This page holds the answers to common questions that are asked about Merge for Mac OS X. If you have a question that should be in this FAQ, please contact Araxis.
Before you purchase
What are the system requirements for Merge for Mac OS X?
Please see the Compatibility and System Requirements for this information.
What is the difference between the Standard and Professional Editions of Merge?
Please see Feature Summary and Differences Between Editions for this information.
Does Araxis offer floating (network) licences for Merge?
Araxis does not currently offer network (floating) licences or site licences for Merge, although we are aware of strong demand and will consider offering network licences in the future.
Please note that quantity discounts are available for the Professional Edition of Merge.
Please see the End-User Licence Agreement for Araxis Merge Software for full terms and conditions.
How many licences do I need to buy?
A licence must be purchased for each machine where the product is to be used. The only exception to this is that the primary user of a computer for which a licence has been purchased may make a second copy for his or her exclusive use on a second computer. This means that you can buy a single Merge licence and then use it simultaneously on both a Windows PC and a Mac, provided you are the only person using that licence.
Please see the End-User Licence Agreement for Araxis Merge Software for full terms and conditions.
If I buy new serial numbers, will they work with Merge for Windows as well as Merge for Mac OS X?
Yes. See also ‘How many licences do I need to buy?’
How does support renewal work?
Please see Understanding Serial Numbers, Support Expiry and Support Renewal and How to Buy Merge.
Is there a version of Merge for Windows?
Yes. Please see the Merge for Windows page on the Araxis website.
Is there a version of Merge for Linux?
Unfortunately, no. However, one customer has reported that he was able to run Merge on Linux using CrossOver Office from CodeWeavers
. We would be very interested in hearing other customers’ experiences with this.
Another possibility is running Merge and Windows under Linux using a virtual machine environment such as VMware Workstation
. Again, we would be grateful to hear of customer experiences with this approach.
Is Merge affected by the 2007 change in US daylight saving time (DST)?
Araxis does not believe that Merge is affected by this change. Merge simply examines the timestamps of files as returned by the host operating system. Consequently, as long as the host operating system is behaving correctly with regard to the new DST dates, Merge should treat timestamps correctly.
Please note that the folder comparison functionality within Merge also supports optional timestamp tolerance, and the ability to make allowance for time-zone differences. See Folders for more information.
Installation
How do I reset my preferences to their original post-installation state?
Follow the steps to delete crash logs and remove preferences described on the Uninstalling Merge page.
Should I uninstall an older version of Merge before installing a newer version or build?
Please see Upgrading Merge or Installing Newer Builds for information about this.
I’ve upgraded from Standard to Professional. How do I enter my new serial number?
Click on the Re-Register... button in the Araxis Merge > About Araxis Merge dialog to re-enter registration information.
I’m having problems installing Merge, what should I do?
Please see Troubleshooting Installation for solutions to most installation problems.
How do I find out the version and build number of my Merge installation?
The Araxis Merge > About Araxis Merge dialog displays the version and build number information.
How do I uninstall Merge?
Please see Uninstalling Merge.
Using Merge effectively
Can I use Merge to compare Microsoft Word or other application documents?
You can copy and paste any text from other applications into a Merge file comparison window. So, simply open a new two-way file comparison, then copy the text from one document (in Microsoft Word, press Cmd+A to select the entire document, followed by Cmd+C to copy it to the clipboard) and paste it into the left file pane (click in the pane, then press Cmd+V to paste). Then, repeat, pasting the text of the second document revision that you wish to compare into the right file pane. The differences between the documents will then be shown. This is an effective way to compare, for example, different drafts of a contract being edited with Microsoft Word.
Which version control (VC) or software configuration management (SCM) systems work with Merge?
Please see Integrating with Source Control, Configuration Management and Other Applications for the latest information.
If you are the developer of a vc or scm system, Araxis would be pleased to assist you integrate Merge with your product. Please contact Araxis for further information.
What is the recommended way to use three-way file merging?
Please see Three-Way File Comparisons and Automatic File Merging for this information.
How can I review all the changes I have made before saving?
It is sometimes useful to be able to review all the changes you have made before saving. If you have the Professional Edition of Merge, you can do this for two-way comparisons using the three-way comparison capability.
