DeltaXML ODT Compare was developed to handle large, legal documents where it is critical that every change to the text is shown accurately. ODT Compare reads two ODT documents and generates a new ODT document which shows the changes between the two input documents. It is like OpenOffice.org 'Compare Documents' but it works on the underlying XML and handles some items differently (see below).

For document revision, it is generally only text changes that are of interest rather than the styling of text. This means that all the text within a document should be checked for changes, but styling changes can be ignored so you are not distracted with changes that are not important. There are many areas where DeltaXML ODT Compare has advantages:

•  shows changes in headers and footers

•  shows changes to list numbering - lists can be converted to paragraphs for best representation of changes

•  shows changes in 'frames' which are areas of text positioned on a page

•  shows changes within individual cells of a table

•  marks added or deleted graphics

• handles large documents (several hundred pages) provided memory is available

You can choose how the changes are shown, e.g. using underline, strike through or colouring to show additions and deletions.

ODT Compare is designed to show the changes and therefore it will generally ignore added or deleted carriage returns and it will render numbered and bulleted lists into regular paragraphs so the changes can more easily be seen. If you want to accept or reject the changes, then try the ODT Merge product. If you want to see changes across more than two documents, try the ODT Review product.