While I can appreciate your goal of creating the best Diff/Merge tool, DiffMerge still has a looong way to go. It's already decent for a free product, however. The best Diff/Merge tool available (IMHO) is Beyond Compare from Scooter Software (scootersoftware.com). It's a commercial product, but only costs 30 bucks.
Specifics:
no integrated FTP folders
needs ability to include/exclude a list of files, filetypes, and folders
needs to integrate with a source code control tool
when diffing lines of 2 files, need ability to manually align 2 lines
These are just a few things that I noticed from a quick look.
If this project came about by the need to integrate a differ into your source control project, I stronly suggest that you attempt to strike a licensing deal with Scooter Software to use their engine.
Bruce
DiffMerge first impressions
Moderator: SourceGear
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jeffhostetler
- Posts: 534
- Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:37 am
- Location: SourceGear
- Contact:
Thanks for the comments.
Thanks for your comments. We welcome your input.
w/r/t the specific items you listed:
[] no integrated FTP folders
this is an interesting idea, but we don't have any plans for this
at this time.
[] needs ability to include/exclude a list of files, filetypes, and folders
this feature is present and can be controlled from the 'Folder Filters'
page on the Options Dialog. This controls what file types (such as
.o's) and folders (such as obj) are excluded from folder comparisions.
[] needs to integrate with a source code control tool
publishing instructions for working with other source code control tools
is on our todo list. but thanks for the reminder
[] when diffing lines of 2 files, need ability to manually align 2 lines
if you want to vertically force 2 lines to line up (usefull when a large
chunk of code is moved up or down in a file), we have 'Manual
Alignment Markers' available in the menu; granted, they're a little
awkward to use in this release, but it is an area we hope to improve
upon.
i hope i've addressed all of your concerns. thanks for the input and
please respond if other issues/features come to mind.
j
w/r/t the specific items you listed:
[] no integrated FTP folders
this is an interesting idea, but we don't have any plans for this
at this time.
[] needs ability to include/exclude a list of files, filetypes, and folders
this feature is present and can be controlled from the 'Folder Filters'
page on the Options Dialog. This controls what file types (such as
.o's) and folders (such as obj) are excluded from folder comparisions.
[] needs to integrate with a source code control tool
publishing instructions for working with other source code control tools
is on our todo list. but thanks for the reminder
[] when diffing lines of 2 files, need ability to manually align 2 lines
if you want to vertically force 2 lines to line up (usefull when a large
chunk of code is moved up or down in a file), we have 'Manual
Alignment Markers' available in the menu; granted, they're a little
awkward to use in this release, but it is an area we hope to improve
upon.
i hope i've addressed all of your concerns. thanks for the input and
please respond if other issues/features come to mind.
j
I think on the whole DiffMerge is execellent - esp. when you consider it's for free. As a Beyond Compare user, I certainly prefer the in place editing that DiffMerge gives. I do however miss the pane at the bottom that shows a horizontal comparison of the current line which I find very useful.
Some usability feedback:
I know this is cross platform but it would be nice if it felt more like Windows app on windows - the toolbar at the top and the tabs at the bottom.
I'm not sure how much value the reference view has, seems to be a waste of screen real estate to me.
When you type Crtl+G to go to a line, the radio button has focus, it should be the line number edit box (which should be fully selected).
I'm not sure what the keyboard shortcuts are for next / previous change, (maybe they don't exist - they should) you could mention them in the tool bar button's tool tips.
Some usability feedback:
I know this is cross platform but it would be nice if it felt more like Windows app on windows - the toolbar at the top and the tabs at the bottom.
I'm not sure how much value the reference view has, seems to be a waste of screen real estate to me.
When you type Crtl+G to go to a line, the radio button has focus, it should be the line number edit box (which should be fully selected).
I'm not sure what the keyboard shortcuts are for next / previous change, (maybe they don't exist - they should) you could mention them in the tool bar button's tool tips.
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jeffhostetler
- Posts: 534
- Joined: Tue Jun 05, 2007 11:37 am
- Location: SourceGear
- Contact:
Thanks for the feedback.
i'm not sure what i'd do differently. i initially had the tabsI know this is cross platform but it would be nice if it felt
more like Windows app on windows - the toolbar at the
top and the tabs at the bottom.
at the top and it looked cluttered with the menu, toolbar
buttons, tabs, and file panel pathnames right next to each
other. moving the tabs to the bottom seemed right because
you don't often flip between views. but that's just my opinion.
it's kind of nice in those situations where you've made a bunchI'm not sure how much value the reference view has, seems
to be a waste of screen real estate to me.
of complicated edits/patches and have one of those "wait, what
did this originally look like?" moments. but then again, there are
lots of times when you won't need this.
we have F7 and Shift-F7 to jump to next and previousI'm not sure what the keyboard shortcuts are for
next / previous change, (maybe they don't exist
- they should) you could mention them in the tool
bar button's tool tips.
change. (and F8 and Shift-F8 to jump to next and
previous conflict when in a file merge window.)
these are listed on the edit menu.
adding them to the tooltip is a good idea. thanks.
i'll log this and the goto dialog focus problem.
j