fits into it. So with large files with lots of lines it needs space	510	indicated by a shaded (translucent) view bar over the Location pane.
229	for several numbers.</para>	511	The area bar's height and location correspond to the portion of the
230	</section>	512	files that is visible in the scroll region. For example, you might
		513	see the bar expand or shrink if you change the height of your File
		514	panes. This synchronization of the Location pane view bar and File
		515	panes enables quick navigation, and some useful actions:</para>
		516
		517	<itemizedlist>
		518	<listitem>
		519	<para>When you scroll the File panes, the view area in the
		520	Location pane moves with it.</para>
		521	</listitem>
		522
		523	<listitem>
		524	<para>Conversely, you can drag the view area bar in the Location
		525	pane up or down to scroll the File panes. This scrollbar thumb
		526	action is very handy for navigating long files.</para>
		527	</listitem>
		528
		529	<listitem>
		530	<para>Click anywhere in the Location pane to jump to the
		531	corresponding location in the File panes.</para>
		532	</listitem>
		533	</itemizedlist>
		534	</listitem>
		535	</varlistentry>
231		536
.232	<section>	537	<varlistentry>
233	<title><indexterm>	538	<term>Moved differences<indexterm>
234	<primary>Difference Navigation</primary>	539	<primary>moved differences, in File Compare window</primary>
		540	</indexterm></term>
235		541
.236	<secondary>File Compare</secondary>	542	<listitem>
237	</indexterm>Difference Navigation</title>	543	<para>The Location pane can indicate difference blocks that are
		544	moved. Moved blocks are two sides of a difference that are in
		545	different locations. Moved blocks are indicated by the
		546	<guilabel>Moved</guilabel> and <guilabel>Selected Moved</guilabel>
		547	difference colors (configurable in WinMerge Options) and by lines
		548	connecting their locations in the left and right location bars. For
		549	example:</para>
		550
		551	<mediaobject>
		552	<imageobject>
		553	<imagedata contentwidth="576"
		554	fileref="screenshots/locpane_moved_diffs.png"
		555	format="PNG" />
		556	</imageobject>
		557
		558	<textobject>
		559	<phrase>Location pane with moved diff</phrase>
		560	</textobject>
		561	</mediaobject>
		562
		563	<para>Showing moved blocks can make it easier to visualize changes
		564	in files. However, if there are too many moved lines it can appear
		565	cluttered. Use your own judgement!</para>
		566	</listitem>
		567	</varlistentry>
		568	</variablelist>
238		569
.239	<para>Difference navigation commands are in <guimenu>Merge</guimenu>	570	<para>The Location pane's context menu contains these shortcuts:<indexterm>
240	menu:</para>	571	<primary>context menu</primary>
241		572
.242	<para><inlinemediaobject>	573	<secondary>Location pane</secondary>
243	<imageobject>	574	</indexterm><indexterm>
244	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/merge_menu.png" format="PNG" />	575	<primary>Moved Blocks functions</primary>
245	</imageobject>	576	</indexterm></para>
246	</inlinemediaobject></para>
247		577
.248	<section>	578	<itemizedlist>
249	<title>Selecting a difference</title>	579	<listitem>
		580	<para><guimenuitem>Goto Line 1</guimenuitem>: Moves the cursor to the
		581	top of the file.</para>
		582	</listitem>
250		583
.251	<para>Before difference can be merged, it must be selected. Selecting can	584	<listitem>
252	happen by difference navigation keys/items (see below) or by selecting	585	<para><guimenuitem>Goto</guimenuitem>: Moves the cursor to a line you
253	wanted difference directly:</para>	586	specify (described in <xref
		587	linkend="Compare_files_nav_functions" />).</para>
		588	</listitem>
		589
		590	<listitem>
		591	<para><guimenuitem>No Moved Blocks</guimenuitem>: Turns off moved
		592	difference color for moved blocks.</para>
		593	</listitem>
254		594
.255	<itemizedlist>
256	<listitem>	595	<listitem>
.257	<simpara>Double-click over difference with mouse</simpara>	596	<para><guimenuitem>All Moved Blocks</guimenuitem>: Turns on moved
		597	difference color for all moved blocks.</para>
258	</listitem>	598	</listitem>
259		599
260	<listitem>	600	<listitem>
.261	<simpara>Move cursor inside difference and select it with	601	<para><guimenuitem>Moved Block for Current Diff</guimenuitem>: Turns
262	<guimenuitem>Current Difference</guimenuitem>.</simpara>	602	on moved difference color only for current selected moved
		603	difference.</para>
263	</listitem>	604	</listitem>
264	</itemizedlist>	605	</itemizedlist>
265	</section>	606	</section>
266		607
267	<section>	608	<section>
.268	<title>Navigating differences</title>	609	<title>Diff pane<indexterm>
269		610	<primary>Diff pane, File Compare window</primary>
270	<para><guimenu>Merge</guimenu>-menu has items for navigating to	611	</indexterm></title>
271	next/previous and first/last difference. Navigation is always done based	612
272	on current cursor location. So <guimenuitem>Next	613	<para>The Diff pane shows the contents of the two sides of a selected
273	Difference</guimenuitem>-command selects next difference from cursor, not	614	difference.</para>
274	from current selected difference.</para>	615
275		616	<para>When you select a difference, the two versions are loaded in the
276	<note>	617	upper and lower sides of the Diff pane. In this way, the Diff pane
277	<para>When difference is selected with navigation commands cursor is	618	confirms which lines are included in a difference, and lets you examine
278	moved to begin of first line of difference. In both files.</para>	619	them in isolation from the rest of the file.</para>
279	</note>	620
