Change types in Compare for Excel

In the comparison, cell shading is used to indicate the following:

• Insertions: A cell, row or column that has been inserted.
• Deletions: A cell, row or column that has been deleted.
• Indirect changes: Any change that has occurred as the result of a modification to a different cell. For example, if a row contains several cells with formulas and you insert another row above it, all the formulas are pushed down by one row. The change to these formulas is indirect. 
• Direct changes: Any change that has occurred as the result of a modification in the same cell. For example, if you select a cell with a formula and modify the formula, the change is direct.

In addition, the content within a cell, for example, text or numbers, is coloured to show if it's inserted or deleted.

The colors used to indicate these different changes are determined by the rendering set applied to the comparison. From Workshare Compare version 10.3, you can edit and create rendering sets in the Compare for Excel Rendering Set Manager:



Once you've run a comparison, the legend provides a summary of what color represents what type of change for quick reference:



To find out more about creating and applying rendering sets in Compare for Excel, refer to the Workshare Professional User Guide.

This is how changes could be presented in the comparison:


Note: Inserted cells, deleted cells and direct changes are always highlighted. Indirect changes are highlighted by default, but you can toggle them on and off by using the Hide Indirect Highlights button in the Home ribbon.

When a cell contains multiple changes

In some cases, a cell contains more than one type of change and is highlighted with the color of priority (details below). You can view all changes in a cell by selecting the cell.

Priorities for direct and indirect changes

If a cell contains direct changes and indirect changes, the direct change takes priority and the cell is highlighted the color for direct changes. 

Priorities for inserted and deleted cells

In cases where an inserted or deleted row intersects an inserted or deleted column, changes are displayed as follows:

• If an inserted column intersects with an inserted row, the cell displays as inserted:

• If an inserted column intersects with a deleted row, the cell displays as deleted:

• If a deleted column intersects with an inserted row, the cell displays as deleted:

• If a deleted column intersects with a deleted row, the cell displays as deleted: