Sync-BeyondCompare
2 minute read
Sync-BeyondCompare
SYNOPSIS
Provides a simple way to synchronize changes across multiple versions of a Markdown file.
SYNTAX
Sync-BeyondCompare [-Path] <String>
DESCRIPTION
Many docsets at Microsoft contain multiple versions of the same reference document. For example, we support multiple versions of PowerShell cmdlets. Each version contains the same cmdlet but there may be minor differences between the versions.
When you make a change to the documentation for one of these cmdlet, it’s often necessary to make the same change across all the supported versions.
Sync-BeyondCompare reads the monikerMapping.json file in your repository to discover the version
monikers and the file paths they map to. Using this version information, the cmdlet opens the file
passed and one of the other versions of the same file for side-by-side comparison. When you close
the application it opens the same file and the next version of the file. This repeats until you have
opened and compared all versions.
This cmdlet is dependent on the product Beyond Compare by Scooter Software. Beyond Compare is a visual diff tool that makes it easy to compare two files and copy differences from one file to the other. Microsoft has a site license to use this tool.
EXAMPLES
Example 1
There are four versions PowerShell documentation: 5.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4. In this example,
Sync-BeyondCompare is used to compare the 7.3 version of about_Output_Streams.md with the same
article in the other versions.
Sync-BeyondCompare reference/7.3/Microsoft.PowerShell.Core/About/about_Output_Streams.md
The cmdlet opens the 7.3 and 5.1 versions of the file for comparison. You can copy the appropriate changes to or from either file. When you save and close the file, the cmdlet then opens the 7.3 and 7.2 versions for comparison. This process repeats until you have compared all versions.
PARAMETERS
-Path
The path to the updated file to use as the base for your comparison. The path must contain the
version part of the path as defined in the monikerMapping.json.
Type: System.String
Parameter Sets: (All)
Aliases:
Required: True
Position: 0
Default value: None
Accept pipeline input: False
Accept wildcard characters: False