Overview
DeltaXML DocBook Compare compares two well-formed DocBook files (with the same root element) and generates a DocBook result highlighting the differences between the inputs using revisionflag attributes on elements.
Textual changes are highlighted by wrapping the changed text in <phrase> elements that specify the revisionflag attribute. Where the phrase element is invalid, textual changes are optionally wrapped with delimiters to show where change has occurred e.g. -[[old-text]]-+[[new-text]]-
Where the inputs specify Doctypes, these are preserved in the result document. If the two inputs have different Doctypes, the result uses the one from the second input.
N.B. A DocBook Compare comparison will fail if the inputs are not DocBook files or if one input is DocBook 4.x and the other DocBook 5.x
DocBook versions
DocBook 4.5 and 5.0 are currently supported as result DocBook versions. Other versions may compare with usable results but are not guaranteed to be valid against the specification version. DocBook 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 5.0 XML catalog support is provided by the tool. Comparing other versions may make some configuration of the catalog system necessary.
Result Validity
A comparison result will be valid if it is generated by comparing two valid DocBook inputs that are both specified using the same, supported DocBook version. Other scenarios may produce valid results but this cannot be guaranteed.