Not just a DITA diff tool. DITA Merge is an enterprise solution for finding and processing changes between three or more DITA documents. Output differences to a number of pre-defined outputs, including our HTML side-by-side view or output to a DITA file and process diffs within your editors however you wish, wherever you need.
DITA Merge’s algorithms work through each of the documents in turn, examining their structure to match up all the corresponding elements with the original.
Once it has identified all the differences, it runs custom rules against each, determining whether to merge them or mark them up in the output file as unresolved changes. Alternatively, the result can be configured so that all differences remain marked, providing an opportunity for review before any merges take place.
Managed by its API, the results are processed by a pipeline so you can transform the DITA into any form is required by your systems or processes.
If you’re wanting to see all DITA Merge has to offer book a one-to-one demo with a DeltaXML developer.
Accessed through Java or REST APIs integrate into any enterprise workflow or content management system.
In DITA, text formatting uses structural markup like em or strong to add styling to text content. DITA Merge handles this markup with specific processing so that you have a clear understanding of where text remains unchanged despite formatting changes. Even where text remains the same, our merge delta format shows you how formatting changed between multiple versions.
Whether you choose to include all changes or just those that conflict across versions, the changes are output in our simple XML-based delta format for easy processing. Designed to be easily transformed using XSLT, our delta format sits lightly within the original DITA content to ensure that your results are as close as possible to the original DITA format.
DITA tables are complex enough without having to worry about how to merge them. We process CALS and HTML tables to make sure that the results are valid against the table models while still delivering accurate merge results.
Comparison results can be configured to show in any form you need, whether for automated processing or human review.
When dealing with multiple documents, it’s important to understand their method of creation to ensure the best possible merge. Where a document is passed to multiple editors who all edit at the same time, Concurrent Merge should be used to bring all of the changes into a single place. If the document is passed from one person to the next and each makes successive changes, Sequential Merge provides the best results. We also provide a specific Three-Way merge model for Concurrent Merges created using a branch-and-merge model. This provides additional features specific to a three-way merge scenario.
When the aim of a merge is to reach a new version of a document, you’re often only interested in reviewing the conflicting changes. DITA Merge allows you to automatically ‘accept’ changes that don’t conflict, only marking up those that are in conflict. This reduces the time needed to review the result. Of course if you do want to review all differences between the documents, including those which don’t conflict, that’s still possible. In fact you can determine which changes should be included in the result using our rule-based processing feature.
Version control systems such as Git typically use a line-based tool for merging content during a branch merge. If you’re having issues with invalid DITA following a Git merge using DITA Merge as the merge tool can save you a lot of time spent on conflict resolution.
What is DITA Merge?
DITA Merge is a sophisticated approach for reliably recombining multiple DITA documents into a single file.
How do I integrate or embed DITA Merge?
DITA Merge is optimised for integration into enterprise workflow and content management systems. All of its functionality is accessed through Java or REST APIs, which is fully documented and comes with complete, working examples. On top of these API’s we have created plugins for popular XML authoring tools, including oXygen and FrameMaker for seamless content authoring and reviewing.
Can I ignore changes I know about?
Yes, with DITA Merge you can apply custom rules to specify what is merged automatically and what is marked up for further attention. Its sophisticated rules enable you to reference any aspect of the XML structure and attributes, to specify where conflicts may be automatically resolved and what should take priority.
Rules may reference authors and editors, specific positions within the document tree and even table elements.
How is DITA Merge different from other diff tools?
Rather than comparing line-by-line, DITA Merge identifies and matches up all the elements across your DITA documents, so it has a meaningful and dependable basis for comparing and merging. This pairing process uses a combination of element names, parent names, position in the XML tree and the structure of child elements.
How are found differences represented?
DITA Merge outputs well-formed, valid DITA files so the resulting output is compatible with your existing DITA tools.
DITA Merge has been designed to make the document merge process consistent and straightforward. Any changes which cannot be merged automatically are marked up clearly in the DITA code for post processing review. Where this involves tables, a sophisticated process works out the best way of showing all the changes, while still generating a valid table.
How do I buy a DITA Merge license?
So you’re only paying for what you need we offer a range of license models dependent on the system architecture you’re using and your current use case. Fill in our get a quote form to receive more details on your pricing options.
So you’re only paying for what you need our licensing options are dependent on how you’ll be using our software. Get a quote by clicking the button below.
If you need assistance with a product evaluation or you’re a customer with a technical question about any of our products please head over to our support portal.
WHERE CHANGE MATTERS
From ISO Quality Services Ltd.