Comparing 2 Mellel files

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jmckeown
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Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by jmckeown »

I have to compare differences between versions of a Mellel document.
I got Araxis Merge which visually compares Word files nicely.
Mellel has Export option for Word format, but when your outputs are
compared by Araxis it chokes on the exported files saying:
Invalid header signature. read <number> expected <another long number>
Is the Mellel Export a non-standard Word file?
Is there another way to compare/Diff mellel documents?
rpcameron
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by rpcameron »

The Word output is actually an RTF file with a DOC extension (unless this has changed, but it is the case on 2.6.3).
— Robert Cameron
ealvarez
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by ealvarez »

For what I read of Araxis (nice software by the way!), you may compare two pdf files. It is an option.

:)
rpcameron
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by rpcameron »

Araxis looks like it'll handle RTF files, so you may want to try changing the extension of the Word output of Mellel from DOC to RTF. That may force Merge to read the file differently.
— Robert Cameron
jmckeown
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by jmckeown »

Thanks.
ozean
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by ozean »

If comparing plain text is good enough for you, then I would recommend copy-pasting the contents of your documents into two text files and let TextWrangler compare them. TextWrangler is freeware and has extremely powerful find&replace and comparison functions.
vinesy
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Re: Comparing 2 Mellel files

Post by vinesy »

I've also used NeoOffice (OpenOffice) for this with success from Mellel documents exported to .doc

Open the first document in NeoOffice writer, then go to "edit>compare document" and it produces a document with the differences highlighted as "track changes" - which a reviewer can subsequently accept or reject. Very handy.
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