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Merge for Windows System Requirements, Release Notes and History

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Merge 2013 releases

Merge 2013.4296 (30 January 2013)

This release features minor enhancements and addresses several defects. It is the current production quality release and is recommended for all users.

System requirements

This release is tested and supported on the following platforms:

  • Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows XP Professional SP3 (32-bit)

The following platforms are also supported and expected to work, but not routinely tested:

  • Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 (requires the MSXML 6 update from Microsoft This link is to an external website to be installed)

Downloads

Enhancements

  • In the .NET assembly, it is possible to monitor the progress of comparisons using the new ProgressChanged event. For more information, see the Introduction to the .NET Assembly. [I13543]
  • The amount of memory that can be used by the file comparison filters for Microsoft Office documents has been increased from 256 MB to 512 MB. This allows larger Microsoft Office documents to be compared without receiving out of memory errors. Please contact Araxis support for assistance if you still encounter out of memory errors when comparing large Microsoft Office documents. [I13551]
  • Minor improvements have been made to the online help. [I13537, I13397]
  • The major version number has been updated to 2013, reflecting the year of release. [I13540]

Defects fixed

  • Merge no longer crashes on Windows 8 when the application is launched by opening a saved comparison file and then choosing to load options. [I13547]
  • Merge no longer crashes when opening images using the consolecompare utility with a /readonly flag. [I13550]
  • When running a filter program, Merge now closes the handle to its input file before the filter program is started. This enables third-party filters to be used even if they need to open the input file with exclusive access. [I13501]
  • Pipes may now be used within filter programs. [I13506]
  • A crash that could occur when closing the main application window has been fixed. [I13509]

Merge 2012 releases

Merge 2012.4260 (12 November 2012)

This release features full support for Windows 8, introduces a .NET assembly, and provides access to versions of files and folders stored by Windows restore points. Other minor enhancements and fixes are also included. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

System requirements

This release is tested and supported on the following platforms:

  • Windows 8 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows 7 SP1 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows XP Professional SP3 (32-bit)

The following platforms are also supported and expected to work, but not routinely tested:

  • Windows Vista SP2 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • Windows Server 2012
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
  • Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 (requires the MSXML 6 update from Microsoft This link is to an external website to be installed)

Downloads

Enhancements

  • Merge is fully tested and supported on Windows 8. [I13371]
  • A .NET assembly is included to provide certain text comparison services conveniently to .NET applications. For more information, see the Introduction to the .NET Assembly. [I13296, I13420, I13433, I13409]
  • The End-User Licence Agreement for Araxis Merge Software has been updated to add specific provision for Merge to be deployed as a component of a server application that provides services to multiple users. This may be of interest to customers using Merge in their server-based applications via the Automation API or .NET assembly. In summary, deployment as a server component requires the purchase of two Merge licences rather than the one needed for normal desktop use, though you are referred to the full EULA for the definitive terms. [I13296]
  • Access to files and folders stored by system restore points is now possible via the Versions button. A snapshot service is also provided to create additional scheduled restore points. For more information, see Accessing Versions Stored by Windows System Protection or the Araxis Snapshot Service. (Note that the documentation for this feature on this website is more recent than that included with the product.) [I13374, I13493]
  • Various minor improvements have been made to the documentation. [I13375, I13287]
  • For the benefit of visually impaired users, appropriate system colours are used when a high contrast Windows theme is selected. It may be necessary for users to reconfigure alternative text colours within Merge when certain high contrast themes are used. [I11647]
  • When scrolling, mouse wheel acceleration is supported. [I9648]
  • More detailed error messages are shown in certain circumstances when the FTP plugin encounters problems. [I13477]
  • Serial numbers with support expiry dates after 2017 are supported. [I12559]

Bug fixes

  • The araxissvnmerge.exe command-line utility has been corrected to address problems encountered by some customers using Merge to resolve Subversion conflicts. [I13293]
  • A three-way file comparison is no longer launched from a two-way folder comparison if a three-way folder comparison had been open previously. [I13256]
  • A saved two-way comparison reopens with two comparison panes, not three. [I11547]
  • It is possible to access a Perforce server using Windows or LDAP authentication without configuring a username or password in Merge. [I13408]
  • The Automation API ComparisonResult property returns the correct result for binary comparisons where the files are identical. [I13279]
  • A change to Options… > Application > Show file versions from SCM systems setting is now reflected immediately when applied, rather than requiring a restart. [I13353]

Merge 2012.4198 (29 May 2012)

This release featured minor enhancements and fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Downloads

Enhancements

  • The icon on each comparison tab now turns into a close button when the mouse pointer is over the tab, as it does in the OS X version of Merge. [I11689]
  • Following a folder comparison automatic merge operation, Merge no longer gives warnings about non-text files that could not be merged if it had indicated prior to the merge that they would be skipped. [I13194]
  • File and folders are no longer added to the comparison history if they were located in the temporary files directory. [I13161]
  • Memory handling has been optimized even further. This should help with performance, especially with large comparisons. [I13225]
  • Merge is now able to access 3GB of RAM on 32-bit versions of Windows. [I13221]
  • A new FAQ has been added, How can I increase the amount of memory that Merge can use for large file and folder comparisons? [I13223]
  • Merge better handles many out-of-memory conditions. [I13222, I13224]

Bug Fixes

  • The … have been restored to the browse button in the Run Program dialog. [I13120]
  • In the classic toolbar-style user interface, a problem with changing filters in a folder comparison using the toolbar drop-down has been resolved. [I13237]
  • The type definition for IComparison* in the Automation API now references a valid help article. [I13206]
  • Ctrl+Z works within comparison filename entry fields. [I11451]
  • HTML reports no longer show the number of omitted unchanged lines if the Show number of omitted unchanged lines option is unchecked. [I12268]
  • The tooltips for merging buttons now display correctly with Aero in Windows 7. [I12393]
  • If the content of the Size & Time column in a folder comparison is too wide to fit into its column, it is now shortened with an ellipsis, rather than simply being truncated in a potentially misleading way. [I12914]
  • Crash reports are generated correctly on 64-bit versions of Windows. [I13213]
  • Merge now comes to the fore when launched from Windows Explorer using the Compare with Araxis Merge context menu item on Windows 7. [I13124]
  • Merge copes gracefully when the Windows CopyFileEx function fails to copy files over a network where one of the folders is encrypted. [I13116]
  • The object returned by the Automation API TextComparison.ThreeWayMergeActions property now works correctly. [I13159]
  • Comparison tabs no longer become very narrow when content is typed directly into a text comparison. [I13186]
  • The display format for binary comparisons persists when changing one of the files being compared. [I12975]
  • In a binary comparison, it is now possible to reload a file that has been modified outside Merge. [I12977]

Merge 2012.4162 (8 February 2012)

This release featured direct access to Git and Mercurial repositories, an in-process Automation server, and several other enhancements and fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Downloads

Enhancements

  • Merge is able to access files directly from Git and Mercurial repositories. For more information, please see the integration instructions for Git and Mercurial. [I13015]
  • Merge offers an in-process Automation server. This capability will be of interest to those using Merge from server based applications such as those hosted by Internet Information Server. As this feature is still very new, please contact us if you are interested in trying it. [I13082]
  • The folder comparison option Gather line count statistics for inserted and removed files is off by default. [I11874]
  • The Use filter program in folder comparisons option has been moved to the Folder Comparisons options page. [I11875]
  • The Additional Registration Details section of the registration dialog has been removed. [I12177]
  • The major version number has been updated to 2012, reflecting the year of release. [I13040]

Bugs fixed

  • The Include only pages that contain changes option in the Print dialog now correctly omits pages that only contain lines ignored by matching by regular expressions. [I13057]
  • When unsaved changes have been made to files in a comparison, a manual recompare now prompts to save the files. [I12913]
  • In image comparisons, Ctrl+F4 will close the comparison, not the whole application. [I12424]
  • Two broken external links have been corrected in the online help. [I12932, I12966]
  • An inappropriate error message pertaining to Perforce is no longer shown in certain circumstances when endeavouring to view a file in a Subversion repository. [I12943]
  • Content no longer appears more than once in the centre panel of a three-way binary file comparison. [I13092]

