Guides

Choose the comparison that fits your two versions.

Choose a guide for text, structured records or a patch. Begin with the original and changed versions in the correct order, inspect ignored differences and check the output before sharing it.

Try an example

Check visible and hidden text changes

A line can look unchanged while its spaces or line endings differ. Compare the two versions, inspect hidden characters and read the ignore settings. Use those settings to focus the view, then check what the saved report or patch actually contains.

Match records by their meaning

Use JSON paths for JSON and a stable row key for CSV or TSV. A changed row order is different from a changed value. Inspect duplicate or missing keys before relying on record matching, and review masked configuration values before exporting a report.

Check the patch direction and contents

A patch describes how to change the original into the edited version. Read the verification status and the encoding limits before saving. Patches contain real text, including differences hidden by view settings; masking in a report does not mask a patch.

Create a patch file

Check the downloaded copy

Check which version is the original, which is changed and which differences were ignored.
Reopen the saved report or patch and inspect its text before sharing it.
Keep the original files until you have checked the downloaded copy.

Practice without personal files

Open the original sample on the left and the changed sample on the right. The only content change is Theme: blue becoming Theme: green; the title and Mode: local line stay the same. Create a patch and check its verification status before saving. Reverse the sources to see why direction matters.

The practice files contain synthetic examples. Their text is in English.

Open the practice guide