New Row And Column Alignment Algorithm

The original purpose of the alignment algorithm was to align rows and columns that match up between two worksheets. It was not concerned with unmatched rows. The intent was to minimize differences by alignment before a cell-by-cell comparison.

Users that were concerned with spotting what rows had been inserted and deleted found that sometimes an unmatched row in sheet #1 was paired up with another unmatched row in sheet #2.

This meant that the color used to indicate a modification was used, instead of the colors selected for additions and deletions. DiffEngineX by default works at the cell level, not at the row level.

Our first attempt to solve this problem was the launch of the Interpret modified cell as deletion and addition... feature found on the Extras dialog. However this only changes the color for the unique identifier portion of a row as selected via the Align Rows dialog box.

Now we have a far better solution. We now recommend users turn on the Use Alignment Plus feature which makes sure that all unmatched rows are paired up with blank rows. This way the appropriate color for either a new or deleted row is used.

Use Alignment Plus also works for columns.