Merge 2011 releases

Merge 2011.4074 (5 October 2011)

This release featured significantly enhanced access to certain SCM systems, along with many other enhancements and fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Downloads

Enhancements

  • A new Versions button provides convenient access to other versions of a file or folder stored in Perforce, Subversion and Visual SourceSafe repositories. See the updated Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) topic for further details. [I12237, I12258, I12261, I12262, I12284, I12694, I12705, I12699, I12878, I12244, I12877, I12892, I12895, I12260, I12271, I12900]
  • Merge now has a single options page for storing all credentials for accessing SCM and FTP servers. This replaces the ad hoc dialogs that used to pop up when Merge needed login information. [I12696, I12695, I12700, I12701, I12702, I12703]
  • The command-line Compare.exe and ConsoleCompare.exe utilities now have an option to close comparisons automatically if there are no changes between the compared files. For more information, see the Command-Line Reference. [I12817, I12851]
  • Ctrl+A now works to select all the text in the filename and folder name entry fields. [I12078]
  • The start-up splash screen has been removed. This should result in Merge starting more quickly. [I12255]
  • The file patterns on the File Types options page now allow a literal filename with no wildcard to be specified. [I12371]
  • An option, Include ‘Compare with Araxis Merge’ in Explorer menus, has been added to the Application options page. This provides a way to turn off Windows Explorer context menu integration. [I12496]
  • The Frequently Asked Questions list has been updated with an entry, ‘How can I stop Merge from freezing when I right-click a file or folder comparison panel?’ [I12498]
  • The error message that is shown when p4.exe is unavailable for use by the Perforce plugin is now more helpful. [I12697]
  • Instructions for integrating Merge with the Cygwin version of Mercurial are now provided. [I12819]
  • The integration instructions for Visual Studio Team Foundation have been improved. [I12832]
  • The integration instructions for Mercurial now document the reason for using the /wait argument to ConsoleCompare.exe. [I12666]
  • The Visual SourceSafe File System Plugin topic now includes system requirements. [I12860]
  • The SCM integration instructions no longer reference the obsolete Visual Enabler Blue product. [I12210]
  • The SCM integration instructions have been updated to replace the entries for CM Synergy and Continuus with one for IBM Rational Synergy. [I12212]
  • The instructions for integrating Merge with ClearCase have been updated to reference a customer-contributed ClearCase/Merge integration application. [I12332]
  • The URI-based file open dialog that appeared in certain situations has been removed, since it provided little benefit over simply typing a URI into a filename or folder name entry field. [I12259]
  • Merge now uses v1.45 of the Boost library. The legal notices have been updated accordingly with the new version number. [I12303, I12293]
  • The trademarks section of the legal notices has been updated. [I12296]
  • The Legal Notices topic now references the Oracle JDK licence, not the Sun one. [I12516]
  • The Merge major version has been updated to 2011, and copyright dates extended accordingly. [I11526]

Bugs fixed

  • The Maximize application on startup setting is no longer ignored when Merge is launched from Windows Explorer. [I9141]
  • It is now possible to choose the Hide/reveal button on the ribbon to reveal the associated drop-down menu when everything has been hidden. [I12217]
  • Very long lines of text (> 8,000 characters) no longer appear as blank lines. [I12222]
  • When performing an automatic folder merge operation that copies a file into the common ancestor where that file did not previously exist, Merge now preserves the character encoding of the copied file. [I12235]
  • Merge now displays very long lines correctly (such as those in Microsoft Developer Studio project files) when using the scrollbar thumb/scroller. [I12443]
  • It is now possible to view previous revisions of deleted files in a Subversion repository using the Subversion plugin. [I12627]
  • The filename entry field on file comparisons no longer flickers under VMware Fusion after each character is typed. [I12698]
  • The two A double-click on a folder row: fields on the Launch Behaviour options page now have correct indentation and capitalization. [I12704]
  • Synchronization links are now reset appropriately when swapping first and third files in a file comparison. [I12706]
  • The mouse is no longer inappropriately captured (resulting in unwanted selections) when a click in an inactive Merge file panel causes a message box to appear. [I12818]
  • An error message is now shown when an attempt is made to use the Perforce plugin to access a file that does not exist. [I12857]
  • In a binary comparison, after swapping an empty panel with a panel showing file content, the error message about failing to open a file is now shown in the correct (empty) panel. [I12868]
  • The Launch Behaviour topic has been corrected to remove a reference to an option that no longer exists. [I12209]
  • The FolderComparisonReportDifferences.cs Automation API sample script is no longer double-spaced. [I12391]
  • Commands in the ribbon should now always be updated correctly when Merge first opens. [I12413]
  • Merge now correctly copies timestamps when transferring files from a remote FTP server. [I12449]
  • Print previews of binary comparisons now work. [I12899]
  • The links to the WinCvs website in the SCM integration instructions have been updated. [I12213]
  • The ConfigLong Enumeration topic has been updated to include the numbers associated with the clShowUnchanged constant. [I12365]
  • A localizable string used in HTML reports has been moved to MgReportLocalized.xslt from MgFileRowData.xslt. This should not affect functionality. [I12265]

Other changes

  • Merge no longer includes French, German and Spanish localizations. Full Japanese and English localizations continue to be provided. Customers desiring to use a French, German or Spanish localized version of Merge can continue to use the Merge 2010.3947 release. [I12495]

Merge 2010 releases

Merge 2010.3954 (28 October 2010)

This release brought the Japanese localization of Merge 2010 up to date with the English, German, French and Spanish-language release. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • The Japanese localization of the user interface and online-help has been brought up to date. [I12215]
  • The documentation for integrating with the Git SCM system is now more consistent between the two supported Git variants. [I12161]

Bugs fixed

  • A typographical error has been fixed in the English regular expression reference help topic. [I12164]

Merge 2010.3947 (12 October 2010)

This release of Merge features a number of significant enhancements and incorporates several bug fixes. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • New French, German and Spanish UI localizations. The online help is available in English and, in the Japanese localization of Merge, Japanese. [I11981]
  • Custom syntax highlighting can now be defined for types of files not already recognized by Merge (Options… > Text Comparisons > Syntax Highlighting > Edit Generic…). [I11712, I11968]
  • The text extraction filter for Microsoft Excel spreadsheets is vastly improved. In particular, numeric cells should now have the correct number formatting applied to them. [I11851, I12016, I11926]
  • The PDF filter can now extract text from most Japanese-language PDFs. Other formerly problematic PDFs (such as those created by Documaker) are also much more likely to work. [I10480, I11246]
  • Instructions are now provided for integrating Merge with the Subversive plugin for Eclipse. [I12051]
  • The instructions for integrating Merge with Git have been rewritten to include a new, simpler method of configuring Merge as the external comparison and merging tool. [I11943]
  • The Git, Mercurial, Subversion and TortoiseHg integration instructions have been updated and/or corrected. [I11782, I11702, I11720, I12017, I12042]
  • Instead of the (easily-missed) system tray notification icon, Merge for Windows now notifies users of important messages using a popup notification window, in a similar way to Merge for Mac OS X. [I11980, I12056]
  • The serial number support expiry notification will now appear briefly whenever the application starts, until it is expressly dismissed. Previously, it appeared only once every 30 days and was therefore easy to miss. [I12060]
  • The filename of the temporary input file that is passed to an external filter program now has the same extension as the original file. This makes it easier for external filter programs to change their behaviour based on the extension of the file Merge is comparing. [I11694]
  • An option has been added for Merge to not heed #pragma code_page directives in compared text files. [I11787]
  • The Excel text filter is now able to extract text from Excel 97 files created by Vignet. [I11833]
  • The Merge for Windows application and document icons have been updated to the new Araxis product family style. [I11881]
  • A new FAQ item has been added describing various ways to speed up folder comparisons. [I11842]
  • The Java Runtime Environment (JRE) included with Merge has been updated to a more recent version. [I12019]
  • Various minor improvements have been made to the online help. [I11828, I11998, I12067, I11655]