		621	<para>You can merge differences directly in the Diff pane by
		622	right-clicking in either the top or bottom side and choosing
		623	<function><guimenuitem>Copy to Right</guimenuitem></function> or
		624	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>.</para>
280	</section>	625	</section>
281		626
282	<section>	627	<section>
.283	<title><guimenuitem>Current Difference</guimenuitem>-command</title>	628	<title>Status bars<indexterm>
		629	<primary>status bars</primary>
		630
		631	<secondary>for File Compare window</secondary>
		632	</indexterm><indexterm>
		633	<primary>tab</primary>
		634
		635	<secondary>character encoding</secondary>
		636	</indexterm></title>
		637
		638	<para>Each File pane contains a status bar at the bottom. The status bar
		639	contains several panes with different types of information about the
		640	document and your location in it:</para>
		641
		642	<variablelist>
		643	<varlistentry>
		644	<term>Line status</term>
		645
		646	<listitem>
		647	<itemizedlist>
		648	<listitem>
		649	<para><guilabel>Ln</guilabel>: Line number in the source
		650	file.</para>
		651	</listitem>
		652
		653	<listitem>
		654	<para><guilabel>Col</guilabel>: Column location of the cursor
		655	and the total number of columns in the line.</para>
		656
		657	<para><guilabel>Col</guilabel> counts tabs as
		658	<replaceable>n</replaceable> spaces, where
		659	<replaceable>n</replaceable> is the number of characters defined
		660	as the <guilabel>Tab size</guilabel> in the Editor page of
		661	WinMerge options (4 by default). </para>
		662	</listitem>
		663
		664	<listitem>
		665	<para><guilabel>Ch</guilabel>: Character location of cursor and
		666	the total number of chars in the line.</para>
		667
		668	<para><guilabel>Ch</guilabel> counts tabs as single tab
		669	characters.</para>
		670	</listitem>
		671
		672	<listitem>
		673	<para><guilabel>EOL</guilabel>: Linefeed style of the current
		674	line (shown only when the <guilabel>Preserve original EOL
		675	chars</guilabel> option is enabled in the Editor page of
		676	WinMerge options).</para>
		677	</listitem>
		678	</itemizedlist>
		679	</listitem>
		680	</varlistentry>
		681
		682	<varlistentry>
		683	<term>Read-only status</term>
		684
		685	<listitem>
		686	<para><guilabel>RO</guilabel> is shown in the pane if the file is
		687	set to read-only (as described in <xref
		688	linkend="protectingfiles" />). Otherwise the pane is empty.</para>
		689	</listitem>
		690	</varlistentry>
		691
		692	<varlistentry>
		693	<term>File encoding </term>
		694
		695	<listitem>
		696	<para>Codepage number for ANSI files, Unicode encoding type for
		697	Unicode files.</para>
		698	</listitem>
		699	</varlistentry>
		700
		701	<varlistentry>
		702	<term>EOL style</term>
		703
		704	<listitem>
		705	<para>EOL style of the file: <guilabel>Win</guilabel> for
		706	Windows/DOS files (CRLF), <guilabel>Unix</guilabel> (LF),
		707	<guilabel>Mac</guilabel> (CR), or Mixed.</para>
		708
		709	<note>
		710	<para>When the per-line EOL style is used, the file EOL style is
		711	not shown (this pane is blank).</para>
		712	</note>
		713	</listitem>
		714	</varlistentry>
		715	</variablelist>
284		716
.285	<para>This command has two important functions:<itemizedlist>	717	<para>When a File Compare window is open, the WinMerge window status bar
		718	shows one of these messages about the compared files:<itemizedlist>
286	<listitem>	719	<listitem>
.287	<simpara>When there is no difference selected and cursor is inside	720	<para><guilabel>Identical</guilabel>: The files contain no
288	difference, it selects this difference. This is very handy way to	721	differences</para>
289	select difference from keyboard.</simpara>
290	</listitem>	722	</listitem>
291		723
292	<listitem>	724	<listitem>
.293	<simpara>When there is selected difference, it scrolls to selected	725	<para><guilabel><replaceable>n</replaceable> Differences
294	difference. This is handy if user has scrolled selected difference	726	Found</guilabel>: The number of differences detected, displayed only
295	out of screen. So this allows user to scroll files to see other	727	when no difference is selected.</para>
296	contents and quickly return back to selected difference.</simpara>	728	</listitem>
		729
		730	<listitem>
		731	<para><guilabel>Difference <replaceable>x</replaceable> of
		732	<replaceable>n</replaceable></guilabel>: The selected difference's
		733	sequence number in the total number of differences, starting with
		734	1.</para>
297	</listitem>	735	</listitem>
298	</itemizedlist></para>	736	</itemizedlist></para>
299	</section>	737	</section>
300		738
.		739	<section id="Compare_files_multiwin">
		740	<title>Working with multiple File Compare windows<indexterm>
		741	<primary>File Compare window</primary>
		742
		743	<secondary>multiple</secondary>
		744	</indexterm></title>
		745
		746	<para>By default, the WinMerge window displays a single File Compare
		747	window. If you start another file comparison (by clicking <menuchoice>
		748	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
		749
		750	<guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>
		751	</menuchoice> and selecting another pair of files) while a File Compare
		752	window is currently open, the current File Compare window is closed,
		753	unless WinMerge detects unsaved changes in the left or right file. If you
		754	have modified either file, WinMerge prompts you to save or discard your
		755	changes before opening a new File Compare window.</para>
		756
		757	<!--We don't say that the old window is closed, even though most of the time that's what happens.
