Comparing InCopy articles side-by-side with Content Station 9

Comparing InCopy articles side-by-side is one of various ways of comparing articles in Content Station.

As the name implies, comparing the articles is done by showing them next to each other. Any differences that are found are highlighted.

Use this method to compare the textual content of 2 InCopy articles to see if any differences exist. These articles could be:

• Two different articles
• Two different versions of the same article

Which differences are detected?

Differences in the following areas are detected:

• The textual content of each article component (down to character level)
• The presence of each article component

Differences in the following areas are not detected:

• Tables
• Applied styles
• Bulleted lists
• Numbered lists
• Hyperlinks
• Inline images
• Notes

Comparison methods

The following comparison methods are used for detecting textual differences:

• Raw comparison. Compares the files for differences and displays all found changes. This method displays the result in the most detailed form.
• Semantic cleanup. Compares the files for differences and only displays those differences which are not likely to be coincidental. This method is typically more readable.

While the raw method provides a more detailed result by displaying every character which differs, the semantic method is more readable.

See the following examples (source: https://code.google.com/p/google-diff-match-patch/):

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Sample text, not compared:

Text A		Text B
I am the very model of a modern Major-General, I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral, I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical, From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical.		I am the very model of a cartoon individual, My animation’s comical, unusual, and whimsical, I’m quite adept at funny gags, comedic theory I have read, From wicked puns and stupid jokes to anvils that drop on your head.

---

I am the very model of a mcartoodern Major-Geinerdividual,
I’veMy ianforimation’s vegetcomicable, aunimusual, and whimsinercal,
I’m knowquite adepthe kingsat of Eunny glandgs, and I qucotmedic theory figI htsave historiceald,
From Marwicked puns and sthupid jonkes to Wanvils thate drlop o, in yordeur cathegoricald.

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Example 2: Sample text B compared with sample text A, using the semantic cleanup method (identical text in black, removed characters in red, added characters in blue and underlined):

I am the very model of a modern Major-General,

I’ve information vegetable, animal, and mineral,

I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical,

From Marathon to Waterloo, in order categoricalcartoon individual,

My animation’s comical, unusual, and whimsical,

I’m quite adept at funny gags, comedic theory I have read,

From wicked puns and stupid jokes to anvils that drop on your head.

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How differences are displayed

Differences between the compared articles are displayed by highlighting the affected area:

• The article component bar is highlighted in purple to indicate that the component is not present in the article it is compared with.
• The article component is highlighted in light blue to indicate that the full content of the article component differs with that of the article it is compared with.
• A line is highlighted in light blue to indicate that at least one character in the line differs with the same line in the article it is compared with.
• A character is highlighted in dark purple to indicate that it differs with the characters in the article it is compared with.

Content Station displays the differences seen from the perspective of either article: when articles A and B are compared, article A displays the differences with article B, and article B displays the differences with article A.

We can see this when we let Content Station compare the first sentence of our sample text:

The first detected differences are the words ‘modern’ and ‘cartoon’. Article A has the phrases ‘m’ and ‘der’ highlighted because these do not occur in the word ‘cartoon’ which it is compared with.

Article B has the phrase ‘carto’ highlighted, because this does not appear in the word ‘modern’ which it is compared with.

Now, lets turn on the semantic comparison method:

Here we see that for both articles the phrase ‘I am the very model of a’ is not highlighted, while the rest of the text is highlighted.

Comparing articles

Step 1. Use one of the following methods:

A new page is opened in which the articles are compared.

Step 2. (Optional and only available when 2 versions of the same article are being compared) From the Version lists, change the version of the article to compare.

Tip: Use the Refresh button to update the articles with the latest saved changes.

Note: The Edit button is only available when the latest version of the article is displayed.