Bugs fixed

  • In a three-way folder comparison automatic merge operation, Merge now deletes the common ancestor file if there are no changes in 1st and 2nd files and the 3rd file has been deleted. [I11704]
  • In a three-way folder comparison automatic merge operation, a folder comparison conflict is now flagged when a file in the middle panel is not present in one of the other panels and is changed in the other. [I11958]
  • The html2TextFilter file filter is now able to extract text from XHTML documents. [I11832]
  • The Select rows > Selected changed command (Edit > Select Changed Rows in the old-style user interface) no longer selects inserted and removed rows. [I11960]
  • A warning message is now displayed in formatted XML files where whitespace at the end of lines has been ignored. [I11703]
  • The C# and other Automation API samples included with Merge have been retested and a variety of problems addressed. [I12100, I12101]
  • Outdated references to the FileComparison object in the Automation API documentation have been corrected to refer to the TextComparison object. [I12084]
  • Merge should no longer give a ‘Unable to cast COM object of type…’ error with .NET client applications using the Automation API. [I12125]
  • The documentation and the ribbon tooltip now agree concerning the keyboard shortcut for Hide Empty Folders menu item in the old-style user interface. [I12063]
  • When launching a three-way comparison managed by Microsoft Team Foundation Server 2010 from Visual Studio 2010, it is now possible re-compare the files as a different type (text, binary, image). [I12114]

Merge 2010.3837 (1 March 2010)

This was the first Japanese localization of Merge 2010. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • The user interface and online-help have been fully-localized into Japanese. [I11670]
  • The timestamp on HTML reports is now shown in the local timezone, not UTC. [I11673]

Bugs fixed

  • A redundant Comparison statistics button has been removed from the old-style toolbar user interface. [I11622]

Merge 2010.3829 (25 January 2010)

This was a major new release of Merge, featuring a significant user interface overhaul. The user-interface and help were available only in English. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • New UI on modern versions of Windows. On Windows 7, and Windows Vista with the Platform Update This link is to an external website installed, Merge now uses the native Windows Ribbon user interface pioneered by Microsoft Office 2007 and adopted by Windows 7. The ribbon generally makes it easier to discover and use Merge features than the old-style traditional menus and toolbars. For essential further information, please see The Ribbon and the Toolbar: Making the Most of the Merge User Interface on Different Versions of Windows. [I11230, I11354, I11356, I11359, I11372, I11412, I11445, I11473, I11519, I11540, I11204, I11362, I11477, I11371, I11353, I11241, I11352]
  • Enhanced UI on older versions of Windows. On older versions of Windows, Merge continues to provide the traditional menu and toolbar user interface. The menus and toolbars have been reworked and improved. There are now just two toolbars (rather than the previous three), and more actions are directly available from them than before. The toolbar icons have been re-drawn in a more modern style to bring them into line with the new Ribbon user interface. As well as making Merge easier to use, these changes collectively make the transition from the old-style toolbar UI to the new-style Windows Ribbon interface less severe. [I11204, I11358, I11559, I11038, I11545, I11546, I11390, I11147, I8615]
  • Streamlined setup packages. The Merge setup packages have been streamlined to avoid confusion and drop those that are no longer necessary or relevant. Only the Microsoft Software Installer .msi setup packages are now distributed. Installation instructions have been revised accordingly. [I11508]
  • New installations of Merge for Windows and Mac OS X now use similar highlight colours by default. [I11465]
  • Various incidental icons and other artwork used by Merge have been re-drawn. [I11478, I11495]
  • Merge now has the ability to save a workspace consisting of multiple open file comparisons to a single file. [I10335]
  • More information is now passed to external file filter programs. For more information, see Edit File Type. [I11164]
  • Merge now passes the original filename to a third-party filter program when the file is on the local filesystem. [I10917]
  • The Java Runtime Environment that comes with Merge (used by Merge file filters) has been updated to avoid a benign warning given by certain third-party security screening tools. [I11175]
  • An FAQ item about .pptx files has been added. [I11023]
  • An FAQ item describing the limitations of the text extraction filters for Excel files has been written. [I11099]
  • Following customer feedback, the Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab keyboard shortcuts that cycle between tabs have been reinstated. [I11077]
  • The hint in the file history menus (that Ctrl may be held down to fill in fields on other panes) now appears for longer on new installations of Merge. [I11493]
  • The Merge major version has been updated to 2010, and copyright dates extended accordingly. [I11526]
  • The seldom-used (or noticed) context help for dialog controls has been removed. The relevant information is still provided in the help topic for each dialog page. [I11564]
  • It is no longer be possible to hide the status bar, tab panel or merging buttons. These legacy options were no longer relevant for current Merge usage. [I11505]
  • It is now possible for Merge to be instructed to ignore corrupted locales on a customer’s machine. [I11389]

Bugs fixed

  • The folder comparison command File > Print Selection now works again. [I11189]
  • In the old-style toolbar UI, the Window menu now has horizontal comparison layout items when an image comparison is selected. [I11199]
  • The default width for the three-way folder comparison window Changes column header is now more appropriate on Windows 7. [I11203]
  • Double clicking on a row in a folder comparison the second or subsequent time now returns you to the file comparison tab already open for that row. [I11218]
  • The text extraction filters have been modified to head-off a potential problem. [I11399]
  • Merge no longer has a double border above the status bar on Windows 7. [I11425]
  • A problem whereby a single synchronization link could gain three (or more) heads has been resolved. [I11449]
  • Merge will no longer freeze when right-clicking on a file called by a particular customer’s custom filter program that performed its own DDE conversation. [I10921]
  • The Automation API Print method now respects the clPrintToFile preference when asked to print without a print dialog being shown to the user. [I11539]
  • The Merge icon is now displayed in the Uninstall or change a program section of the control panel on Windows 7. [I11558]
  • An outdated external link in the Regular Expression Reference has been fixed. [I11170]
  • A benign error regarding OpenMP, logged in the system Event log, has been resolved. [I11583]
  • The Ctrl+Q keyboard shortcut now works. [I11213]
  • A potential crash/assertion can no longer occur when a comparison that has been opened with the Automation API closes. [I11404]
  • When running an evaluation version of Merge, the evaluation dialog will now appear even if Merge is launched from the command-line, Windows Explorer, or via the Automation API. [I11171]
  • The evaluation dialog for evaluation versions of Merge now appears on top of the main window upon application launch, not behind it. [I11159]
  • Merging inserted or removed lines at the bottom of a file is now possible using keyboard shortcuts. [I11098]
  • It is no longer possible for a two-way folder comparison with panel titles, started via the Automation API, to lose the third title when it is switched to three-way mode. [I11557]
  • A broken link within the ClearCase SCM integration instructions has been removed. [I11320]
  • A mark in the overview strip for the left file will now be shown for a deletion at the very end of that file. [I11060]
  • There should now be consistency within the Merge documentation with regard to the hyphenation of ‘command-line’. [I11463]
  • The support expiry reminder in the notification area of the Windows task bar now only appears every thirty days. [I11578]

Merge 2009 releases

Merge 2009.3713 (18 May 2009)

This was a previous production-quality release of Merge, fully localized into Japanese, French, German and Spanish. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Bugs fixed

  • The keyboard shortcuts topic has been amended to reflect the removal of the Ctrl+Tab and Ctrl+Shift+Tab shortcuts. These shortcuts were replaced by standard Windows alternatives in an earlier release. [I11011]
  • Merge no longer opens a new text comparison on start-up if the option to do so is unchecked. [I11009]
  • Merge will now correctly show all merging buttons when a regular expression is enabled that forces lines into the unchanged state and the option to break changes into individual lines is enabled. [I11007]
  • Merge will no longer crash when performing a merging operation on certain files when a regular expression is enabled that forces lines into the unchanged state and the option to break changes into individual lines is enabled. [I11006]

Merge 2009.3705 (1 May 2009)

This release incorporated a number of enhancements and stability improvements. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