		758	If you click Cancel in the Save dialog, WinMerge does NOT close the current window, and you end up
		759	with multiple File Compare windows. The reasons why this behavior has not been fixed is discussed in
		760	https://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=2001747&forum_id=41637-->
		761
		762	<para>For example, in the next screen shot WinMerge gives you a chance to
		763	save changes detected in the right side file:</para>
		764
		765	<mediaobject>
		766	<imageobject>
		767	<imagedata contentwidth="400" fileref="screenshots/save_mod1.png"
		768	format="PNG" />
		769	</imageobject>
		770
		771	<textobject>
		772	<phrase>Save modifed files? dialog</phrase>
		773	</textobject>
		774	</mediaobject>
		775
		776	<para>If you plan to work with multiple compare operations simultaneously,
		777	consider setting (checking) the <guilabel>Enable multiple compare windows
		778	for File compare</guilabel> option, which is disabled by default. With
		779	this option enabled, you can open multiple File Compare windows without
		780	the intervening Save step.</para>
		781	</section>
		782
301	<section>	783	<section>
.302	<title>Go To line or difference</title>	784	<title>Using tabs with maximized Compare windows<indexterm>
		785	<primary>File Compare window</primary>
303		786
.304	<para>Using <guimenuitem>Go To</guimenuitem> from	787	<secondary>using tabs when maximizing</secondary>
305	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>-menu user can jump to certain line or difference.	788	</indexterm></title>
306	Go To -dialog shows current line and side when opened.</para>	789
307		790	<para>By default, Compare windows are displayed as individually resizeable
308	<tip>	791	child windows within the WinMerge window, like this:</para>
309	<para>Go To line number is useful if there is need to merge same change	792
310	to several target files from one original file. Rather than using	793	<mediaobject>
311	<guimenuitem>Find</guimenuitem> or difference navigation it is faster to	794	<imageobject>
312	jump to first line of difference.</para>	795	<imagedata contentwidth="569" fileref="screenshots/multifilecomp1.png"
313	</tip>	796	format="PNG" />
		797	</imageobject>
		798
		799	<textobject>
		800	<phrase>Multiple File Compare windows: default display</phrase>
		801	</textobject>
		802	</mediaobject>
		803
		804	<para>If you maximize your Compare window (by clicking its Maximixe
		805	button), the window fills all the available space in the WinMerge window,
		806	giving you the most room possible to work in. However, if you are working
		807	with multiple Compare windows, only one one maximized window is visible:
		808	any others are hidden. The screen shot below shows the header area of a
		809	maximized Compare window:</para>
		810
		811	<mediaobject>
		812	<imageobject>
		813	<imagedata contentwidth="569" fileref="screenshots/multifilecomp2.png"
		814	format="PNG" />
		815	</imageobject>
		816
		817	<textobject>
		818	<phrase>Multiple File Compare windows: maximized</phrase>
		819	</textobject>
		820	</mediaobject>
		821
		822	<para>To access other Compare windows, you could return to the default
		823	view by clicking the <inlinemediaobject>
		824	<imageobject>
		825	<imagedata contentwidth="15" fileref="screenshots/restore_btn.png" />
		826	</imageobject>
		827
		828	<textobject>
		829	<phrase>Restore button</phrase>
		830	</textobject>
		831	</inlinemediaobject> Restore button. But a better solution is to enable
		832	tabs by setting (checking) <menuchoice>
		833	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
		834
		835	<guimenuitem>Tab Bar</guimenuitem>
		836	</menuchoice>.</para>
		837
		838	<para>When you display the Tab bar, each Compare window has a tab that
		839	shows the filenames of the two compared files. Now, you can easily
		840	identify the available Compare windows. To open any of them, just click
		841	its tab:</para>
		842
		843	<mediaobject>
		844	<imageobject>
		845	<imagedata contentwidth="569" fileref="screenshots/multifilecomp3.png"
		846	format="PNG" />
		847	</imageobject>
		848
		849	<textobject>
		850	<phrase>Multiple File Compare windows: tabbed</phrase>
		851	</textobject>
		852	</mediaobject>
314	</section>	853	</section>
315	</section>	854	</section>
316		855
.317	<section>	856	<section id="Compare_files_nav">
318	<title><indexterm>	857	<title>Navigating differences<indexterm>
319	<primary>Merging Differences</primary>	858	<primary>difference navigation</primary>
320	</indexterm>Merging Differences</title>	859
321		860	<secondary>File Compare window</secondary>
322	<para>Merging commands are located in <guimenu>Merge</guimenu>-menu after	861	</indexterm></title>
323	navigation commands. Basically there are only two types of merging commands	862
324	- copy difference from right to left and copy difference from left to right.	863	<para>This section describes how to navigate and select differences in the
325	Additional commands make merging several differences easier.</para>	864	File Compare window. Note that when you select a difference, it is always
326		865	selected in both File panes.</para>
327	<para><guimenuitem>Copy to Right</guimenuitem> and <guimenuitem>Copy to
328	Left</guimenuitem> copy difference from side to side. At simplest this means
329	replacing text in destination difference with text in source difference. But
330	because difference can contain also removed lines, new lines may be created
331	or some lines removed. If there are several differences selected, then all
332	fully selected differences are merged with one command. This makes merging
333	many small differences a lot faster.</para>
334
335	<para>WinMerge rescans files after every merging operation. This is done to
336	ensure differences were copied correctly and all changes after last
337	rescanning are taken care of. If <guilabel>Automatic
338	rescan</guilabel>-option is not set, user may have edited files and
339	differences may not have shown correctly before merging. If result of
340	merging is not what were wanted, user can undo merging operation.</para>
341
342	<important>
343	<para>It is strongly advised to run <guimenuitem>Rescan</guimenuitem>
344	(<keycap>F5</keycap>) before merging differences if <guilabel>Automatic
345	rescan</guilabel> is set off. Usually files get out of sync when editing
346	and merging differences may have unpredictable results. If merging result
347	looks incorrect try undoing (<menuchoice>
348	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
349
350	<guimenuitem>Undo</guimenuitem>
351	</menuchoice> from menu or <keycombo>
352	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
353
354	<keycap>Z</keycap>
355	</keycombo>) it and rescanning files. And then merging again.</para>
356	</important>
357
358	<para><guimenuitem>Copy to Right/Left and Advance</guimenuitem>-commands
359	merge current difference and then select next difference (if there is one).
