<listitem>
<para>Notice that in the left comparison pane, the second line has text: the other pane has a blank gray line in the same location. This blank line does not exist in the <filename>File2</filename> source file, so what is it doing in WinMerge?</para>
- <para>WinMerge inserts one or more gray blank lines in one version of a difference when the other version has more lines. These empty gray lines do not represent blank lines in the source file; they are only placeholders in the display. The purpose of placeholder lines is to keep the left and right versions of differences vertically aligned. Thus in our example, the text, <code>WinMerge compares lines</code>, appears side by side in the Comparison window, even though they are on different lines in the source files. This makes it easier to compare differences in WinMerge than in a conventional editor.</para>
+ <para>WinMerge inserts one or more gray blank lines in one version of a difference when the other version has more lines. These empty gray lines do not represent blank lines in the source file; they are only placeholders in the display. The purpose of placeholder lines is to keep the left and right versions of differences vertically aligned. Thus in our example, the text, <computeroutput>WinMerge compares lines</computeroutput>, appears side by side in the Comparison window, even though they are on different lines in the source files. This makes it easier to compare differences in WinMerge than in a conventional editor.</para>
<tip>
<para>One consequence of the blank lines is that both panes in the File Compare window always display the same total number of lines, even if their source files do not.</para>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<sect1 id="Introduction">
+<article id="Introduction">
<title>Introduction to WinMerge</title>
<para>WinMerge is an <ulink url="http://www.opensource.org/">Open Source</ulink> differencing and merging tool for Windows. WinMerge can compare both folders and files, presenting differences in a visual text format that is easy to understand and handle.</para>
<para>Please note that WinMerge is not freeware (as many sites on the Web have stated): it is <ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GPL</ulink> licensed. We provide you with a good tool for free, so please honor your license agreement and submit improvements to us. We are happy to get help improving WinMerge, to the advantage of all WinMerge users.</para>
- <sect2>
+ <section>
<title>WinMerge versions</title>
<para>There are three kind of versions available in the <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13216">downloads</ulink> page.</para>
- <sect3>
+ <section>
<title><indexterm>
<primary>Stable versions</primary>
</indexterm>Stable versions</title>
<para><ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13216&package_id=11248">Stable versions</ulink> are recommended for most users. If you are unsure about what version to use, use the latest stable version. Stable versions have an even second number, for example, 2.4, 2.6 and 2.8.</para>
- </sect3>
+ </section>
- <sect3>
+ <section>
<title><indexterm>
<primary>Beta versions</primary>
</indexterm>Beta versions</title>
<para><ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13216&package_id=29158">Beta versions</ulink> are for people who want to test latest features and improvements made after last stable version. Beta versions are not tested as extensively as stable versions and probably have some bugs. Beta versions have an odd second number, for example 2.5 and 2.7. Beta versions can be used in production, because they are not expected to have major bugs. But there is always a risk with using beta-level releases, so consider it carefully. We have tried to release a new stable series once a year, so it may be worth waiting for few months for the next stable release...</para>
- </sect3>
+ </section>
- <sect3>
+ <section>
<title><indexterm>
<primary>Experimental versions</primary>
</indexterm>Experimental versions</title>
<para><ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13216&package_id=92246">Experimental versions</ulink> are snapshot releases from our version control system (Subversion). They have all the latest features and improvements. Some features may still be buggy or incomplete. These releases are made available to allow users to try out the current code without needing to compile, and to participate in development discussions concerning new and changing features. We also appreciate any help testing the current code. Use experimental versions with care and enable backups! And please <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13216&atid=113216">report bugs</ulink> that you find while using these builds: it really helps with WinMerge development!</para>
- </sect3>
+ </section>
- <sect3>
+ <section>
<title>Version tree</title>
<para>All this talk about different versions might be confusing if you never have worked with this kind of model. Lets illustrate with a picture:</para>
<para>This branching also means that stable versions don't get many new features after a branch is created. Stable versions 2.6.0 and 2.6.14 had pretty similar features. After the 2.6 stable branch, we created a new stable branch, 2.8, where we added many improvements and fixes.</para>
<para>Many software vendors always increase their version numbers and advise people to use the version with the biggest number. If WinMerge were developed as proprietary software, users would see only versions from stable branches. But because WinMerge is an open source software project, we want to keep our development as open as possible and to release many development versions. The latest development version can have version number 2.9.1.0 and the latest stable version can be version 2.6.14.</para>
- </sect3>
- </sect2>
+ </section>
+ </section>
- <sect2>
+ <section>
<title><indexterm>
<primary>support</primary>
</important>
<para>We prefer that you <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/account/registration/">register</ulink> with <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/">SourceForge.net</ulink> before posting a bug report (registration is public and free), so that you receive email notifications if we post follow-up questions to your bug. Registration is not currently required for you to post a bug report. However, we generally give less priority to unregistered bug reports, because it has been our experience that unregistered posters often do not return to answer follow-up questions.</para>
- </sect2>
+ </section>
- <sect2>
+ <section>
<title><indexterm>
<primary>WinMerge development</primary>
</indexterm>WinMerge source code and development</title>
<para>WinMerge source code is available in the <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=13216">downloads</ulink> page and from the <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=13216">public Subversion server</ulink>. Anyone can download the sources, study them, and alter them. If you find (and fix) bugs, improve something, and so on, please submit your changes to us as <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13216&atid=313216">patches</ulink> and help improve this product! If you publish your altered version, you are required to publish the changes to source code too. This is what the <ulink url="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html">GPL</ulink> license is about: please respect it.</para>
- <para>While WinMerge development has been fast in the last couple of years, all this work is done by people in their spare time. Nobody gets paid for improving WinMerge. We try to fix bugs as we find them or when somebody reports them to us. We really try â\80\94 we use WinMerge too. But there are absolutely no promises for new features. We always appreciate any help with WinMerge, be it testing, documenting, translating, or coding.</para>
+ <para>While WinMerge development has been fast in the last couple of years, all this work is done by people in their spare time. Nobody gets paid for improving WinMerge. We try to fix bugs as we find them or when somebody reports them to us. We really try âÂ\80Â\94 we use WinMerge too. But there are absolutely no promises for new features. We always appreciate any help with WinMerge, be it testing, documenting, translating, or coding.</para>
- <sect3>
+ <section>
<title>Participating in WinMerge development</title>
<para>As mentioned above, we look for help in many areas, not just coding. Translation, documentation, and testing are important too.</para>
<para>The <ulink url="http://wiki.winmerge.org/">Development Wiki</ulink> is a good source of information if you want to help with WinMerge development. The <ulink url="http://winmerge.org/Wiki/Help_Needed">Help Needed</ulink> page in the wiki has more information about how to help with WinMerge development.</para>
<para>The <ulink url="http://winmerge.org/support/mailing-lists.php">development-mailing</ulink> list is the preferred place for development discussions. Another place is in the <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?forum_id=41639">developers-forum</ulink>. If you are interested in helping with WinMerge development, let us know. If you want to fix one of our <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13216&atid=113216" userlevel="">bugs</ulink> or implement a <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=13216&atid=363216">new feature</ulink>, let us know.</para>
- </sect3>
- </sect2>
-</sect1>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+</article>
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