Bugs fixed

  • A ‘side-by-side configuration incorrect’ error that occurred when Merge was launched in certain circumstances has been fixed. [I10886]
  • A crash when performing a folder comparison Merge to Common Ancestor action has been fixed. [I10898]
  • A potential cause of premature support expiry has been eliminated. [I10865]
  • Bookmarks in a folder comparison that contain carriage return characters now display correctly when Merge is runnding under VMWare. [I10916]
  • The overview strip is now correctly placed when launching Merge from compare.exe. [I10508]
  • In a folder comparison, Merge no longer inappropriately copies the contents of excluded folders. [I10384]
  • Merge now displays a friendly error message if a user tries to save a file in an unsupported format, such as a Microsoft Office document. [I10630]
  • A work-around for the merging buttons not always reverting back to their double-arrow state under VMWare has been fixed. [I10913]

Merge 2008 releases

Merge 2008.3626 (11 November 2008)

This was a previous production-quality release of Merge 2008. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • The Japanese user interface and online help has been updated to bring it into line with the English equivalents. [I10546]
  • Merge now supports syntax highlighting for Visual DataFlex This link is to an external website source files. [I10521]
  • The handling of filename extensions has been improved in file save dialogs so that the filename’s extension is changed appropriately if a different file type is selected. This makes it much less likely that a file will be saved with an inappropriate extension. [I9375]
  • The Text Comparisons page in the Options dialog has been made easier to use. Specifically, individual whitespace settings are now disabled when the Ignore all differences in whitespace setting is checked. [I9954]
  • By default, filenames with the .xsl extension are included in the list of file types handled by the XML/XHTML filter. [I10470]
  • The Windows Explorer Queue for Comparison context menu item is now disabled if the Merge comparison queue has already been filled. This makes the operation of the Merge integration with Windows Explorer somewhat easier to understand. [I10089]
  • The detection of character encoding based on <?xml ...> XML processing directives within files has been improved so that Merge will only use such a directive if it is the first non-whitespace content within a file. [I10514]
  • The Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) help topic has been updated to mention that password-protected documents can’t be processed by the text extraction filters. [I10481]
  • Merge is now able to handle the situation where an FTP server reports an incorrect error code in response to Merge attempting to create a folder that already exists. This makes Merge more robust in dealing with certain FTP servers. [I10530]
  • The performance of the filters used to extract text content from Microsoft Excel and Word documents has, potentially, been improved. [I10566]

Bugs fixed

  • Merge no longer crashes if a merging button is used immediately after adding a synchronization link. [I10505]
  • HTML comparison reports now work when literal tab characters are present in regular expressions set in the Expressions page of the Options dialog. Previously, such characters were not being handled correctly, resulting in an error when HTML reports were created. [I10485]
  • The About dialog now correctly reflects any change in the product edition (Standard or Professional) after a new serial number has been entered in the Registration dialog. Previously, changing the product edition in this way was only reflected in the About dialog once it had been closed and re-opened. [I10088]

Merge 2008.3581 (4 September 2008)

This was a previous production-quality release of Merge 2008. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • Although it is useful for Merge to be able to extract and compare the text from proprietary formats such as Microsoft Word, using these text extraction filters when comparing files in a folder comparison can significantly slow down the comparison. A new setting, Use filter programs in folder comparisons has therefore been added to the File Comparisons > File Types page of the Options dialog. [I10449]
  • The information regarding FTP in the FAQ has been improved. [I10428]

Bugs fixed

  • A problem has been fixed that sometimes caused the text extraction filter for Microsoft Word documents to fail with the error code 0x80004005. [I10438]
  • The Microsoft Excel .xlsx text extraction filter has been fixed so that it can handle certain spreadsheets that it previously could not read. [I10443]

Merge 2008.3569 (13 August 2008)

This was a previous production-quality release of Merge 2008 for 32-bit platforms. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • Merge now supports file filters to extract the content from from certain common types of files when they are loaded. This means, for example, that you can drag and drop a pair of Microsoft Word documents onto a Merge text comparison window and have the text comparison automatically extract and compare the text from those documents. For more information, please see Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text). [I10155]
  • The ability to format the display of XML and XHTML files (without changing the underlying text) in text comparisons has been added. This enables some XML files to be compared more easily. Please see Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) for more information. [I8754, I10279]
  • Support for integration with a future release of Ketura has been added. [I10337]

Bugs fixed

  • Descriptions of the Search size and other controls for binary comparisons have been added to the online help. [I10232]
  • Merge now identifies CR line endings (Mac Classic) and LF line endings (Unix and Modern Mac) as different (unless the option to ignore line ending differences is in effect). [I10259]
  • Performing a Merge operation immediately after deleting an unchanged line no longer causes problems. [I10266]
  • Merge now reports an error when attempting to reload an externally modified file that can no longer be read. [I10065]
  • Merge no longer crashes when a folder comparison is performed when there are no folder comparison filter schemes. [I10099]
  • When invoking Merge using the Automation API or command-line, Merge now uses the correct tab titles even when a file comparison completes before the main Merge window appears. [I10345]
  • The Automation API ThreeWayMerge method is now documented for the TextComparison Object. [I9657]
  • The spelling of ‘Comment’ has been corrected in the syntax highlighting drop-down for C-like languages. [I9688]
  • File items provided by the AllChange VFS plugin are no longer inappropriately filtered out. [I10127]
  • The English version of Merge no longer terminates silently when running under the French version of Windows Vista. [I10236]

Merge 2008.3492 (11 April 2008)

This was a previous production-quality release of Merge 2008. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Enhancements

  • Merge now comes with utilities for integrating with the Subversion command-line. Instructions are available on the SCM integration page. [I9528, I9303]
  • The Subversion VFS plugin has been enhanced to support all relevant svn protocols, not just svn. [I9596, I9503]
  • The SCM integration page now contains instructions on using Merge with the latest versions of Perforce P4V, as well as older versions. [I9940]
  • The SCM integration page has been updated with full instructions for integrating Merge with Subversion. [I9291, I9487]
  • Instructions for integrating Merge with Subclipse have been added to the SCM integration page. TortoiseSVN integration instructions have also been revised. [I9464]
  • The SCM integration page now contains information on integrating with ‘The Operations Pack (TOP) for HP NonStop’. [I9299]
  • NumberOfChanges, NumberOfBytes, ChangeStartByte, ChangeLength and ChangeType Automation API properties/methods have been added for binary comparisons. [I9978]
  • The NumberOfChanges Automation API property has been added for image comparisons. [I9760]
  • Merge will now display a system tray icon every 30 days once support/updates entitlement has expired. [I9950]
  • Merge is now tested and supported with Vista SP1 and Windows XP Professional SP3. [I10044]
  • Merge now uses somewhat less memory when creating HTML comparison reports. This should mean that it is possible to create reports for larger files than before. This has resulted in changes to the names of the elements in XML comparison reports. [I10042]
  • The major version number has been changed to 2008, reflecting the year in which this version of Merge was released. Non-English language help might still refer to Merge 2007 at this time. [I9731]
  • Merge no longer attempts to merge binary and image files in automatic folder merging operations. [I9682, I9737]
  • The format of XML file comparison reports has been documented in the Creating a File Comparison Report topic. [I9320]
  • An FAQ has been added regarding certain applications that hijack the F7 shortcut key used by Merge. [I9271]
  • The documentation now has more information regarding line endings when lines are copied from one file to another. [I9634]

Bugs fixed

  • The Subversion VFS plugin now works with folders as well as files. [I9452]
  • Merge integration with Explorer now works correctly on French-language versions of Windows. [I9630]
  • Footers are no longer printed when the corresponding option is unchecked. [I9463]
  • When running a number of asynchronous comparisons at once, the Automation API comparison complete event is now sent properly. [I9726]
  • It is now possible to copy files from one folder to another even if Merge does not have full read/write access to the entire path. [I9820]
  • Merge image comparisons now return correct results when called from the Automation API. [I9879]
  • The keyboard shortcut for Mark Resolved Ctrl+K has been documented. [I8848]
  • Information on the HideEmptyFolders method of the FolderComparison object has been added to the documentation. [I9190]
  • The help for the Reset Options to Default Values button has been updated to say that this also clears the history list. [I9247]
  • With regard to changing highlighting colours, the syntax highlighting section of the Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) page has been updated to refer to the appropriate Options page, not highlight.styles file. [I9293]
  • The syntax highlighting help now mentions that Pascal/Delphi are supported languages. [I9321]
  • The Queue for Comparison item in the Explorer menu has been documented. [I9472]
  • Various other corrections have been made to the online help. [I9588, I9618, I8718, I9155, I9212, I9322, I9585]
  • The Please email me about significant new product releases option in the registration dialog is now checked by default for clean installations of Merge, and a bug fixed whereby this field always reported unchecked to Araxis has been fixed. [I9847]

Merge 2007 releases and downloads

Merge 2007.3350 (29 November 2007)

This was a production-quality release of Merge 2007. All users are encouraged to upgrade to the most recent release.

