Customizing Beyond Compare

Beyond Compare is highly configurable, and it sometimes can be hard to know where to go in the program to change a specific setting. Here's where to look:

Program Options

General user preferences are set in the Options dialog. From the Tools menu, select Options. From here you can set startup options, control confirmation messages, and customize display colors and fonts.

Commands

You can define your own keyboard shortcuts and toggle the visibility of various toolbar and menu items. From the Tools menu, select Customize Commands.

Session Settings

Most of the options that define the scope and rules of a comparison can be found in the Session Settings dialog. Each session type has its own session settings dialog. Select Session Settings from the Session menu to open the dialog, or simply click the Rules icon on the toolbar.

Session settings are stored with your saved sessions.

File Formats

The File Formats dialog manages the list of file types that Beyond Compare recognizes.

From the Tools menu, select File Formats.

File formats determine:

·	The type of viewer used for visual comparison

·	What conversion, if any, should be performed before and after comparison

·	The syntax, or grammar, of the file's content

Tab stops

·	Which grammar elements are important or unimportant to the comparison

·	Line weights to help the alignment process

Tweaks

Tweaks are advanced or obscure program options that we have decided not to include in the normal user interface.

Press Ctrl+Shift+T to access the Tweaks dialog.

Editing tweaks should be self-explanatory. Contact Scooter Software if you require assistance.