Training Module: Comparing document versions

You can compare two document versions in a project, creating a new version that shows the differences as tracked changes.

📘 Introduction

Comparing documents

📚 Exercises

🛠️ Getting Started

Before you can draft a bill, you will need to create your own training project containing a half finished bill to continue drafting.
If you haven’t got one already, create a project containing a half finished bill: Drafting a bill.xml
The following steps will allow you to create the data required for this exercise. exercise.

The following steps will allow you to create the data required for this exercise.

How to create a new project

Download the XML document for the exercise by clicking on the link you’ve been provided with. By default, the downloaded file is usually placed in the “downloads” folder on your computer.
Log in to Lawmaker.
From the Dashboard, create a new project of the type you need for the exercise. Give it a title such as [Your Initials] Drafting a bill. (See Creating a new project.)
From the Project tab for that project, select Document Actions > Upload document, and select the XML file for the exercise which you have downloaded. It can be uploaded into the default folder that has been created in the project. (See Create a new document by uploading an XML file.)
On the newly uploaded document version, select Actions > Update Document Information and update the Title to match the title you originally gave the project.
Duplicate this document version using Actions > Duplicate version and call the new version the name of this module. We will create a new document version per module.
Open the duplicated version in the Editor

✏️ Exercise 1: Compare two documents

In this exercise you will see how compare document works but also be aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

Step 1: Make some edits

If you haven’t already done so, duplicate the imported bill version and name it the description of this module so you can easily track work related to these exercises. Open this document in the Editor. When the Editor has finished loading, recreate the following edits but not in tracked change mode—

Detailed steps to edit the document

Open the duplicated document in the Editor and make the deletions and insertions shown in the screenshot (do not use tracked change mode)
Save changes and close the document using the Close Editor button

Step 2: Compare your edited version with the original version

In the Project tab, select the edited version and compare with the original version.

Detailed steps to compare document versions

From the Project tab, select your edited bill version and select Actions > Compare version
Select the original version to compare it with
Rename the output version description with something more recognisable and open it in the Editor once it has been created.
Open the compare version in the Editor

Step 3: Make more significant structural changes

Open the edited document in the Editor and make some more significant changes—

Detailed steps to further edit the document

Move section 1 after section 7
Insert a quoted structure after section 2(6) inserting a new subsection
Save changes and close your document using the Close Editor button

Step 4: Compare your further edited version with the original version

Compare your further edited version of the document with the original version following the same steps in step 2

Compare version does well with basic insertions and deletions.

More complicated structural editing and certain actions in Lawmaker that involve a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ operations can create a lot of ‘noise’ in Compare Version.

Inserting a quoted structure is an example of a ‘behind the scene’ action where the text of the introducing provision is removed and re-inserted so that a <mod> element can wrapped around it.

Moving provisions is another example of a ‘behind the scene’ action where the provision is deleted and then re-inserted so in compare terms, it shows as a deletion and insertion.