360	Using these commands makes merging several differences easier and
361	faster.</para>
362
363	<para><guimenuitem>Copy All to Right/Left</guimenuitem>-commands sync two
364	open files by merging all differences. Note that you can undo this whole
365	operation with one undo command.</para>
366		866
367	<tip>	867	<tip>
.368	<para>Enable <guilabel>Automatically scroll to first difference</guilabel>	868	<para>To save time, enable <guilabel>Automatically scroll to first
369	-option from general options. This saves you from scrolling to first	869	difference</guilabel> in the General page of WinMerge options. Then you
370	difference and selecting it. See <xref linkend="Configuration" /> for more	870	don't have to manually navigate to the first difference and select
371	information.</para>	871	it.</para>
372	</tip>	872	</tip>
.373	</section>
374		873
.375	<section>	874	<section id="Compare_files_nav_functions">
376	<title><indexterm>	875	<title>Navigation functions<indexterm>
377	<primary>Merge Mode</primary>	876	<primary>WinMerge functions</primary>
378	</indexterm>Merge Mode</title>	877
379		878	<secondary>difference navigation in File Compare window</secondary>
380	<para>Merge mode can be enabled from the <guimenu>File</guimenu>-menu. It	879	</indexterm></title>
381	restores the WinMerge 1.7.1 single keys for difference merging and	880
382	navigating:</para>	881	<para>Here are the functions for navigating differences in the File
383		882	Compare window, and their shortcuts in the toolbar and menus:</para>
384	<itemizedlist>	883
385	<listitem>	884	<variablelist>
386	<simpara><keycap>Up-</keycap> and <keycap>Down arrow</keycap> keys	885	<varlistentry>
387	select previous and next difference</simpara>	886	<term>Difference in the Current Line/Select Line Difference<indexterm>
388	</listitem>	887	<primary>Difference in the Current LIne function</primary>
389		888	</indexterm><indexterm>
390	<listitem>	889	<primary>Select Line Difference function</primary>
391	<simpara><keycap>Left-</keycap> and <keycap>Right arrow</keycap> keys	890	</indexterm></term>
392	merge difference to left side or right side.</simpara>
393	</listitem>
394	</itemizedlist>
395
396	<para>Unlike the normal mode, in this schema the <keycap>Alt</keycap>-key is
397	not needed for these basic operations (which makes them quicker and more
398	convenient). Note that <keycombo>
399	<keycap>Shift</keycap>
400
401	<keycap>Arrow</keycap>
402	</keycombo>, <keycombo>
403	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
404
405	<keycap>Arrow</keycap>
406	</keycombo> and <keycombo>
407	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
408		891
.409	<keycap>Alt</keycap>	892	<listitem>
		893	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		894	<imageobject>
		895	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		896	fileref="screenshots/diff_inline_btn.png" />
		897	</imageobject>
		898
		899	<textobject>
		900	<phrase>Difference in the Current Line button</phrase>
		901	</textobject>
		902	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		903	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
		904
		905	<guimenuitem>Select Line Difference</guimenuitem>
		906	</menuchoice>, <keycap>F4</keycap>, context menu in File pane
		907	within a difference.</para>
		908
		909	<para>Enabled if you have clicked in (or selected) text within a
		910	difference in a File pane. Selects the word differences within the
		911	line. For example:</para>
		912
		913	<mediaobject>
		914	<imageobject>
		915	<imagedata contentwidth="562" fileref="screenshots/linediff.png"
		916	format="PNG" />
		917	</imageobject>
		918
		919	<textobject>
		920	<phrase>Select Line Difference example</phrase>
		921	</textobject>
		922	</mediaobject>
410		923
.411	<keycap>Arrow</keycap>	924	<para>If you want to select the difference block itself, use
412	</keycombo> keys work in merge mode like in normal mode.</para>	925	<command>Current Difference</command> instead.</para>
		926	</listitem>
		927	</varlistentry>
413		928
.414	<para>When merge mode is enabled <guilabel>Merge</guilabel> text is shown in	929	<varlistentry>
415	statusbar.</para>	930	<term>Next Difference<indexterm>
416	</section>	931	<primary>Next Difference function</primary>
417		932
.418	<section>	933	<secondary>with Compare Files</secondary>
419	<title>Refreshing</title>	934	</indexterm></term>
420		935
.421	<para>Refreshing updates differences after changes are made to files. It is	936	<listitem>
422	important to do a refresh before merging changes between files.</para>	937	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		938	<imageobject>
		939	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		940	fileref="screenshots/nextdiff_btn.png" />
		941	</imageobject>
		942
		943	<textobject>
		944	<phrase>Next Difference button</phrase>
		945	</textobject>
		946	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		947	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		948
		949	<guimenuitem>Next Difference</guimenuitem>
		950	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		951	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		952
		953	<keycap>Down</keycap>
		954	</keycombo> (or <keycap>Down</keycap> in merge mode).</para>
		955
		956	<para>Selects the next difference below your current cursor location
		957	in the document (not necessarily relative to the current
		958	difference). Use to step through differences sequentially from any
		959	point. Available except when the last difference is currently
		960	selected.</para>
		961	</listitem>
		962	</varlistentry>
423		963
.424	<note>	964	<varlistentry>
425	<para>Refresh does not reload file. That means, if another programs has	965	<term>Previous Difference<indexterm>
426	updated files etc, those changes are not seen. Refresh updates differences	966	<primary>Previous Difference function</primary>
427	according changes user has done.</para>
428	</note>
429	</section>
430		967
.431	<section>	968	<secondary>with Compare Files</secondary>
432	<title>View Whitespaces</title>	969	</indexterm></term>
433		970
.434	<para>When enabled from <guimenu>View</guimenu> menu <guimenuitem>View	971	<listitem>
435	Whitespace</guimenuitem> feature shows all whitespace characters (spaces,	972	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
436	tabulators, line ends). This is very useful for example when there are	973	<imageobject>
437	spaces in other file and tabulators in other. Also, if <guilabel>Preserve	974	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
438	original EOL chars</guilabel> is enabled, WinMerge shows type of EOL	975	fileref="screenshots/prevdiff_btn.png" />
439	(<guilabel>Windows</guilabel>/<guilabel>Unix</guilabel>/<guilabel>Mac</guilabel>).</para>	976	</imageobject>
440	</section>	977
		978	<textobject>
		979	<phrase>Previous Difference button</phrase>
		980	</textobject>
		981	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		982	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		983
		984	<guimenuitem>Previous Difference</guimenuitem>
		985	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		986	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		987
		988	<keycap>Up</keycap>
		989	</keycombo> (or <keycap>Up</keycap> in merge mode).</para>
		990
		991	<para>Selects the previous difference above your current cursor
		992	location (not necessarily relative to the current difference). Use
		993	to step backwards sequentially through differences. Available except
		994	when the first difference is currently selected.</para>
		995	</listitem>
		996	</varlistentry>
441		997
.442	<section>	998	<varlistentry>
443	<title>Editing Files</title>	999	<term>First Difference<indexterm>
		1000	<primary>First Difference function</primary>
444		1001
.445	<para>Normal editing features work in WinMerge editor. User can type and	1002	<secondary>with Compare Files</secondary>
446	delete text, select text, copy, cut and paste text etc. There is some	1003	</indexterm></term>
447	customisation because there can be removed lines in files (lines existing
448	only in other side). Anyway these customisations are not usually visible to
449	users otherwise that lines can sometimes "jump" when WinMerge has to
450	relocate matching/non-matching files.</para>
451	</section>
452		1004
.453	<section>	1005	<listitem>
454	<title>Line Difference Highlight</title>	1006	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1007	<imageobject>
		1008	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1009	fileref="screenshots/firstdiff_btn.png" />
		1010	</imageobject>
		1011
		1012	<textobject>
		1013	<phrase>First Difference button</phrase>
		1014	</textobject>
		1015	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1016	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1017
		1018	<guimenuitem>First Difference</guimenuitem>
		1019	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1020	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1021
		1022	<keycap>Home</keycap>
		1023	</keycombo>.</para>
		1024
		1025	<para>Use this to begin comparing or merging differences, or to
		1026	locate the first difference from any other location. Available
		1027	except when the first difference is currently selected. You can also
		1028	select a difference by double-clicking its text.</para>
		1029	</listitem>
		1030	</varlistentry>
455		1031
.456	<para>WinMerge can automatically highlight all differences it finds in	1032	<varlistentry>
457	lines. This makes it fast to look through and find differences. See	1033	<term>Current Difference<indexterm>
458	screenshot below for an example of highlighted differences.</para>	1034	<primary>Current Difference function</primary>
459		1035
.460	<mediaobject>	1036	<secondary>with Compare Files</secondary>
461	<imageobject>	1037	</indexterm></term>
462	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_inlinediff.png" format="PNG" />
463	</imageobject>
464	</mediaobject>
465		1038
.466	<para>This feature can be enabled and disabled from menu <menuchoice>	1039	<listitem>
467	<guimenu>View</guimenu>	1040	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1041	<imageobject>
		1042	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1043	fileref="screenshots/currentdiff_btn.png" />
		1044	</imageobject>
		1045
		1046	<textobject>
		1047	<phrase>Current Difference button</phrase>
		1048	</textobject>
		1049	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1050	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1051
		1052	<guimenuitem>Current Difference</guimenuitem>
		1053	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1054	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1055
		1056	<keycap>Enter</keycap>
		1057	</keycombo>.</para>
		1058
		1059	<para>This function has two modes of action:</para>
		1060
		1061	<para><itemizedlist>
		1062	<listitem>
		1063	<simpara>If your cursor is inside a difference but no
		1064	difference is selected, this function selects the entire
		1065	difference. This is a very handy way to select a difference
		1066	using the keyboard.</simpara>
		1067	</listitem>
		1068
		1069	<listitem>
		1070	<simpara>When there is a current difference, the function
		1071	jumps to that location. This is handy if you have scrolled the
		1072	selected difference out of view, and want to quickly return to
		1073	its location.</simpara>
		1074	</listitem>
		1075	</itemizedlist></para>
		1076	</listitem>
		1077	</varlistentry>
468		1078
.469	<guimenuitem>View Line Differences</guimenuitem>	1079	<varlistentry>
470	</menuchoice>.</para>	1080	<term>Last Difference (<keycombo>
		1081	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1082
		1083	<keycap>End</keycap>
		1084	</keycombo>)<indexterm>
		1085	<primary>Last Difference function</primary>
471		1086
.472	<para>With default settings WinMerge uses whitespace characters (namely	1087	<secondary>with Compare Files</secondary>
473	spaces and tabulators) to separate words. WinMerge does not consider commas	1088	</indexterm></term>
474	or dots as word separators. That means WinMerge thinks "For Example" is two
475	words but "For,Example" is one word. More characters can be included as
476	word-separator characters from editor options (select from menu <menuchoice>
477	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
478
479	<guimenuitem>Options</guimenuitem>
480	</menuchoice> and <guilabel>Editor</guilabel> page). See <xref
481	linkend="Configuration" /> for more information.</para>
482	</section>
483		1089
.484	<section>	1090	<listitem>
485	<title>Line Difference Selection</title>	1091	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1092	<imageobject>
		1093	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1094	fileref="screenshots/lastdiff_btn.png" />
		1095	</imageobject>
		1096
		1097	<textobject>
		1098	<phrase>Last Difference button</phrase>
		1099	</textobject>
		1100	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1101	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1102
		1103	<guimenuitem>Last Difference</guimenuitem>
		1104	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1105	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
486		1106
.487	<para>Many times it is useful to see exact differences inside lines.	1107	<keycap>End</keycap>
488	WinMerge can highlight different area between lines. This feature is called	1108	</keycombo>.</para>
489	<guilabel>Select Line Difference</guilabel>. It is available in
490	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>-menu, toolbar and shortcut key
491	(<keycap>F4</keycap>). In screenshot below there is one difference
492	highlighted</para>
493		1109
.494	<mediaobject>	1110	<para>Enabled except when the last difference is currently
495	<imageobject>	1111	selected.</para>
496	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/linediff.png" format="PNG" />	1112	</listitem>
497	</imageobject>	1113	</varlistentry>
498	</mediaobject>
499	</section>
500		1114
.501	<section>	1115	<varlistentry>
502	<title>Location Pane</title>	1116	<term>Go To<indexterm>
		1117	<primary>Go To function</primary>
		1118	</indexterm></term>
503		1119
.504	<para>Location pane is a handy side-pane showing a overall (difference) map	1120	<listitem>
505	of files compared.</para>	1121	<para>Shortcuts: <menuchoice>
		1122	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
506		1123
.507	<para><inlinemediaobject>	1124	<guimenuitem>Go to</guimenuitem>
508	<imageobject>	1125	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
509	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_locpane.png" format="PNG" />	1126	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
510	</imageobject>	1127
511	</inlinemediaobject></para>	1128	<keycap>G</keycap>
		1129	</keycombo>, context menu in File pane and Location pane.</para>
		1130
		1131	<para>Enables you to jump to either a line number or a difference
		1132	number (for example, difference 2 is the second difference). Opens
		1133	the Go To dialog, where you specify the number, which file to use
		1134	(either the left or right), and the type of location (either line or
		1135	difference).</para>
		1136
		1137	<tip>
		1138	<para>The Go To line number can be useful when you need to merge
		1139	the same change from one file to several target files. Jumping to
		1140	a particular difference can be quicker than using
		1141	<guimenuitem>Find</guimenuitem> to search text, or stepping
		1142	through differences.</para>
		1143	</tip>
		1144	</listitem>
		1145	</varlistentry>
512		1146
.513	<para>Location Pane shows differences as they are located in the files. So	1147	<varlistentry>
514	it gives a good overall view for files compared. Location Pane shows	1148	<term>Refresh</term>
515	differences with same colors than editor panes. There are different	1149
516	indicators in Location Pane:</para>	1150	<listitem>
517		1151	<para>See <xref linkend="Compare_files_merge_functions" />.</para>
518	<itemizedlist>	1152	</listitem>
519	<listitem>	1153	</varlistentry>
