User Guide Cancel

Compare files for differences

Search
Dreamweaver

Dreamweaver

Open app
  1. Dreamweaver User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. Responsive web design basics
    2. What's new in Dreamweaver
    3. Web development using Dreamweaver - An Overview
    4. Dreamweaver / Common Questions
    5. Keyboard shortcuts
    6. Dreamweaver system requirements
    7. Feature summary
  3. Dreamweaver and Creative Cloud
    1. Synchronize Dreamweaver settings with Creative Cloud
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Dreamweaver
    3. Using Photoshop files in Dreamweaver
    4. Work with Adobe Animate and Dreamweaver
    5. Extract web-optimized SVG files from Libraries
  4. Dreamweaver workspaces and views
    1. The Dreamweaver workspace
    2. Optimize Dreamweaver workspace for visual development
    3. Search files based on filename or content | Mac OS
  5. Set up sites
    1. About Dreamweaver sites
    2. Set up a local version of your site
    3. Connect to a publishing server
    4. Set up a testing server
    5. Import and export Dreamweaver site settings
    6. Bring existing websites from a remote server to your local site root
    7. Accessibility features in Dreamweaver
    8. Advanced settings
    9. Set site preferences for transferring files
    10. Specify proxy server settings in Dreamweaver
    11. Synchronize Dreamweaver settings with Creative Cloud
    12. Using Git in Dreamweaver
  6. Manage files
    1. Create and open files
    2. Manage files and folders
    3. Getting and putting files to and from your server
    4. Check in and check out files
    5. Synchronize files
    6. Compare files for differences
    7. Cloak files and folders in your Dreamweaver site
    8. Enable Design Notes for Dreamweaver sites
    9. Preventing potential Gatekeeper exploit
  7. Layout and design
    1. Use visual aids for layout
    2. About using CSS to lay out your page
    3. Design responsive websites using Bootstrap
    4. Creating and using media queries in Dreamweaver
    5. Present content with tables
    6. Colors
    7. Responsive design using fluid grid layouts
    8. Extract in Dreamweaver
  8. CSS
    1. Understand Cascading Style Sheets
    2. Laying out pages using CSS Designer
    3. Using CSS preprocessors in Dreamweaver
    4. How to set CSS Style preferences in Dreamweaver
    5. Move CSS rules in Dreamweaver
    6. Convert inline CSS to a CSS rule in Dreamweaver
    7. Work with div tags
    8. Apply gradients to background
    9. Create and edit CSS3 transition effects in Dreamweaver
    10. Format code
  9. Page content and assets
    1. Set page properties
    2. Set CSS heading properties and CSS link properties
    3. Work with text
    4. Find and replace text, tags, and attributes
    5. DOM panel
    6. Edit in Live View
    7. Encoding documents in Dreamweaver
    8. Select and view elements in the Document window
    9. Set text properties in the Property inspector
    10. Spell check a web page
    11. Using horizontal rules in Dreamweaver
    12. Add and modify font combinations in Dreamweaver
    13. Work with assets
    14. Insert and update dates in Dreamweaver
    15. Create and manage favorite assets in Dreamweaver
    16. Insert and edit images in Dreamweaver
    17. Add media objects
    18. Adding videos in Dreamweaver
    19. Insert HTML5 video
    20. Insert SWF files
    21. Add audio effects
    22. Insert HTML5 audio in Dreamweaver
    23. Work with library items
    24. Using Arabic and Hebrew text in Dreamweaver
  10. Linking and navigation
    1. About linking and navigation
    2. Linking
    3. Image maps
    4. Troubleshoot links
  11. jQuery widgets and effects
    1. Use jQuery UI and mobile widgets in Dreamweaver
    2. Use jQuery effects in Dreamweaver