Open the file that you will be merging from into the left pane and the file that you will be merging into in both the middle and right panes. Whenever something is merged from the left file into the middle one, or if any other change is made to the middle file, the right pane shows exactly what the changes were. This enables you to review all the merges and changes you have made before saving.
How do I make the folder comparison show just added and deleted files?
Use the Visibility Filters... command on the View menu to choose exactly which files and folders you wish to see.
How do I type a tab character in the Merge in-place editor?
By default, pressing Tab on its own moves you between the various panes in Merge file comparison windows. Use Option+Tab if you want to insert a tab character into the file you are editing.
You can change this behaviour on the Text Comparisons > Editing page of the Merge Preferences dialog.
How do I create a permanent record of comparison results?
Merge provides the ability to create reports from file and folder comparisons. Please see Creating a File Comparison Report and Creating a Folder Comparison Report for more information. Alternatively, print a comparison and Save as PDF... to create a PDF.
How can I navigate between changes in the file comparison window?
-
The small Previous Change and Next Change buttons
below the scroll bars can be used to jump to the previous or next change.
-
Click on the
and
toolbar buttons to move to the previous or next change.
-
There are also several keyboard shortcuts that can be used.
What is the difference between a Change and a Conflict?
A conflict occurs in a three-way merging scenario where a two later revisions of the common ancestor file have been modified in different
ways at the same location relative to the common ancestor file. The Automatic File Merging page shows an example of a merging conflict. A change is simply a difference between two files. Linking lines show how the lines in one file are changed with respect to the other
file.
How can I make Merge just show the changes between files?
Merge provides the ability to compress blocks of unchanged lines so that just a few lines for context are displayed. Please
see the Display help topic for more details.
I’m comparing files with columns or fields of characters within which changes should be ignored. How can I tell Merge to do
this?
Changes occurring within numbered columns, or column ranges, can be ignored by using the controls in the Lines preferences page. To omit fields or sequences of characters that don’t always appear at the same absolute position within
the line, create a regular expression using the controls in the Expressions preferences page. When entering the expression, choose the Ignore sequences of characters that match the expression option to ignore changes within the matching characters. Please see the Edit Expression window’s help topic for more details.
How does the View > Hide Empty Folders command in the folder comparison window work?
This command isn’t a toggle command. When you use it, Merge will look through the comparison results list and hide any folders
that don’t contain visible files. If you use the command before the folder comparison has completed, folders could be hidden
even if they eventually contain visible files when the comparison finishes. Wait until the comparison has completed before
using the command.Troubleshooting
Why isn’t a particular shortcut key working for me?
It is likely that Mac OS X, or some other application on your system, has intercepted the key for its own purposes. You can view (and modify) the list of keyboard shortcuts used by Mac OS X on the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard & Mouse item in System Preferences.
I’ve opened a file with a Far East codepage, and all I can see is boxes where characters should be. Why?
You should choose a font in the File Comparisons > Fonts and Colours preferences page that is able to display all the characters for the character encoding that you are using.
How can I tell whether I was given the correct serial number when I purchased Merge?
Please see Understanding Serial Numbers, Support Expiry and Support Renewal for information about your serial number.
Why are some pages unavailable in the Print dialog?
By default, the 64-bit version of Merge will be used on 64-bit capable systems. Unfortunately, not all printer driver suppliers currently supply 64-bit versions of their printer drivers. You might therefore see a message ‘The bundle XXXX could not be loaded because it does not contain a version for the current architecture’ for some settings pages in the Print dialog.
If a new printer driver is available, try using that. Alternatively, you can run the 32-bit version of Merge by right-clicking on the Araxis Merge application icon, choosing Get Info, and then checking the Open in 32 Bit Mode checkbox.
Merge is behaving strangely. What can I do?
Follow the steps to delete crash logs and remove preferences described on the Uninstalling Merge page. If that doesn’t solve the problem, try completely uninstalling Merge and re-installing. If you still encounter difficulties, please contact Araxis for assistance.
Miscellaneous
May I link to the Merge home page?
If you run a web site, we encourage you to link to the Araxis web site. You don’t need to ask permission first, but we would appreciate a quick email to sales@araxis.com to tell us about your link.
To avoid any danger of broken links, it is best if you link to http://www.araxis.com/ or http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/.
