Help with MS Word (1 Viewer)

[RogerB]

Is there a way to compare two .txt files using Word? I have a bunch of files to compare. They should be identical so I want something to show me the differences.

Thanks!

 

[Alex Spindler]

If the text and formatting are going to be the same (or should be) in both documents, you would have an easier time just use excel. Create three sheets (assumed to be Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3 here). Copy you text from DocA into sheet1 cell A1 (top left cell). You should end up with one cell per line of text for the length of the text. Do the same for DocB. Then throw this formula into Sheet3 Cell A1:

=IF(Sheet1!A1=Sheet2!A1,"","Dissimilar")

Then drag the formula down in Sheet3 until it will cover the length of both documents. It will let you know which lines are different and which are the same.

*Edit : Oh, and just keep pasting in DocA's and DocB's to check each one. Should be pretty fast when you get better at it.

 

[Jay H]

In Word '97 you can open up one of the documents (call it Doc A) and then go to:

Tools->Track Changes->Compare Documents...

And it'll do something like a redline-strikeout to Document A so you'll see if there are any changes... Should work for .doc files as well as .txt files

Jay

 

[RogerB]

Thanks, guys. I'll try both.

 

[Alex Spindler]

Jay,

I never new that one existed. I've tracked changes, but I didn't know that you could use that option for docs that have had the 'Track Changes' option on.

I'll have to give that a try myself!