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NoteMulti-target comparison is supported for Microsoft Word documents, Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and OpenDocument presentations.
GroupDocs.Comparison can compare a source document against more than two targets in a single operation. Call add() for every target before calling compare().
- Instantiate a
Comparerwith the source document path or stream. - Call
add()for each target document. Repeat for every target. - Call
compare()and specify the result file path or output stream.
from groupdocs.comparison import Comparer
def compare_multiple_documents():
with Comparer("./source.docx") as comparer:
comparer.add("./target1.docx")
comparer.add("./target2.docx")
comparer.add("./target3.docx")
comparer.compare("./result.docx")
print("Documents compared successfully. Result saved to result.docx.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
compare_multiple_documents()
source.docx is the source file used in this example. Click here to download it.
target1.docx is a target file used in this example. Click here to download it.
target2.docx is a target file used in this example. Click here to download it.
target3.docx is a target file used in this example. Click here to download it.
Binary file (DOCX, 25 KB)
The result is as follows:
For workflows that don’t use the local file system, use streams for both inputs and the result:
from groupdocs.comparison import Comparer
def compare_multiple_documents_stream():
with open("./source.docx", "rb") as src, \
open("./target1.docx", "rb") as t1, \
open("./target2.docx", "rb") as t2, \
open("./target3.docx", "rb") as t3:
with Comparer(src) as comparer:
comparer.add(t1)
comparer.add(t2)
comparer.add(t3)
with open("./result.docx", "wb") as out_stream:
comparer.compare(out_stream)
if __name__ == "__main__":
compare_multiple_documents_stream()
source.docx is the source file used in this example. Click here to download it.
target1.docx is a target file used in this example. Click here to download it.
Binary file (DOCX, 25 KB)
Pass a CompareOptions instance to customize how the comparison is rendered — for example, to highlight inserted items in a specific colour.
from groupdocs.comparison import Comparer, Color
from groupdocs.comparison.options import CompareOptions, StyleSettings
def compare_multiple_documents_settings():
with Comparer("./source.docx") as comparer:
comparer.add("./target1.docx")
comparer.add("./target2.docx")
comparer.add("./target3.docx")
options = CompareOptions()
options.inserted_item_style = StyleSettings()
options.inserted_item_style.font_color = Color.from_name("yellow")
comparer.compare("./result.docx", options)
if __name__ == "__main__":
compare_multiple_documents_settings()
source.docx is the source file used in this example. Click here to download it.
target1.docx is a target file used in this example. Click here to download it.
Binary file (DOCX, 25 KB)
When the source or target documents are password-protected, supply the password through a LoadOptions object when constructing the Comparer and when calling add().
from groupdocs.comparison import Comparer
from groupdocs.comparison.options import LoadOptions
def compare_multiple_documents_protected():
source_load = LoadOptions()
source_load.password = "1234"
with Comparer("./source_protected.docx", source_load) as comparer:
for target, password in (
("./target_protected.docx", "5678"),
("./target2_protected.docx", "5678"),
("./target3_protected.docx", "5678"),
):
load_opts = LoadOptions()
load_opts.password = password
comparer.add(target, load_opts)
comparer.compare("./result.docx")
if __name__ == "__main__":
compare_multiple_documents_protected()
source_protected.docx is a password-protected source file. Click here to download it.
target_protected.docx is a password-protected target file. Click here to download it.
target2_protected.docx is a password-protected target file. Click here to download it.
target3_protected.docx is a password-protected target file. Click here to download it.
Binary file (DOCX, 25 KB)
- Compare documents — single-target comparison.
- Customize changes styles — full control over how changes are rendered.
- Load password-protected documents — single-document password handling.
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