Version control is generally intended to prevent two or more users from altering the same document at the same time while providing an archive of previous versions. Version splitting, conversely, is a means of allow multiple authors a means of working on separate instances of the same document at the same time. Tools for highlighting the changes and recombining them into a single document are needed to merge them back into a later or final version of the document. Some word processing programs, notably Microsoft Word, have built-in tools to facilitate this that work very well.

The process for using the built-in feature with Word would involve downloading the two documents to compare by clicking on their icons or titles in DocuShare and saving or opening them at your desktop. Within either document, use Word's menus for Select Tools / Track Changes / Compare Documents and open the other document. You'll see the changes highlighted. You can alter the way changes are highlighted, but by default you'll see the differences highlighted in red with a strikethrough for the imported changes and an underline for the equivalent words or phrases in the open document. Redlining marks will show at the left border. Right-click on the highlighted text and accept or reject the changes one by one. You also have the option of choosing to bring up a dialog window to step through each change or you may accept or reject all of them in one pass. You reject overstrikes to retain them and accept underscores to retain them. When finished, close the document and upload it as a new version in DocuShare with comments on the changes made for notation in the history tab of its properties.

If all you're working with is Microsoft Word in this regard, this built-in feature should be sufficient for you. Following is a link to Microsoft's website on the topic of:

The review cycle in Microsoft Office: Compare and merge documents

http://office.microsoft.com/assistance/preview.aspx?AssetID=HA010347321033&CTT=6&Origin=EC010553071033  

Other programs are available that provide this capability for multiple document types. Volume licensing and free trials are available for most:

Compare Suite from AKS Labs $60

http://comparesuite.com/solutions/document_comparison_for_ms_word_doc_files.htm  

SureMerge from Guiffy Software $75

http://www.guiffy.com/indexgo.html  

Diff Doc Professional from Soft Interface $399

http://www.softinterface.com/Compare-File-Programs/Compare-File-Programs.htm  

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Compare and Merge from Compare and Merge $35

http://www.compareandmerge.com/index.html  

For more information on this topic, contact Criteria First at 972-492-4428 or visit http://www.criteriafirst.com  

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