520	<simpara>small triangles point to begin of the selected	1154	</variablelist>
521	difference</simpara>	1155	</section>
522	</listitem>
523
524	<listitem>
525	<simpara>selected difference is shown with different color</simpara>
526	</listitem>
527
528	<listitem>
529	<simpara>area visible in editor panes is shown with different background
530	color</simpara>
531	</listitem>
532	</itemizedlist>
533
534	<para>Clicking with mouse in Location Pane moves cursor to place clicked in
535	file. Right-clicking with mouse opens the context menu with items to select
536	line to go to. And the visible area locator (area with different background
537	color) can be used like a scrollbar thumb - after pressing down the left
538	mouse button over it can be dragged upwards and downwards to scroll the
539	files.</para>
540	</section>	1156	</section>
541		1157
.542	<section>	1158	<section id="Compare_files_merge">
543	<title>Context Menu</title>	1159	<title>Merging Differences<indexterm>
		1160	<primary>merging differences</primary>
		1161	</indexterm></title>
		1162
		1163	<para>Merging differences amounts to copying them from one File pane to the
		1164	other — either left to right, or right to left. This is different from
		1165	directly editing text using WinMerge's editing functions (described earlier
		1166	in this topic).</para>
		1167
		1168	<section id="Compare_files_scan">
		1169	<title>Rescanning files<indexterm>
		1170	<primary>rescanning files</primary>
		1171	</indexterm></title>
		1172
		1173	<para>By default, the <guilabel>Automatic rescan</guilabel> option is
		1174	enabled in the Editor page of WinMerge options. WinMerge rescans your
		1175	files after every change to update its difference mapping. Without
		1176	rescanning, WinMerge differences might not be synchronized with the
		1177	current content of the files, causing unpredictable merge results.</para>
		1178
		1179	<note>
		1180	<para>Rescanning does not reload files. Therefore, if an external
		1181	program has updated a file, those changes are not seen in WinMerge: only
		1182	changes made in WinMerge are used to update differences.</para>
		1183	</note>
544		1184
.545	<para>File compare context menu contains items for frequently used	1185	<important>
546	features:</para>	1186	<para>If <guilabel>Automatic rescan</guilabel> is disabled, we strongly
		1187	advise that you run <guimenuitem>Refresh</guimenuitem>
		1188	<emphasis>before</emphasis> performing any merge operation: click
		1189	<menuchoice>
		1190	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
547		1191
.548	<para><inlinemediaobject>	1192	<guimenuitem>Refresh</guimenuitem>
549	<imageobject>	1193	</menuchoice> or the <inlinemediaobject>
550	<imagedata fileref="screenshots/filecomp_context1.png" format="PNG" />	1194	<imageobject>
551	</imageobject>	1195	<imagedata contentwidth="16" fileref="screenshots/refresh_btn.png" />
552	</inlinemediaobject></para>	1196	</imageobject>
		1197
		1198	<textobject>
		1199	<phrase>Refresh button</phrase>
		1200	</textobject>
		1201	</inlinemediaobject> toolbar button, or press
		1202	<keycap>F5</keycap>.</para>
553		1203
.554	<para>Most of these items are familiar from Main menu. Worth noting is last	1204	<para>If a merge result looks incorrect, click <menuchoice>
555	item <guimenuitem>Open</guimenuitem>. It allows to open file with (system)	1205	<guimenu>Edit</guimenu>
556	registered application or with external editor. Also context menu
557	merge-commands are not relative to active file. They always merge the
558	selected difference.</para>
559	</section>
560		1206
.561	<section>	1207	<guimenuitem>Undo</guimenuitem>
562	<title>Fonts</title>	1208	</menuchoice> or press <keycombo>
		1209	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		1210
		1211	<keycap>Z</keycap>
		1212	</keycombo> to undo the merge. Then rescan the files and try merging
		1213	again.</para>
		1214	</important>
		1215	</section>
563		1216
.564	<para>Font used by editor can be changed from <menuchoice>	1217	<section id="Compare_files_merge_functions">
565	<guimenu>View</guimenu>	1218	<title>Merge functions<indexterm>
		1219	<primary>WinMerge functions</primary>
		1220
		1221	<secondary>merging</secondary>
		1222	</indexterm></title>
		1223
		1224	<para>The merging functions can implicitly select differences based on a
		1225	cursor location or text selection. For example, if you click anywhere in a
		1226	difference and then click the <guibutton>Copy Right</guibutton> toolbar
		1227	button, the entire difference block is merged. This makes it easy to merge
		1228	many small differences. Similarly, if you select text that spans all or
		1229	part of multiple differences, all the included differences are merged with
		1230	a single merge command.</para>
		1231
		1232	<para>If the result of a merge operation is not what you expected, you can
		1233	click <guibutton>Undo</guibutton> to reverse the operation.</para>
		1234
		1235	<para>Here are the merge functions and their shortcuts in the toolbar and
		1236	menus:</para>
		1237
		1238	<variablelist>
		1239	<varlistentry>
		1240	<term>Copy Right<indexterm>
		1241	<primary>Copy Right function</primary>
		1242	</indexterm></term>
566		1243
.567	<guimenuitem>Select Font...</guimenuitem>	1244	<listitem>
568	</menuchoice>. Due to limitations in the editor, only fixed width fonts	1245	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
569	are supported in WinMerge.</para>	1246	<imageobject>
570		1247	<imagedata contentwidth="17"
571	<para>Font suggestions for use of WinMerge with East Asian languages:</para>	1248	fileref="screenshots/copyr_button.png" />
572		1249	</imageobject>
573	<itemizedlist>	1250
574	<listitem>	1251	<textobject>
575	<simpara>Simplified Chinese texts with the <guilabel>SimSun</guilabel>	1252	<phrase>Copy Right button</phrase>
576	or <guilabel>SimHei</guilabel> fixed-width fonts</simpara>	1253	</textobject>
577	</listitem>	1254	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
578		1255	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
579	<listitem>	1256
580	<simpara>Traditional Chinese texts with the <guilabel>MingLiU</guilabel>	1257	<guimenuitem>Copy to Right</guimenuitem>
581	fixed-width font, or</simpara>	1258	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
582	</listitem>	1259	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
583		1260
584	<listitem>	1261	<keycap>Right</keycap>
585	<simpara>Japanese texts with the <guilabel>MS Gothic</guilabel> or	1262	</keycombo> ( or <keycap>Right</keycap> in merge mode), context
586	<guilabel>MS Mincho</guilabel> fixed-width fonts</simpara>	1263	menu in File pane within a difference, and in Diff pane.</para>
587	</listitem>	1264
588		1265	<para>Copies one or more difference from left to right. Note that
589	<listitem>	1266	differences do not need to be fully selected: At its simplest, this
590	<simpara>Korean texts with the <guilabel>GulimChe</guilabel> fixed-width	1267	means replacing text in the target difference with text in source
591	font (not Gulim as this variant uses proportional-spacing glyphs that	1268	difference. But because differences can also contain empty lines,
592	are not centered in grid cells and then poorly aligned in fixed-width	1269	new lines may be created or removed.</para>
593	mode)</simpara>	1270	</listitem>
594	</listitem>	1271	</varlistentry>
595	</itemizedlist>
596	</section>
597		1272
.598	<section id="ResolveConflictFiles">	1273	<varlistentry>
599	<title><indexterm>	1274	<term>Copy Left<indexterm>
600	<primary>Conflict Files</primary>	1275	<primary>Copy Left function</primary>
601	</indexterm>Resolving Conflict Files</title>	1276	</indexterm></term>
602
603	<para>WinMerge can resolve conflict files several version control systems
604	produce when merging files. Conflict file is basically two different
605	versions of files embedded into one file. WinMerge reads this file and
606	separates it into its original files, and shows those files in file compare.