Bugs fixed

  • The End page field in the print dialog now works. Previously, Merge would would print through to the last page, regardless of this setting. [I9672]

Merge 2007.3323 (17 October 2007)

This was a production-quality release of Merge 2007.

Enhancements

  • The Merge user interface and online help has been translated into German, French and Spanish (English and Japanese were already supported by previous Merge 2007 releases). The user-interface language can be selected from the Display options page. [I8906, I9474, I9499]
  • It is now possible to launch an automatic 3-way folder merge using the compare command-line utility. [I9352]
  • A new option, Scan contents of excluded files, has been added to the Folder Comparisons options page. When unchecked, this can significantly improve the speed of filtered folder comparisons. [I9405]
  • Syntax highlighting for SQL files will now highlight @@version and @@error as identifiers. In addition, SQL keywords containing @ characters are now supported in the highlight.styles file (used to customize syntax highlighting). [I9488]

Bugs fixed

  • HTML file comparison reports where one file is missing are now shown correctly when viewed with the Safari web browser. [I8817, I9489]
  • Selected items in HTML folder comparison reports are now highlighted properly when viewed with the Safari web browser. [I9384, I9491]
  • Minor problems with the appearance of the online help on systems with Internet Explorer 7 have been addressed.
  • Automation errors no longer occur when large numbers of text comparisons are open simultaneously. [I9363]
  • A crash that occurred when syntax highlighting certain Ruby files has been fixed. [I9462, I9461]
  • Merge will no longer crash if an HTML/XML file contains characters with a code higher than 127. This problem was only noted on internal, debug builds of Merge and might not have affected release builds. [I9498]
  • An Automation error that would sometimes occur when large numbers of text comparisons were opened in quick succession has been fixed. [I9476]

Merge 2007.3277 (8 August 2007)

This was a production-quality release of Merge 2007.

Enhancements

  • Merge is now able to browse Subversion repositories directly. For more information, see Subversion File System Plugin. [I9017].
  • The ability to reset all Merge options to their defaults has been added. Details are available at Maintenance. [I8673]
  • The x86 and x64 versions of Merge have now been combined into a single ISO CDROM image. Previously, there were separate images for the 32 and 64-bit versions. [I8777]
  • Changing file comparison options when there are several large folder comparisons open is now faster, as Merge will now only refresh open comparisons that are affected by the changed options. [I9193]
  • A new page has been added to the Options dialog to enable syntax highlighting colours to be chosen. Previously, syntax highlighting colours could only be changed by editing the highlight.styles file. [I9195]
  • Folder comparison filters have been substantially enhanced to make them much more flexible and easier to understand. For details, see Folder Comparison Filters. [I9209]
  • The file extensions of saved comparisons and saved options have been changed to .cmp7 and .mop7, respectively. This avoids a problem with shortcuts to saved comparison and saved option files, caused by Windows Explorer becoming confused and treating them as MS-DOS .com command executable files. [I9235]
  • A link to the main help on syntax highlighting has been added to the help for the Fonts and Colours option page. [I8961]

Bugs fixed

  • In binary comparisons, the display of the byte-offset of the caret position has been made wider to avoid clipping problems. [I9189]
  • The operation of the Break changes into individual lines option has been improved. [I9213]
  • Merge no longer relies on setup-time registration for plugins. This should eliminate the ‘There is no filesystem plugin registered to handle the URL: 0x88040154’ error that a few users were seeing with Merge running on Windows Vista. [I9186]
  • Synchronization links that have crossed now stay red when only one link is visible on the screen. [I8632]
  • Backslash characters may now be used in the footers and headers for printing. [I8952]
  • The Linking lines panel width entry field has been widened to allow it to display three digits. [I8956]
  • Ctrl+F4 now works when the input focus is not on the main window in the image and binary comparisons. [I9053]
  • Long titles are now contracted more appropriately when Merge is invoked with compare.exe. [I9054]
  • Syntax highlighting is no longer lost when a file is changed outside of Merge and subsequently reloaded. [I9224]
  • Merge is now able to detect the correct character encoding from an XML file that has additional attributes (in addition to encoding) in the xml processing directive. [I9233]
  • A crash has been fixed that occurred when performing a file comparison with an empty third file with syntax highlighting enabled. [I9241]
  • Syntax highlighting for Pascal files now works. [I9275]
  • Files matching the binary/image type filters now show a ‘1’ in the change column of a folder comparison when they differ. [I9281]

Merge 2007.3241 (10 May 2007)

This was a production-quality release of Merge 2007.

Changes in this release

  • The Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications topic has been updated with instructions for performing various Perforce actions from directly within Merge using P4EXP. The instructions for using Merge with Perforce P4V have also been updated to reflect changes in P4V. [I9127, I8982]
  • Information about FinalBuilder has been added to the Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications topic. [I8974]
  • It is now possible to load image files for an image comparison from an FTP server. [I9026]
  • Merge no longer crashes occasionally when comparing large files. [I9036]
  • Folder comparison performance has been improved. [I9037]
  • Merge no longer crashes when certain compute-intensive regular expressions are used. [I9049]
  • Merge now uses the operating-system configured short date format for the About, Registration and Evaluation dialog windows. This solves a problem where the serial number’s support expiry date was being obscured by an adjacent button when certain verbose long date formats were configured in the host operating system. [I9052]
  • Syntax highlighting now works for file comparisons opened from a saved comparison. [I8967]
  • Duplicate Next/Previous Change commands in the toolbar customization window lists have been removed. [I8978]
  • The Readme.txt file within the Merge CDROM ISO image no longer refers to Merge v6.5. [I8977]
  • The Merge documentation table of contents now includes entries for the ImageComparison Object and BinaryComparison Object objects. [I8979]
  • An obsolete warning concerning Adobe PDF Writer has been removed from the FAQ. [I9033]

Merge 2007.3225 (10 April 2007)

This was the first current production-quality release of Merge 2007. It is recommended that all users of this release upgrade to the current production-quality Merge 2007 release, available on the main Download Merge for Windows.

Changes since the Merge 2007 Preview

Enhancements
  • A 64-bit version of Merge 2007 is now available, in addition to the 32-bit version. The 64-bit version of Merge is able to make use of more than 2 GB of RAM, enabling comparisons of very large files. The 64-bit version of Merge has been tested on 64-bit Windows Vista, although it is also expected to work on 64-bit Windows XP. [I8918, I8860]
  • Merge now checks the Araxis website on startup to see whether a newer version is available. If one is, then the Merge application icon is displayed in the notification area of the Windows taskbar. [I8882]
  • A ViewType property has been added to the FolderComparison Automation API object. [I8858]
  • The Automation API has undergone substantial changes to enable image and binary comparisons to be opened using it. This also enables the command-line tools to open a comparison of the correct type. Anyone making use of the Automation API is directed to the Getting Started with the Automation API and other API documentation for details of the modified API. [I8898]
  • The folder comparison statistics window, and statistics information in reports, have been updated to include additional information. Clearer explanations are also provided when information is unavailable because of the selected options. [I8929]
  • The errors shown in the file copy errors and warnings list of a folder comparison have been improved. [I8853]
  • The visual presentation of the online help has been updated. [I8897]
  • The Replace XXX items in the Edit menu are named more appropriately for three-way file comparisons. [I8865]
Bug fixes
  • Various improvements and corrections have been made to the online help. [I8866, I8821, I8856, I8909, I8839, I8851, I8902, I8930, I8934, I8940, I8949]
  • Folder comparisons should now be able to create folder hierarchies on a remote VSFTP server accessed using the FTP plugin. [I8892]
  • File or folder comparison windows opened via Windows Explorer are no longer closed prematurely. [I8920]
  • The Compare with Araxis Merge Explorer context menu item now works on machines that have had (or have) Merge v6.5 installed on them. [I8894]
  • It is now possible to cancel a folder comparison file copy operation using the Cancel button on the progress dialog. [I8893]
  • Merge no longer crashes when opening saved comparisons under 64-bit Windows Vista. [I8859]
  • The merging button tooltips have been improved. [I8852]
  • The Edit > Select... dialog now allows selection of removed files and folders in the left pane of a folder comparison. [I8874]
  • The height of the Display and Format drop-down list boxes in a binary comparison window have been increased to show all options without the necessity of a scrollbar. [I8877]
  • The filename field in Open Comparison and Open Options dialogs is no longer pre-populated inappropriately. [I8850]
  • Backslashes in HTML report bookmark comments now correctly appear as yen characters for Japanese-language HTML reports. [I8884]
  • The splash window is no longer hidden by the Merge application window when Merge is starting. [I8896]
  • Merge will now always open a three-way comparison when a comparison is invoked by selecting three folders and choosing Compare with Araxis Merge from the Explorer context menu. [I8935]

Merge 2007.3178 Preview (12 February 2007)

This was the preview of Merge 2007. All users of this release should now upgrade to the current production-quality Merge 2007 release, available on the main Download Merge for Windows.

Enhancements and other changes relative to Merge v6.5.2318

  • Merge now supports image comparison to compare various types of image file and see precisely which pixels have been modified.
  • New binary comparison support makes it possible to compare binary (non text) files at the byte level. Merge can interpret and display the bytes that make up the files in various ways to give, for example, a hexadecimal, decimal or floating-point view of the file data.
  • Text file comparisons now provide syntax highlighting for a wide range of different file types.
  • Comparisons of certain large and/or complex files are significantly faster, in some cases by an order of magnitude or more.
  • HTML comparison reports now include any bookmark comments that have been added to a file or folder comparison. For information about creating bookmarks and comments, see the Bookmarks and comments section in the Comparing Text Files (or Typed/Pasted Text) and Comparing Folders topics.
  • HTML reports have been modified to reflect any visibility options that have been chosen for the relevant folder comparisons. For example, if Hide Unchanged Rows is selected on the View menu, the HTML report of this comparison will also not show the unchanged rows. This was not the case in v6.5.
  • The ability to sort by the changes column in folder comparisons (in addition to the other columns) has been added.
  • Support for additional character encodings has been introduced, including several more Unicode variants and Japanese 932 (Shift_JIS).
  • When launching file comparisons from a folder comparison, Merge now tells you when it has reached the configured limit of opened file comparisons.
  • New high-resolution icons for Windows Vista have been introduced for the Merge application, saved comparisons and saved options. The lower resolution icons used by older versions of Windows have been updated to match.
  • Colour highlighting in three-way folder comparisons has been re-worked to be more intuitive.
  • Integration with Windows Explorer has been improved with a new Queue for Comparison menu item on the Windows Explorer context menu for files and folders. This enables files and folders in different locations to be chosen and compared using Windows Explorer.
  • There is a new option Break changes into individual lines to split change blocks into individual lines (View > Options... > Text Comparisons > Display).
  • There is a new option Treat consecutive whitespace as a single character to cause Merge to match runs of whitespace (View > Options... > Text Comparisons).
  • The layout of the Options dialog has been altered to better group various options and make them easier to find.
  • The About Araxis Merge dialog has been re-designed to present information in a clearer manner. A button has been added to the dialog to enable the serial number to be copied to the clipboard.
  • The Registration dialog has been re-designed to be clearer and to give feedback about the serial number that the user is entering.
  • The evaluation dialog that appears on the evaluation version of Merge when it first starts is now modeless, and will disappear after a set amount of time. This makes it easier to test scripts and applications that control Merge using the Automation API when only the evaluation version of Merge is available.
  • Merge now uses the Microsoft MSXML 6 library, instead of the (somewhat elderly) MSXML 4 library.
  • Two new Automation properties, AllUnresolvedConflicts and UnresolvedConflicts have been added to the TextComparison object. These enable access to the number of unresolved conflicts in a file comparison for all files, and for a specific file, respectively.
  • It is now possible to save and load comparison files via the Automation API.
  • Automation clients should use the name Merge70 to reference Merge 2007. Merge v6.5 is still referenced with the name Merge65. Please see Getting Started with the Automation API for more information.
  • As of this release, Araxis is switching to an incremental release model. This means we will be rolling out new functionality in smaller ongoing releases, rather than making infrequent big-bang releases. (In practice, this has been our de facto policy with Merge v6.5, and significant new features have been introduced during the life of Merge v6.5.) To facilitate the new policy, and to make the cost of staying up-to-date with Merge predictable, we have introduced a new support model. For more information, see Understanding Araxis Merge Serial Numbers, Support Expiry and Upgrade/Support Entitlement Renewal.
  • The major version number of Merge (‘2007’ in the current preview) now indicates the year in which that version of Merge was released. Merge 2007 itself represents a major new release with significant new functionality compared to Merge v6.5. However, future major version number increments will simply reflect evolutionary development over time.
  • A problem has been fixed where, for a few customers, Merge would sometimes hang when the user right-clicked on a folder comparison while the comparison was underway.
  • To enable Merge to support 64-bit processor architectures, saved comparisons created with Merge v6.5 cannot be opened with Merge 2007 and later, and vice versa. This change was made reluctantly, and we apologise for any inconvenience that it causes. Note, however, that it is possible for Merge v6.5 and Merge 2007 to be installed side-by-side (and Merge 2007 serial numbers also allow use of Merge v6.5), so most Merge 2007 users who have saved comparisons created with Merge v6.5 will still be able access them using Merge v6.5.
  • Many other improvements and bug fixes.

Known issues on 64-bit Windows Vista

Our testing has uncovered a few problems when running Merge on 64-bit Windows Vista. Merge on 32-bit Vista is not affected.

  • There are some intermittent problems with the self-extracting setup. For the time being, it is recommended that you use the Compact MSI setup on 64-bit Vista.
  • There are some issues with opening saved file comparisons by double-clicking them. As a work-around, open saved comparisons using the File > Open Saved Comparison... menu item.
  • Crash reporting does not always succeed.

Merge v6.5 releases

Merge v6.5.2318 (20 December 2006)

This was a production-quality release of Merge v6.5. Araxis recommends that all users upgrade to the latest release.

Enhancements

  • Windows Vista is now a supported platform.
  • Printer initialization is now delayed until Merge needs to print something. This improves startup performance in cases where the default printer is unavailable or located on a slow network.
  • Automatic encoding detection for XML text files has been made more flexible.
  • HTML/XML reports generated using the Japanese 932 code page now specify ‘shift_jis’ as their character encoding. This enables common web browsers to display the reports correctly.

Bugs fixed

  • Merge now advertises DPI-awareness on Windows Vista to prevent automatic user interface scaling and related problems.
  • An initial keyboard focus problem in open and save windows has been fixed for Vista.
  • An unneeded error message, which could appear when cancelling the deletion of files/folders in the folder comparison window on Vista, has been removed.
  • An intermittent crash caused by regular expressions forcing lines into the unchanged state has been fixed.
  • Linking lines (and the corresponding indicators in overview strips) are now correctly suppressed when all the lines within a change block have been forced into the unchanged state by regular expressions.
  • HTML reports generated using certain code pages (such as Japanese 932) no longer contain spurious ‘?’ characters. As part of this fix, the Microsoft MSXML4 package is now required, and is now included in the setups based on Windows Installer. Please contact Araxis if you encounter any problems with these setups. Note that the NSIS installer does not include the Microsoft MSXML4 redistributable.

