This is Help for WinMerge 2.14.
WinMerge Help is intended for both new and experienced users. It
explains how to use WinMerge, and documents its capabilities and
limitations.
WinMerge Help topics are provided in two forms:
-
Microsoft HTML Help (WinMerge.chm
), located
in your WinMerge\Docs installation directory.
-
HTML manual on the WinMerge Web site.
You can access WinMerge Help in several ways:
- WinMerge Help menu
-
While using WinMerge, click Help → WinMerge Help. HTML Help opens at the beginning (this topic).
- Context-sensitive help
-
While using any WinMerge window, press F1. If a specific topic
is available for your current window, Help opens at that topic. If
not, Help opens at the beginning.
- WinMerge command line
-
Use the /? or -? switch when running WinMerge from the command
line. HTML Help opens at the beginning.
- WinMerge Web site
-
Open your Web browser to winmerge.org. Under Documentation, follow the
Manual link to
the latest Help version.
Please read the following topics to learn essential WinMerge
basics,
- Quick start
-
Gets you quickly started with WinMerge and shows its basic
usage.
- Comparing and merging folders
-
Explains the folder comparison window, available operations, and
customizing the results display.
- Comparing and merging text files
-
Explains the file comparison/merge window, available operations,
methods of navigation, and modes.
- Options and configuration
-
Explains how to customize WinMerge, including handling
whitespace, colours, and text encoding.
To learn about WinMerge in more detail, read these topics:
- Opening files and folders
-
Introduces several ways to open files and folders in WinMerge -
there are many! For example, do you know how to use the Shell
Extension context menu in advanced mode?
- Plugins
-
Describes the optional, extra features that you can add to
WinMerge using its plugin mechanism.
- Using Filters
-
Explains how to control what is compared in the folder or file
comparison window.
- Command line
-
Lists command-line parameters for using WinMerge with other
tools or from a script.
- Frequently asked questions
-
Contains answers to many common questions asked of
developers.
Before submitting questions to SourceForge.net,
please check the Frequently asked questions topic first to see if your
question is answered there.
4. Documentation conventions
Example |
Indicates |
Enter UTF-8 in the field.
Click
the Browse button to navigate to the
path.
Press F5 once to refresh the
window.
|
Bold font in descriptive text can indicate:
|
Press Ctrl+O |
Press indicates a keyboard action.
In this example, press the Ctrl and
O keys in combination.
|
Click OK.
|
Click indicates a left mouse click on an object, such as a
menu item or button.
|
Click File → Open.
|
The arrow indicates menu navigation. In the example, you
choose the Open item in the WinMerge
File menu .
|
Right-click the row and choose the
Compare shortcut.
|
Click the right mouse button on an object to open its context
menu, and then either left-click or right-click the indicated item
in the context menu.
|
Enter options file .ini
Use
the Filter field to eliminate files from the
operation.
One or more consecutive different lines form
one difference (or diff).
|
Italicized text can represent:
-
A replaceable value or string. In the first example, you
would substitute a real file name for the italicized term, but
enter the ini file extension, which is
not italicized, as written.
-
The name of a field, menu, or control in a WinMerge
window.
-
A significant word or phrase that is introduced.
|
The path %WORKDIR%\project1 is expanded to
C:\workfiles\project1 .TwoWords |
Monospaced text can indicate:
|
command inputpath [outputpath ]
|
In syntax lines, brackets indicate optional elements. In this
example, you must enter an input path with the command; you can
enter an output path, but the command is valid without it.
|