DeltaWalker

What's New in DeltaWalker '10 v1.9.1

• Detailed progress information during file synchronization operations including:
  • Time remaining.
  • Items remaining - count and size, out of total item count and size for a job.
  • Speed.
• Ability to rename files and folders directly inside folder comparison windows.
• Ability to delete and rename sessions directly inside the session drop-down windows.
• Ability to ignore timestamp differences in folder comparison due to daylight savings.
• Next/Previous Conflict actions for navigating conflicts in three-way comparison.
• Pathname auto-suggest/content assistant now runs on a separate thread keeping UI responsive at all times.
• Remote Resource dialog:
  • User's home folder and username are now automatically prepended to the initial path
  • Improved handling of incorrectly specified connection parameters.
• Startup-time improvements when multiple sessions are present.
• Folder comparison performance improvements.
• Notable bug fixes:
  • Fixed a startup crash caused by corrupted font cache introduced by OS X 10.6.3 update.
  • Fixed infrequent crash during synchronization operations.
  • Fixed a problem with launching comparison sessions of compressed files.
  • New troubleshooting topic on fixing occasional anti-aliasing issue on OS X.

What's New in DeltaWalker '10 v1.9

User Interface:

• 100% Cocoa UI, including the signature Mac toolbar, sheets, etc.
• New artwork - icons, welcome page, splash screen.
• Streamlined toolbar organization - folder comparison-specific operations now located on the folder comparison local toolbar.
• More features, yet simpler and cleaner UI.

Session Management:

• Support for named sessions, session favorites, session search and delete etc.; new "Organize Sessions" window.
• Session properties are now a snapshot of the preference defaults. This guarantees that next time a session is loaded it'll execute exactly the same way as it did the last time.
• Preference-controlled ability to load the most recent file & folder comparison sessions on startup. On by default.
• Fine level of clearing history; new "Clear History" window.
• Ability to Export and Import sessions.
• Ability to launch sessions from the command line by specifying their name.
• Cleaner separation os session properties from preference defaults.

Folder Comparison:

• "Compare To" functionality in folder comparison where you can pick and choose the files/folder for comparison from within a folder comparison window.
• "Re-Compare Selected" of files and folders.
• Sorting by name, date, size.
• Preference-controlled ability to list folders before files.
• Preference-controlled option for the folder comparison trees at the end of comparison. Trees are now collapsed by default.
• The folder hierarchies now remember their subnodes' expanded/collapsed state; Cocoa version only.

Filters:

• Unified file and folder filters UI, design and implementation.

Miscellaneous:

• Page Orientation (Printing) can now be set from within the Page setup dialog.
• More accurate vertical sizing of the Birds-eye view in both file and folder comparison.
• Generating folder comparison reports now respects the filters applied to the folder comparison view.

Bug fixes and enhancements:

• Resolved a deadlock preventing launching of new sub-comparison while main folder comparison was in progress.
• Fixed infrequent crash/hang during sync operations.
• Resolved problems logging to remote sites using password containing certain special characters.
• Improved performance on updates following sync operations.
• Fixed a resource leak in file comparison that over time could make DeltaWalker's UI irresponsive.
• Fixed inaccuracies in the time grouping of existing sessions in the session history lists.

DeltaWalker 1.9 is a free upgrade for all licensed DeltaWalker users.

DeltaWalker comes in two editions: A Standard and Oro. Most functionality can be found in both editions, including integrated file and folder comparison, in-place editing, point-and-click merging, comparison reports, etc.

The two editions differ in:

• Number of supported platforms for a single license: one for Standard, three for Oro
• Ability to do three-way comparison and automatic merging of differences available only in the Oro edition

Top highlights include:

• Finely tuned and optimized file and folder comparison engine
• Side-by-side folder and file comparison integration
• Structure comparison and visualization of XML files
• Two and three-way file and folder comparison
• Manual and automatic merging of differences
• Extensive in-place text editing capabilities
• Ability to search/filter folder and Structure XML comparisons
• Regular expression text search
• Customizable file and folder comparison filters
• Point-and-click merge
• Translucent color highlighted differences and changes (QuickDiffs)
• Birds-eye difference view and navigation
• Customizable Print/print-preview
• File and folder comparison report generation, including ability to link individual file comparison reports to a folder comparison report
• Unix Diff patch creation in four different formats
• Unicode support with character encoding auto-detection
• Unlimited undo/redo
• Command-line interface allows easy integration with third party applications e.g. Subversion, CVS, StarTeam, Dreamweaver, etc.

Improvements

• Improved folder comparison performance and overall stability
• Ability to Copy Selected Path(s) to Clipboard in folder comparison
• Improved folder comparison selection visualization

Audience
DeltaWalker presents a compelling offer to a wide audience, from savvy computer users to software professionals demanding the very best of their tools.