607	So conflicted file can be resolved using normal WinMerge file compare
608	functionality.</para>
609		1277
.610	<section>	1278	<listitem>
611	<title>Opening Conflict Files</title>	1279	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1280	<imageobject>
		1281	<imagedata contentwidth="17"
		1282	fileref="screenshots/copyl_button.png" />
		1283	</imageobject>
		1284
		1285	<textobject>
		1286	<phrase>Copy Left button</phrase>
		1287	</textobject>
		1288	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1289	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1290
		1291	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>
		1292	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1293	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1294
		1295	<keycap>Left</keycap>
		1296	</keycombo> (or <keycap>Left</keycap> in merge mode), context menu
		1297	in File pane within a difference, and in Diff pane.</para>
		1298
		1299	<para>Copies the current difference from the right to the left File
		1300	pane. See <command>Copy Righ</command>t description for
		1301	details.</para>
		1302	</listitem>
		1303	</varlistentry>
612		1304
.613	<para>Conflict files can be opened into WinMerge using <menuchoice>	1305	<varlistentry>
		1306	<term>Copy Right and Advance<indexterm>
		1307	<primary>Copy Right and Advance function</primary>
		1308	</indexterm></term>
		1309
		1310	<listitem>
		1311	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1312	<imageobject>
		1313	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1314	fileref="screenshots/copyr_adv_btn.png" />
		1315	</imageobject>
		1316
		1317	<textobject>
		1318	<phrase>Copy Right and Advance button</phrase>
		1319	</textobject>
		1320	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1321	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1322
		1323	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>
		1324	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1325	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		1326
		1327	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1328
		1329	<keycap>Right</keycap>
		1330	</keycombo>, context menu in File pane within a difference.</para>
		1331
		1332	<para>Merges the current difference from the right to the left File
		1333	pane, then selects the next difference (if one exists). Equivalent
		1334	to <command>Copy Right</command> and <command>Next
		1335	Difference</command> in one step.</para>
		1336	</listitem>
		1337	</varlistentry>
		1338
		1339	<varlistentry>
		1340	<term>Copy Left and Advance<indexterm>
		1341	<primary>Copy Left and Advance function</primary>
		1342	</indexterm></term>
		1343
		1344	<listitem>
		1345	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1346	<imageobject>
		1347	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1348	fileref="screenshots/copyl_adv_btn.png" />
		1349	</imageobject>
		1350
		1351	<textobject>
		1352	<phrase>Copy Left and Advance button</phrase>
		1353	</textobject>
		1354	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1355	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1356
		1357	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>
		1358	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1359	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		1360
		1361	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1362
		1363	<keycap>Left</keycap>
		1364	</keycombo>, context menu in File pane within a difference.</para>
		1365
		1366	<para>Merges the current difference from left to right, then selects
		1367	the next difference (if one exists). Equivalent to <command>Copy
		1368	Left</command> and <command>Next Difference</command> in one
		1369	step.</para>
		1370	</listitem>
		1371	</varlistentry>
		1372
		1373	<varlistentry>
		1374	<term>All Right<indexterm>
		1375	<primary>All Right function</primary>
		1376	</indexterm></term>
		1377
		1378	<listitem>
		1379	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1380	<imageobject>
		1381	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
		1382	fileref="screenshots/allright_btn.png" />
		1383	</imageobject>
		1384
		1385	<textobject>
		1386	<phrase>All Right button</phrase>
		1387	</textobject>
		1388	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1389	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1390
		1391	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>
		1392	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1393	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1394
		1395	<keycap>Left</keycap>
		1396	</keycombo>, context menu in File pane within a difference.</para>
		1397
		1398	<para>Copies all differences from the left to the right File pane.
		1399	Use to synchronize two files with one command. Similarly, you can
		1400	back out the entire merge by clicking the<inlinemediaobject>
		1401	<imageobject>
		1402	<imagedata contentdepth="11"
		1403	fileref="screenshots/undo_btn.png" />
		1404	</imageobject>
		1405
		1406	<textobject>
		1407	<phrase>Refresh button</phrase>
		1408	</textobject>
		1409	</inlinemediaobject> Undo or pressing <keycombo>
		1410	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		1411
		1412	<keycap>Z</keycap>
		1413	</keycombo>.</para>
		1414	</listitem>
		1415	</varlistentry>
		1416
		1417	<varlistentry>
		1418	<term>All Left<indexterm>
		1419	<primary>All Left function</primary>
		1420	</indexterm></term>
614	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
615		1421
.616	<guimenuitem>Open Conflict File...</guimenuitem>	1422	<listitem>
617	</menuchoice>. Conflict file to resolve can be selected using file	1423	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
618	selection dialog that opens. At the moment there are no other ways to open	1424	<imageobject>
619	conflict files.</para>	1425	<imagedata contentdepth="15"
620		1426	fileref="screenshots/allleft_btn.png" />
621	<warning>	1427	</imageobject>
622	<para>WinMerge overwrites original conflict file. If original file is	1428
623	wanted to save, it must be copied to another folder or another filename	1429	<textobject>
624	before opening it into WinMerge.</para>	1430	<phrase>All Left button</phrase>
625	</warning>	1431	</textobject>
		1432	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1433	<guimenu>Merge</guimenu>
		1434
		1435	<guimenuitem>Copy to Left</guimenuitem>
		1436	</menuchoice>, <keycombo>
		1437	<keycap>Alt</keycap>
		1438
		1439	<keycap>Left</keycap>
		1440	</keycombo>, context menu in File pane within a difference.</para>
		1441
		1442	<para>Copies all differences from the right to the left File pane.
