Comparing documents side by side

I made the mistake of inserting corrections into one document and then continuing with a second document later on (I wasn't careful about the name the name I assigned to the edited version). Now I want to go over them both and make the corrections. How does one bring up two documents and compare them?
Thanks.

iMac 2.66 GHz 20", Mac OS X (10.6)

Posted on Feb 16, 2010 4:59 AM

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25 replies

Feb 16, 2010 5:05 AM in response to ark-1

ark-1 wrote:
I made the mistake of inserting corrections into one document and then continuing with a second document later on (I wasn't careful about the name the name I assigned to the edited version). Now I want to go over them both and make the corrections. How does one bring up two documents and compare them?

Open one document, then Open the other. Make each of them narrower, if necessary, by dragging the lower right corner handle. Place them side-by-side and compare. I don't believe that there is any automated way to do this.

Jerry

Feb 16, 2010 8:02 AM in response to ark-1

ark-1 wrote:
Thanks Jerry - but I'm shocked! No way to compare two documents???? That's such a basic in Word. Oh well.

Had you been Tracking Changes this would be a non-issue, wouldn't it? I suppose it would be somewhat awkward, but you could use Services > Statistics on suspect sections to see if there are any differences in character count, number of spaces, words, lines, etc.

Jerry

Feb 16, 2010 9:32 AM in response to ark-1

ark-1 wrote:
I agree Jerry - but wouldn't having a convenient way to access a dictionary or thesaurus, or an option to compare documents be sort of an industry standard?

You can right-click a word, in any application, without even selecting it, and get a quick dictionary definition, with an option for "more" leading to a full definition with links to a thesaurus, Wikipedia. etc. It's an OS X feature, not Pages only, and very handy.

I don't know what standards there may be for word processing apps. I'd be surprised to find one.

Feb 16, 2010 9:52 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

I tried what you suggested in the email message itself - right clicking and it immediately brought me the Look Up In Dictionary option - which is great! But when I'm in Pages, I have to click the word, then click Writing Tools, then click Dictionary, then write the word in. It does not automatically insert the word in question unless the Dictionary is already open. Why would it work in iMail and not Pages? Strange, no?

Feb 16, 2010 11:13 AM in response to ark-1

It is so much more difficult to relearn and learn the first time. I have learned to not expect applications behave in the same way as I have learned in another application. I alway try to find another way to get the new application work for me. If you want Word behavior use Word, but a lot can be done in Pages but it is done in another way.

Feb 17, 2010 9:03 AM in response to Jerrold Green1

Hi Jerrold

Here, running Mac Os X 10.4.11,
when I right click a word, I don't get a quick definition.

I typed a classical verse from Jean Racine :
+Pour qui sont ces serpents qui sifflent sur vos têtes ?+
I control-clicked 'serpents' and got :

User uploaded file

To get a definition, I must enter the item "Outils d'écriture" (Writing Tools in English). In fact, it would be useless because the only dictionary available is the Oxford English one which can't help me for French words 😟

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 17 février 2010 18:03:01

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Comparing documents side by side

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