Software and Web developers - compare, analyze, and merge different versions of source files. Use three-way comparison to compare your changes and those of another contributor with a common ancestor and to automatically merge all non-conflicting differences in seconds. Compare and synchronize a local copy of a web site with its server using FTP, SFTP or WebDAV. View and compare XML files both as texts and structures. Compare and merge HTML files as text then preview in-place with the built-in browser. Visualize and compare JAR, EAR, ZIP and other compressed files as if they were simply folders.

Code reviewers - rely on accurate inline difference visualization to see and understand every change. Stay in context and in control within side-by-side integrated folder and file comparison. Generate HTML or XML comparison reports for archiving and auditing purposes or for exchange via email.

Release engineers and managers - visualize, navigate, analyze, edit, and merge complex changes in folder hierarchies and individual files. Reconcile changes from two contributors using three-way comparison and automatic merging.

Language translators - compare two folders with files in different languages and work your way through individual files simply by double-clicking them.

Legal and publishing professionals - let down-to-the-letter comparison accuracy show you even punctuation mark differences when comparing different document drafts. Trust DeltaWalker to quickly extract and compare the text of even the largest PDF and Office documents.

Scientists, researchers, and engineers - save time, eliminate guessing, and minimize errors when comparing text outputs and results of different experiments.

Computer users - eliminate information duplication with speed and confidence. Quickly compare entire drives and folders checking only file sizes and timestamps or use byte-by-byte comparison to guarantee that files are identical then synchronize with a few simple clicks.

Comparing and Merging Files

Comparing Files
DeltaWalker lets you compare just about any set of text files - plain text, software source code, XML, HTML, as well as compressed files—BZ2, EAR, GZ, JAR, TAR, TBZ2, TGZ and ZIP.

Load, or paste them, and enjoy the view. And don't worry if you accidentally attempted loading folders instead of files into the editors—DeltaWalker would correctly recognize their types and simply open them as you intended - as folders in a folder comparison window.

Merging Files
Contextual merge buttons, powerful in-place editing, automatic re-comparison in the background, unlimited undo/redo all work together to bring you easy and intuitive file merging functionality.

Three-way file comparison and merge
Three-way comparison (Oro Edition only) is the automated difference analysis between two modified files with respect to a common one—an ancestor. It evaluates to more than two standalone two-way comparisons as it also reflects the level of convergence between the two derivative works.

Three-way file merge is the automated merging of non-conflicting differences and it allows you to reconcile even the largest files in seconds. Conflicting lines of text, if any, are clearly highlighted and brought to your attention for resolution.

Comparing and Synchronizing Folders

Comparing Folders
Folders are compared side-by-side and visualized in a way consitent with Finder. Identical files and folders are shown dimmed, bringing focus to the actual, color-coded differences.

Folder and File comparison in DeltaWalker are ergonomically integrated. Double-clicking a pair of files in a folder comparison window opens them in a file comparison window just below the folder comparison.

Synchronizing folders
Synchronizing folders is powered by a flexible set of selection options and copy/move/delete operations. All operations execute on dedicated threads, keeping DeltaWalker's user interface responsive at all times.

Three-way Folder comparison and Synchronization
Three-way folder and automatic synchronization (Oro Edition only) is conceptually identical to three-way file comparison and merge, however it operates on folders. It scans the entire folder hierarchies performing three-way file comparison and merge on each file triplet.

Location Transparency
Built-in support for FTP, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, and WebDAV allows you to treat local and remote files and folders all the same.

Protocols like SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) and Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) often offer you the same power, security, and flexibility as if you were working with a local file system. Other protocols, like FTP, may present restrictions when copying, moving, or deleting files, or setting files' timestamps. Depending on the protocol and your network's performance you may not even notice you are working with remote resources as you'd have the full range and power of comparison and merge/synchronization operations at your disposal.

Your username and password are saved as part of your session and as part of the resource URIs so that they are available to you for later use. They, however, are discreetly omitted from the URI display strings in an effort to protect your privacy.

Personalization
DeltaWalker takes personalization to a new level, with customization and assistance features that let you modify its appearence and behavior to suit both your personal preferences and the specifics of the job at hand.

Attention to detail has been paid to all areas of DeltaWalker's user interface and its ability to transparently adapt to the way you work with it. From innovative idioms like local toolbars and menus used in the folder comparison window through state-of-the art graphic design and window animation, to the ability to customize anything from fonts and colors to tab positions and shortcut keys, DeltaWalker showcases a commitment to the highest standards of good user interface design.

Customizable Print and Print Preview
Printing a file or a folder comparison in DeltaWalker is a click away. A scalable print preview lets you see exactly what's going to be printed and the page setup dialog allows you to fully customize and preview your headers and footers before printing.

Report Generation
DeltaWaker is capable of producing both file and folder comparison reports in HTML and XML formats. You can optionally create linked folder comparison reports which are folder comparison reports with links to individual file comparison reports. XML and HTML reports are a great way to create electronic snapshots of the differences b/n pairs of files or folders. Such snapshots can easily be stored and used to trace the change history of files of interest; they are also well suited for electronic exchange e.g. via email.