Merge v6.5.2300 (1 September 2006)

Enhancements

  • In a folder comparison, it is now possible to filter files and folders based on their location in the folder hierarchies. A filter pattern that contains a path separator character will be matched against the fully-qualified path to the file or folder being filtered. A pattern without a path separator will be matched against only the name of the file or folder, as in previous versions of Merge. For more information, see Filters.
  • Each file panel in a text comparison window has its own memory of the last folder that was browsed by its Open File... dialog.
  • The FileComparison Automation API object has a new property called AutoSaveOnClose. When set to True, modified files are automatically saved when a file comparison is closed. The prompt to save modified files will not then appear. This feature can sometimes be useful when integrating Merge with other applications.
  • The Run... command in folder comparison context menus will no longer disappear when multiple files are chosen from several different sub-folders.

Bugs fixed

  • Cyrillic filenames differing only in character-case will now be placed on the same results row.

Merge v6.5.2262 (30 May 2006)

Enhancements

  • The Japanese online help has been updated.

Merge v6.5.2260 (22 May 2006)

Enhancements

  • Comparisons between large files should be somewhat faster.

Bugs fixed

  • A timing-related bug that could occasionally cause Merge to crash or behave strangely when performing a Redo been fixed.
  • Merge will now start when configured by the dcomcnfg utility to provide automation services under a different user identity.
  • A bug has been fixed that could occasionally cause a word or character-wrapped line to display an unnecessary gap below itself.

Merge v6.5.2241 (30 March 2006)

Please note that as of this build, Merge will no longer run on Windows 95, 98, or Me.

Enhancements

  • Instructions for configuring Visual SourceSafe 2005 to use Merge for comparing and merging files have been added to the Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications help topic.
  • A context (right-click) menu is now associated with merging buttons in the file comparison window. This menu contains some additional merging commands.
  • The Open Comparison command is now available as a button in the toolbar customization window.
  • Merge can now cope with multiple code pages within resource (.rc) files.
  • The Selection and Visibility Filter folder comparison dialogs can now use the resolved state of files as an input.
  • Merge will now activate properly when file/folder comparisons are launched using the command-line tools (compare.exe, araxisp4diff.exe, etc).
  • A Run... command has been added to folder comparison context menus.
  • A new Plugins options page enables proxy server settings to be configured for the FTP plugin, and for its connection type to be set to Active or Passive.
  • Automatic detection of file encodings can be enabled/disabled in the All Comparisons options page.
  • ‘.’ and ‘..’ can now be used as input paths in the folder comparison window.
  • The Previous/Next Change commands should now work more intuitively in the folder comparison window.

Bugs fixed

  • A folder comparison re-test bug has been fixed. This could occasionally cause items to disappear from the results list if the sort order was set to something other than the default.
  • The default position of the online help window should now be more suitable for systems with multiple monitors.
  • Find Previous could sometimes fail to find text located at the end of a line.
  • Large line numbers could sometimes appear truncated in HTML file comparison reports.
  • Commented-out #pragma codepage(...) directives in resource files are now ignored.
  • Clashing keyboard accelerators for Mark Resolved and Re-Test Selected commands have been fixed.
  • The folder comparison window’s ComparisonComplete event should now work.
  • Merge will no longer occasionally hang while performing a three-way merge in a file comparison window.
  • Two broken links to third-party websites have been fixed in the online help.
  • The Windows Installer setup packages now complete the InstallLocation registry key correctly.
  • Comparisons launched via the Automation API could cause Merge to hang if the update checking window was open. The automatic update checking feature has been removed from Merge.
  • The crash report window should now be readable on American versions of Windows.
  • Recent changes made by Perforce to the Perforce client have required the Perforce integration utilities to be renamed (p4diff.exe has been renamed to araxisp4diff.exe, etc).
  • XML and HTML files that use a UTF-16 encoding are now loaded correctly.

Merge v6.5.2172 (23 August 2005)

This is the final version of Merge that supports Windows 95, 98 and Me. Unless you are using one of these legacy operating systems, it is recommended that you use the latest version of Merge available.

Enhancements

  • The character encoding for HTML and XML reports can now be set to something other than UTF-8. The Automation API has also been updated to enable the encoding for reports to be controlled.

Bugs fixed

  • An out of memory error when using synchronization links has been fixed.
  • The authentication window for the VSS/FTP/P4 plugins should now use the correct font.
  • A bug with the treatment of EUC-JP encoded files has been fixed.

Merge v6.5.2157 (19 July 2005)

Enhancements

  • The Filters options page has been updated to enable include/exclude patterns to be combined into named filter sets.

Bugs fixed

  • If a file or folder whose name contains an expandable environment variable name is encountered during a folder comparison, its name is no longer expanded.
  • Merge no longer insists that the last line in a file has a line-ending character sequence.
  • This build contains fixes for all reproducible crash reports.

Merge v6.5.2105 (4 April 2005)

Enhancements in this release

  • The separate plugin setup packages in previous builds are now included in the main setup package. We recommend that the Add or Remove Programs utility in the Control Panel is used uninstall any old plugins before installing this build.

Bugs fixed in this release

  • Several bugs relating to the generation of very large HTML/XML comparison reports have been fixed.

Merge v6.5.2069 (23 February 2005)

Bugs fixed

  • A regular expression bug introduced in build 2064 has been fixed.
  • The Japanese online help’s table of contents and index should display correctly again.

Merge v6.5.2064 (21 February 2005)

Enhancements

  • HTML file and folder comparison reports can be saved with an .mht extension to create a single-file archive viewable in Internet Explorer.
  • Merge will check for, and use, character encoding directives located at the top of XML and HTML files.
  • Automatic three-way merging is now available for folder comparisons. Please see the online help for more information.

Bugs fixed

  • A bug that could sometimes prevent French HTML reports from being created correctly has been fixed.
  • Some missing whitespace in non-English HTML reports has been re-added.
  • Some reported bugs encountered while retesting folders within the folder comparison window have been fixed.
  • The folder comparison window should now use less memory when comparing very large folder hierarchies.
  • A URI parsing bug in the FTP plugin has been fixed.
  • A rare divide-by-zero bug in the file comparison window has been fixed.
  • Merge will now use considerably less memory while creating file and folder comparison reports.

Merge v6.5.1952 (24 November 2004)

Enhancements

  • This build removes the .NET dependency from the recommended and compact MSI setup packages. The two pre-built .NET interop DLLs in the idl sample source code directory have been removed. The makefile in that directory can be used to re-create them, if required.

Merge v6.5.1948 (21 November 2004)

Bugs fixed

  • Launching a file comparison from the folder comparison window with the Automatically close if either file could not be found option enabled could occasionally cause Merge to crash.
  • Deleting an inserted or removed file or folder from the folder comparison window could cause Merge to consume 100% CPU and to not update the display correctly.
  • Interval specifications in regular expressions were not correctly applied.
  • An error reporting bug in the VSS plugin meant that some errors were not reported correctly.
  • An incorrect count of omitted rows could occasionally appear at the top of HTML file comparison reports.

Merge v6.5.1941 (15 November 2004)

Enhancements in this release

  • Column headers in the folder comparison window can clicked on to sort in ascending/descending order by name or last modified time.
  • File and folder comparisons can be loaded from/saved to a file.
  • Merge’s options can now be loaded from/saved to a file.
  • The text associated with a bookmark can now be edited. Right-click on a bookmark for a context menu.
  • Sample Automation API source code is available under the Merge installation folder.
  • The Windows Explorer Compare with Araxis Merge menu-item can now be disabled in the Merge Options dialog.
  • The command-line tools provided with Merge now support plugin URIs.
  • Blocks of inserted and removed lines now have merging buttons.
  • Commas and/or semi-colons can now be included within file/folder filters by placing them within quotes. For example, ";;*.txt";",,*.txt",*.obj.

Bugs fixed in this release

  • Page-at-a-time mouse wheel scrolling is now supported.
  • The ability to perform a re-test operation while a folder comparison is in progress has been re-enabled.
  • Various reported bugs in the FTP and VSS plugins have been fixed.
  • File comparison HTML reports should now wrap long words correctly.
  • Several re-testing and display bugs in the folder comparison window have been fixed.
  • Some situations in which whitespace was omitted in HTML reports have been fixed.
  • Detailed inline comparisons will now honour the whitespace ignoring options correctly.
  • HTML/XML reports now use forward-slash instead of back-slash as a path separator.