  12. Coding websites
    1. About coding in Dreamweaver
    2. Coding environment in Dreamweaver
    3. Set coding preferences
    4. Customize code coloring
    5. Write and edit code
    6. Code hinting and code completion
    7. Collapse and expand code
    8. Reuse code with snippets
    9. Lint code
    10. Optimize code
    11. Edit code in Design view
    12. Work with head content for pages
    13. Insert server-side includes in Dreamweaver
    14. Using tag libraries in Dreamweaver
    15. Importing custom tags into Dreamweaver
    16. Use JavaScript behaviors (general instructions)
    17. Apply built-in JavaScript behaviors
    18. About XML and XSLT
    19. Perform server-side XSL transformations in Dreamweaver
    20. Performing client-side XSL transformations in Dreamweaver
    21. Add character entities for XSLT in Dreamweaver
    22. Format code
  13. Cross-product workflows
    1. Installing and using extensions to Dreamweaver
    2. In-App updates in Dreamweaver
    3. Insert Microsoft Office documents in Dreamweaver (Windows only)
    4. Working with Fireworks and Dreamweaver
    5. Edit content in Dreamweaver sites using Contribute
    6. Dreamweaver-Business Catalyst integration
    7. Create personalized email campaigns
  14. Templates
    1. About Dreamweaver templates
    2. Recognizing templates and template-based documents
    3. Create a Dreamweaver template
    4. Create editable regions in templates
    5. Create repeating regions and tables in Dreamweaver
    6. Use optional regions in templates
    7. Define editable tag attributes in Dreamweaver
    8. How to create nested templates in Dreamweaver
    9. Edit, update, and delete templates
    10. Export and import xml content in Dreamweaver
    11. Apply or remove a template from an existing document
    12. Edit content in Dreamweaver templates
    13. Syntax rules for template tags in Dreamweaver
    14. Set highlighting preferences for template regions
    15. Benefits of using templates in Dreamweaver
  15. Mobile and multiscreen
    1. Create media queries
    2. Changing page orientation for mobile devices
    3. Create web apps for mobile devices using Dreamweaver
  16. Dynamic sites, pages and web forms
    1. Understand web applications
    2. Set up your computer for application development
    3. Troubleshoot database connections
    4. Removing connection scripts in Dreamweaver
    5. Design dynamic pages
    6. Dynamic content sources overview
    7. Define sources of dynamic content
    8. Add dynamic content to pages
    9. Changing dynamic content in Dreamweaver
    10. Display database records
    11. Provide and troubleshoot live data in Dreamweaver
    12. Add custom server behaviors in Dreamweaver
    13. Building forms using Dreamweaver
    14. Use forms to collect information from users
    15. Create and enable ColdFusion forms in Dreamweaver
    16. Create web forms
    17. Enhanced HTML5 support for form elements
    18. Develop a form using Dreamweaver
  17. Building applications visually
    1. Build master and detail pages in Dreamweaver
    2. Build search and results pages
    3. Build a record insert page
    4. Build an update record page in Dreamweaver
    5. Building record delete pages in Dreamweaver
    6. Use ASP commands to modify database in Dreamweaver
    7. Build a registration page
    8. Build a login page
    9. Build a page that only authorized users can access
    10. Securing folders in Coldfusion using Dreamweaver
    11. Using ColdFusion components in Dreamweaver
  18. Test, preview, and publish websites
    1. Preview pages
    2. Preview Dreamweaver web pages on multiple devices
    3. Test your Dreamweaver site
  19. Troubleshooting
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues

 

 

Compare local and remote files, compare files before putting files, and compare files when synchronizing in Dreamweaver.

Compare local and remote files for differences

Dreamweaver can work with file comparison tools (also known as “diff tools”) to compare the code of local and remote versions of the same file, two different remote files, or two different local files. Comparing local and remote versions is useful if you’re working on a file locally and you suspect the copy of the file on the server has been modified by someone else. Without leaving Dreamweaver, you can view and merge the remote changes into your local version before putting the file to the server.

Comparing two local files or two remote files is also useful if you keep previous, renamed versions of your files. If you’ve forgotten the changes made to a file from a previous version, a quick comparison will remind you.

Before you start, you must install a third-party file comparison tool on your system. For more information on file comparison tools, use a web search engine such as Google Search to search for “file comparison” or “diff” tools. Dreamweaver works with most third-party tools.

Specify a comparison tool in Dreamweaver

  1. Install the file comparison tool on the same system as Dreamweaver. On Macintosh, install Command line tools from the file comparison tool. 

  2. In Dreamweaver, open the Preferences dialog box by selecting Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Macintosh), and then select the File Compare category.
  3. Do one of the following:

    • In Windows, click the Browse button and select the application that compares files.

    • On the Macintosh, click the Browse button and select the tool or script that launches the file comparison tool from the command line, not the actual comparison tool itself.

    Launch tools or scripts are typically located in the /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin folder on your Macintosh. For example, if you want to use FileMerge, browse to /usr/bin and select opendiff, which is the tool that launches FileMerge.

    The following table lists common file comparison tools for the Macintosh and the location of their launch tools or scripts on your hard disk:

If you use

Select the following file

FileMerge

/usr/bin/opendiff (or /Developer/usr/bin/opendiff)

BBEdit

/usr/local/bin/bbdiff

TextWrangler

/usr/local/bin/twdiff
Note:

The usr folder is normally hidden in Finder. However, you can access it with the Browse button in Dreamweaver.

Note:

The actual results displayed depends on the diff tool you are using. Check the user manual for your tool to understand how to interpret the results.

Compare two local files

You can compare two files located anywhere on your computer.

  1. In the Files panel, Control‑click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the two files to select them.
    Note:

    To select files outside your defined site, select your local disk from the left pop‑up menu in the Files panel and then select the files.

  2. Right-click one of the selected files and select Compare Local Files from the context menu.
    Note:

    If you have a one-button mouse, Control‑click one of the selected files instead.

    The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.

Compare two remote files

You can compare two files located on your remote server. You must define a Dreamweaver site with remote settings before you can accomplish this task.

  1. In the Files panel, display the files on the remote server by selecting Remote View from the right pop‑up menu.
  2. Control‑click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) the two files to select them
  3. Right-click one of the selected files and select Compare Remote Files from the context menu.
    Note:

    If you have a one-button mouse, Control‑click one of the selected files instead.

    The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.

Compare a local file to a remote file

You can compare a local file to a file located on your remote server. To do this, you must first define a Dreamweaver site with remote settings.

  1. In the Files panel, right-click a local file and select Compare With Remote from the context menu.
    Note:

    If you have a one-button mouse, Control‑click the local file instead.

    The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.

Compare a remote file to a local file

You can compare a remote file to a local file. You must define a Dreamweaver site with remote settings before accomplishing this task.

  1. In the Files panel, display the files on the remote server by selecting Remote View from the right pop‑up menu.
  2. Right-click a file in the panel and select Compare with Local from the context menu.
    Note:

    If you have a one-button mouse, Control‑click the file instead.

Compare an open file to a remote file

You can compare a file open in Dreamweaver to its counterpart on the remote server.

  1. In the Document window, select File > Compare with Remote.

    The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.

    Note:

    You can also right-click the document tab along the top of the Document window and select Compare with Remote from the context menu.

Compare before putting files

If you edit a file locally and then try to upload it to your remote server, Dreamweaver will notify you if the remote version of the file has changed. You have the option of comparing the two files before you upload the file and overwrite the remote version.

Before you start, you must install a file comparison tool on your system and specify it in Dreamweaver.

  1. After editing a file in a Dreamweaver site, put the file (Site > Put) to your remote site.

    If the remote version of the file has been modified, you’ll receive a notification with the option of seeing the differences.

  2. To view the differences, click the Compare button.

    The file comparison tool starts and compares the two files.

    If you haven’t specified a file comparison tool, you are prompted to specify one.

  3. After you’ve reviewed or merged the changes in the tool, you can proceed with the Put operation or cancel it.

Compare files when synchronizing

You can compare the local versions of your files with the remote versions when you synchronize your site files with Dreamweaver.

Before you start, you must install a file comparison tool on your system and specify it in Dreamweaver.

  1. Right-click anywhere in the Files panel and select Synchronize from the context menu.
  2. Complete the Synchronize Files dialog box and click Preview.

    After you click Preview, the selected files and the actions that will be taken during synchronization are listed.

  3. In the list, select each file you want to compare and click the Compare button (the icon with two small pages).
    Note:

    The file must be text-based, such as HTML or ColdFusion files.

    Dreamweaver starts the comparison tool, which compares the local and remote versions of each file you selected.

More like this

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans
View quick links
Hide quick links

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy