Issues with Merging

Merging two documents is a complex task that requires our algorithms to make lots of decisions about what text to place in what locations, and sometimes it doesn’t always come out the way you’d want it.

If you’ve done a merge in Simul and are not happy with the results, then there is an alternative.

Microsoft Word has a merge tool built in to it that has some advantages over Simul’s merge function, and although it’s a little clunky to use, it can be a good backup when you are unhappy with the merge done in Simul.

Using Word’s default Merge tool as an alternative

Microsoft Word has a merge tool built in to it that has some advantages over Simul’s merge function, and although it’s a little clunky to use, it can be a good backup when you are unhappy with the merge done in Simul.

Without getting too technical, as you work on a document in Microsoft Word it stores a lot of metadata about the different lines of text in the document and how the document has been put together, and when you use the default merge tool in Word it is able to use that metadata to perform a merge.

Unfortunately though, Word doesn’t make this metadata available to Simul, so we’re unable to use it as part of our merge algorithm.

Our engineers have worked out various ways around this, but in some cases Word’s built in merge feature can give you a better result.

How to use Microsoft Word’s default merge feature

If you are unhappy with the result of a merge in Simul and would like to use Microsoft Word’s default merge feature to try it again, follow the steps below:

1.Download the two versions to be merged

In your Simul account, select the first of the two versions you wish to merge from the version history on the left, and then select the ‘Download this version’ option from the Actions menu on the right.

Repeat this for the second of the two versions you wish to merge.

2.Open Microsoft Word and select ‘Combine Documents’

Open Microsoft Word on your computer and navigate to the ‘Review’ tab. Select the dropdown arrow next to the ‘Compare Documents’ icon and select ‘Combine Documents’

3. Select the documents you wish to Merge

A dialog box will appear asking you to select both the ‘Original Version’ and the ‘Revised Version’.

To upload the original version, click the folder icon on the right of the input bar.

In the dialog box that appears, find the earlier version of the two documents you downloaded in the previous step (I.e. If you downloaded Version 0.0.2 and 0.0.3, then select Version 0.0.2).

If it doesn’t automatically appear, enter the name of the person who made the changes in this version in the author box.

To upload the revised version, click the folder icon on the right of the input bar.

In the dialog box that appears, find the later version of the two documents you downloaded in the previous step (I.e. If you downloaded Version 0.0.2 and 0.0.3, then select Version 0.0.3).

If it doesn’t automatically appear, enter the name of the person who made the changes in this version in the author box.

Press Combine to start the merge.

4. Review the merged document and save it to your computer

Once the merge has been performed, Word will have brought the two documents together and marked up each authors changes using the default Track Changes feature (like how Simul does when a document is merged).

You should now review the merge and make sure you are happy with the way the document has come together.

Once you’re happy with it, save it to your computer using whatever filename you prefer.

5. Upload to Simul as a new version

Finally, to bring the new merge back into your version history, open up the document in your Simul account and select the ‘Import New Version’ option from the Actions menu.

In the dialog box that appears, either drag and drop the merged document into the dialog box or select the ‘Your Computer’ icon and browse for the file.

You will then see a screen where you are able to name the version and/or add a comment. This is a completely optional step, but it may be a good idea to give it a name like ‘Merged offline’ or leave a comment like ‘This is the version I merged using Word’s default merge feature’ so that you remember in the future.

Once you’re done adding a name or comment (of if you decide to skip this step, select the ‘Import Version’ button.

Your document will be uploaded and created as a new version.

This is now the same as if you had done a merge in Simul. The wording of the two documents has been successfully merged together and checked, and you have a full version history outlining what happened!