Ellié Computing Merge allows you to compare ASCII, MBCS
(multi-byte character set), and Unicode
text files.
The following settings apply to both text files when compared individually and text files within folders. If you specify the settings to folders, all the files will automatically use these settings rather than the default options set in the application.
Ellié Computing Merge uses the Unicode (UTF-8) format for its in-memory representation of the files that it opens because it is practical and generally spares memory (with respect to UTF-16 or UTF-32). Codepages are used at load- and save-time to translate files from their disk-based single- or multi-byte character set representations into Unicode and vice versa.
Once a file is opened, you can use the Set text output options... command from the Browse button or Side menu to change the codepage used to save the file.
By
default, the encoding used to load files is taken from the
Application options box in Edition panel. You
can use the Reopen with encoding... menu item
from Browse button menu to specify how to
interpret input text. Merge can detect almost all UTF
variants with or without their signatures (not UTF-7 without
the signature). If the detection fails, you can still use the
box to specify the correct encoding (either by preventing the
detection by checking Ignore signatures and/or by specifying
the correct encoding in the combo box).
See also