Comparing documents

Lawmaker allows users to compare two versions of the same document and generate a new compare document containing the differences in tracked change mark up.

How to compare documents

1. On the Project tab, select Document Actions > Compare versions

2. Select the original document you want to use as the baseline document for compare.

3. Select the revised document you want to use to compare changes with the original version.

4. Optionally provide a version description for the output compare document (otherwise it will default to the pre-populated suggestion

5. Select Compare

A new document version will be created, in a folder called “Compare” containing the comparison between the two documents. Open it in the Editor to view the marked-up changes.

Reviewing changes in a Compare document

You can use the compare feature as an alternative to working with tracked changes.

Compare allows you to accept or reject changes between a newer and an older version of a document.

• In the editor, navigate to the ‘Review’ panel on the right-hand side.

• Use the icons beneath each marked-up change to Reply, Accept, Reject or Mark the change as done.

Hints and Tips

• If you compare a version of a document in which the Table of Contents has been re-inserted, the whole of the Table of Contents will be marked as a change.

• You can move the generated comparison documents out of the ‘Compare’ folder and into other folders. See the steps described here: Documents and folders on the Project Tab | How-to-move-a-working-version-to-another-folder

There are some limitations in the Compare feature, which will be refined in future releases. It is best if the differences between documents compared are not too extensive. Known issues include:

• If you insert or delete a Quoted Structure, the text before it will also be marked up in an insert/delete tracked change due to the way the XML is constructed.  We will refine this logic in future so that only the quoted structure is marked as inserted/deleted.

• Repositioning provisions in the document or adding new Parts, Chapters and cross-heading groupings around existing provisions can create more tracked changes than expected in the comparison output. This is due to the changes which occur behind-the-scenes in the document XML when moving provisions around or modifying the overall structure of a document.

We welcome any feedback relating to unclear comparison outputs - please let the Lawmaker team know if too much text is marked as having changed between versions, and we will try to refine the comparison algorithm appropriately.