		1443	Effectively, replaces the content of the left File pane. See similar
		1444	to <command>All Right</command>.</para>
		1445	</listitem>
		1446	</varlistentry>
		1447
		1448	<varlistentry>
		1449	<term>Refresh<indexterm>
		1450	<primary>Refresh function</primary>
		1451
		1452	<seealso>rescanning files</seealso>
		1453	</indexterm></term>
		1454
		1455	<listitem>
		1456	<para>Shortcuts: <inlinemediaobject>
		1457	<imageobject>
		1458	<imagedata contentwidth="16"
		1459	fileref="screenshots/refresh_btn.png" />
		1460	</imageobject>
		1461
		1462	<textobject>
		1463	<phrase>Refresh button</phrase>
		1464	</textobject>
		1465	</inlinemediaobject> button, <menuchoice>
		1466	<guimenu>View</guimenu>
		1467
		1468	<guimenuitem>Refresh</guimenuitem>
		1469	</menuchoice>, <keycap>F5</keycap>.</para>
		1470
		1471	<para>Rescans files to update differences. Use after changes are
		1472	made to files, if automatic scanning is disabled (see <xref
		1473	linkend="Compare_files_scan" /> for details).</para>
		1474	</listitem>
		1475	</varlistentry>
		1476	</variablelist>
626	</section>	1477	</section>
627		1478
.628	<section>	1479	<section id="ResolveConflictFiles">
629	<title>Conflict Resolving</title>	1480	<title>Resolving Conflict Files<indexterm>
		1481	<primary>conflict files</primary>
		1482	</indexterm></title>
		1483
		1484	<para>You can use WinMerge to resolve conflict files that some version
		1485	control systems produce during their merge operations. A conflict file is
		1486	created when a merge encounters differences that cannot be automatically
		1487	resolved. It is a single file containing the incompletely merged content
		1488	of the two files. WinMerge separates the conflict file into separate files
		1489	and opens those files in file Compare window. You can then use WinMerge's
		1490	compare and merge functions to resolve the conflicts and save the merged
		1491	result file.</para>
		1492
		1493	<orderedlist>
		1494	<listitem>
		1495	<para>Click <menuchoice>
		1496	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
		1497
		1498	<guimenuitem>Open Conflict File</guimenuitem>
		1499	</menuchoice>, and use the Open dialog to select the conflict file
		1500	in your file system. The conflict file opens in the File Compare
		1501	window:</para>
		1502
		1503	<itemizedlist>
		1504	<listitem>
		1505	<para>The left File pane file header is titled, <guilabel>Theirs
		1506	File</guilabel>. This side represents the file that is usually in
		1507	the version control system's repository. This file usually cannot
		1508	be edited, so WinMerge sets the left File pane to be read-only.
		1509	This means that differences can be merged only from this file to
		1510	the other file.</para>
		1511	</listitem>
		1512
		1513	<listitem>
		1514	<para>The right File pane is titled, <guilabel>Mine
		1515	File</guilabel>. This side is the working copy of the file. All
		1516	changes should be done to this file, which is the result
		1517	file.</para>
		1518
		1519	<para>The <guilabel>Mine File</guilabel> side is set to modified
		1520	after opening conflict file (you will notice the asterisk in the
		1521	File pane header). This allows you to save the file quickly if the
		1522	it does not require any changes. It also ensures that you do not
		1523	forget to resolve the files. If you choose not to save the file,
		1524	the original conflict file is not modified.</para>
		1525	</listitem>
		1526	</itemizedlist>
		1527	</listitem>
		1528
		1529	<listitem>
		1530	<para>Use all the normal compare and merge functions described earlier
		1531	in this topic to resolve the conflicts in the Mine File pane. </para>
		1532	</listitem>
		1533
		1534	<listitem>
		1535	<para>When you are done, click <keycombo>
		1536	<keycap>Ctrl</keycap>
		1537
		1538	<keycap>S</keycap>
		1539	</keycombo> to save the the <guilabel>Mine File</guilabel> side as
		1540	the result file. By default, the new version overwrites the original
		1541	conflict file. Alternatively, you can click <menuchoice>
		1542	<guimenu>File</guimenu>
		1543
		1544	<guimenuitem>Save Right</guimenuitem>
		1545
		1546	<guimenuitem>Save As</guimenuitem>
		1547	</menuchoice>, and choose a different file name.</para>
		1548	</listitem>
		1549	</orderedlist>
630		1550
.631	<para>WinMerge opens conflict file into normal file compare (see above).	1551	<para>Many version control systems allow you to configure an external
632	All normal WinMerge file compare features are in use. Files in two panels	1552	merge tool. If yours does, you might be able to have your version control
633	are:</para>	1553	system launch WinMerge automatically when a merge conflict occurs.</para>
634		1554
635	<simplelist>	1555	<para>You can also open a conflict file from the WinMerge command line,
636	<member><emphasis>Left panel</emphasis>: this file is called	1556	which accepts three filename parameters: <option>Theirs</option>,
637	"<emphasis>theirs</emphasis>" file. It is usually the file that is in	1557	<option>Mine</option>, and optionally, <option>Resolved</option> (if you
638	version control system's repository. This file usually cannot be edited.	1558	want a different result file from the conflict file). For more
639	An as such, WinMerge opens left-side file as read-only. Differences can	1559	information, see <xref linkend="CommandLine" />. Single path to the
640	be moved only from this file to the another file.</member>	1560	conflict file is also accepted in command line.</para>
641
642	<member><emphasis>Right panel</emphasis>: this file is called
643	"<emphasis>mine</emphasis>" file. It is the user's working file
644	originally. All changes should be done to this file. I.e. this file is
645	at the same time the result file.</member>
646	</simplelist>
647
648	<para>After the wanted resolved file is in right-side panel, it can be
649	saved like normal file. WinMerge saves the file over original file.</para>
650
651	<para>Left side "<emphasis>mine</emphasis>" file is set to modified after
652	opening conflict file. This allows fast resolve by just saving the file
653	when user's file is the wanted end result. This also prevents accidentally
654	not resolving the files. As resolving only happens when file is saved. If
655	file is no saved, original conflict file is kept unmodified.</para>
656
657	<para>Many version control tools allow configuring external merge tool.
658	WinMerge accepts three filenames ("T<guilabel>heirs</guilabel>",
659	"<guilabel>Mine</guilabel>" and "<guilabel>Resolved</guilabel>") as
660	command line parameters. See more info from <xref
661	linkend="CommandLine" />. Single path to the conflict file is also
662	accepted in command line.</para>
663	</section>	1561	</section>
664	</section>	1562	</section>
665	</article>	1563	</article>