Merge v6.5.1787 (8 June 2004)

Bugs fixed

  • A bug that prevented Merge from starting on Windows NT has been fixed.
  • All reported FTP plugin problems with certain FTP servers have been fixed.
  • A potential bug in the VSS plugin’s error reporting has been fixed.

Merge v6.5.1781 (2 June 2004)

Enhancements

  • A plugin that enables Merge to access the contents of a Visual SourceSafe database is now available.
  • A plugin that enables Merge to access files and folders via FTP is now available.

Bugs fixed

  • Several folder comparison bugs have been fixed in this build.

Merge v6.5.1661 (29 February 2004)

Enhancements

  • This build includes an optional downloadable plugin to enable read-only access to files and folders within a Perforce depot.

Bugs fixed

  • Fixed a slow-down bug on some Windows 2000 installations.
  • Folder comparison reports no longer include hidden files.
  • File comparison editing performance should be slightly improved.
  • Folder comparison performance in large folder hierarchies should be improved.
  • A bug in the display of simplified inline comparisons should now be fixed.

Merge v6.5.1624 (16 December 2003)

Enhancements

  • French, German, and Spanish report stylesheets have been tidied up.
  • French online help is now included.
  • Japanese localization is now included.
  • A registry key NoGdiPlus can be set to 1 (REG_DWORD) to disable the use of GDI+ within Merge. This should work-around an odd problem on some machines that have the TaskSwitcher PowerToy installed.
  • Comparison performance for very large files should be improved.
  • Responsiveness of the folder comparison window when comparing folders across slow network connections should be improved.

Bugs fixed in this release

  • A bug in simplified inline comparisons has been fixed.
  • Some problems with line-ending characters in file comparison reports have been fixed.
  • A bug with text wrapping in file comparison HTML reports has been fixed.
  • The transparency effect for merging buttons has been removed to solve some compatiblilty problems with some graphics cards.
  • A missing description for a folder comparison report option has been added.
  • Tab expansion in file comparison reports should now work.
  • Horizontal navigation within very long non-wrapped lines should work better now.
  • The Folder Comparison window’s Window menu has regained its keyboard accelerator.

Merge v6.5.1524 (17 September 2003)

Enhancements

  • An option to disable the iteration of NTFS streams has been added to the Options dialog.

Bugs fixed

  • An undersized drop-down for setting the default character encoding in the Options dialog has been made larger.
  • Some file saving and copying problems on Windows 9X platforms have been fixed.

Merge v6.5.1498 (31 August 2003)

Enhancements

  • F4 can be used (and Alt+CursorDn) to display history lists for file/folder entry fields.

Bugs fixed

  • Ctrl+F should work again in folder comparison windows.
  • Several Windows 2000 compatibility bugs have been fixed.
  • A crash that could sometimes occur when using Window > Close All when some of the open windows were created by Automation clients has been fixed.

Merge v6.5.1491 (21 August 2003)

This is the first release of Merge v6.5.

  • It is now possible to create a report in HTML (example), HTML slideshow, XML or UNIX diff format for file comparisons. HTML reports are particularly useful for archiving and distribution. See Creating a File Comparison Report.
  • Reports may also be created in HTML or XML format for folder comparisons (example). A folder comparison report can, optionally, include file comparison reports for some or all of the files involved in the folder comparison. Thus it is possible, in one operation, to generate a report that is a complete record of all the differences in all of the files involved in a folder comparison. This is especially useful in code review and code audit situations. See Creating a Folder Comparison Report.
  • Merge v6.5 supports English, German, French, International Spanish and Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) as user interface languages; translation of the online help to German, French and International Spanish is underway. Merge tries to choose a suitable user interface language based on the Regional Settings of the host operating system. It is also possible manually to specify the user interface language on the Application page of the Options dialog.
  • Merge now provides a Virtual File System (VFS) API. All access to the filesystem (for example, by file and folder comparisons) within Merge takes place using the VFS API. Thus, third-parties are now able to write plug-ins that enable Merge directly to browse, for example, configuration management or version control repositories, FTP sites and web sites. This means that SCM vendors can now extend their integration with Merge such that Merge can compare and merge source code branches directly within the SCM repository.
  • Support for the Win32 file system within Merge is implemented using the new VFS API, and full source code to this implementation is provided as an example.
  • It is now possible for users to add synchronization links to tell Merge to re-synchronize the comparison at particular points. This is particularly useful in some complex comparison scenarios.
  • Various enhancements have been made to the Automation API.

Application level changes

  • Windows XP theming is now fully supported.
  • Toolbar icons have been updated to be more in keeping with Windows XP. Some icons have been redesigned to more clearly indicate their purpose.
  • More features are now available from toolbar buttons.
  • Buttons on the toolbars have been re-arranged in a more logical manner.
  • Toolbars can now be customized.
  • There is an option not to show the splash screen when Merge starts.
  • Various defects have been fixed. Where appropriate, these fixes have also been applied to recent builds of Merge v6.0.

File comparison improvements

  • For file comparisons, there is now an option automatically to reload files modified outside of Merge.
  • The default character encoding used by Merge can now be specified. Previously, the system encoding was used by default.
  • The command-line compare utility can now be used to perform an automatic merge when a three-way file comparison is launched.
  • The default list of regular expressions now includes a filter for CVS style comments.
  • File access related error messages are now shown directly in a file comparison pane, instead of in a separate error dialog. This is particularly helpful when multiple file comparisons are launched from a folder comparison.
  • The status bar now shows the codepage of the file in the currently selected file comparison pane.
  • File comparison panes now support optional line-wrapping.
  • Specific columns or column ranges can be ignored when comparing files.
  • Sequences of characters matching specified regular expressions can now be ignored when comparing files.
  • There is a new option in file comparisons to show only a few lines of context instead of large blocks of unchanged text.
  • The EUC-JPcharacter encoding is now supported.
  • Selected lines can now be marked as being resolved. They are then shown dimmed in the same way as resolved text following an automatic merge.
  • It is now possible to replace text found as a result of a Find operation.
  • Replace can operate within the current selection instead of the entire document.
  • Merging buttons are have been made semi-transparent on certain platforms, enabling any text behind them to be perceived.
  • File comparison linking lines are now drawn using anti-aliasing on Windows platforms that support GDI+. This improves their visual appearance.
  • There is a new toolbar button to save all modified files.

Folder comparison improvements

  • Folder comparisons are now shown within the main application window (instead of a separate window) and participate in the tab strip, if shown.

Improvements common to file and folder comparisons

  • Various commonly used file and folder comparison options are now directly available from a menu associated with the Options toolbar button.
  • The Windows Explorer context menu now appears as an item in file and folder comparison context menus.
  • There are new toolbar buttons for jumping to the next and previous changes. The double-arrow scrollbar buttons, which jump to the previous and next change within a specific file, are retained.
  • A window showing comparison statistics for file and folder comparisons is now available.
  • The default header and footer for printing has been improved. The presentation of printed pages has been enhanced.

Other changes

  • New style, 53-character, serial numbers have been introduced. We strongly recommend that you copy and paste serial numbers whenever you need to enter them. This is much less error prone than trying to type them in manually.
  • A serial number is now required to use the Evaluation version of Merge. Evaluation serial numbers are available free of charge from the Araxis website.
  • Merge requires certain information about the user to be provided when it is first run (including the user’s name and email address). This information is provided to Araxis if you are connected to the Internet when you fill it in. Therefore, as long as you have Internet access when you install Merge, it is no longer necessary separately to register Merge on the Araxis website.
  • The information sent to Araxis during Merge update checks has been modified. Users concerned about their privacy should read the Data Collection help topic.
  • The Professional, Standard and Evaluation versions of Merge are now supported by a single executable. Previously, each variant used a separate executable.
  • Merge v6.5 has a new splash screen.