Can WCopyfind 3.0 compare my documents with those on the web?
Only if you download the web documents onto your computer or establish proper links to them. WCopyfind does not know how to “surf the web” for you. While there are commerical services that explore the web and accumulate vast collections of materials against which they can compare your documents, WCopyfind is a simpler program. It will compare only the documents that you have located and probably downloaded yourself.
What do the numbers and percentages in the “compare documents” reporting area mean?
The first column shows the “total match” — the number of words that match when any imperfections in the matching are overlooked. That word count is then followed by the percentage of File 1 that this word count represents and by the percentage of File 2 that this word count represents. For example, if File 1 is 1000 words long and File 2 is 2000 words long and they contain 100 matching words, this column will read: 100 [10%,5%] because 100 words is 10% of 1000 words and 5% of 2000 words.
The second column shows the “basic match” — the number of words that match when no imperfections in the matching are allowed. The 3 entries are otherwise like those in the first column.
Finally, the two file names are listed: File 1 and File 2.
Can I save a side-by-side comparison somewhere? Can I get that comparison into a word processor somehow?
Yes. When you are viewing a side-by-side comparison in your web browser, you can click File -> Save As to create a new local copy of that comparison. You can then open the newly created comparison in either a browser or a word processor. Once you have opening the comparison in the word processor, you can edit it and save it yet again as a word processor document. You can also cut and paste the comparisons into either word processor documents or a spreadsheet. For example, you can select the enter left comparison file (cntl-A), copy it to the clipboard (cntl-C), and paste it into column A of a spreadsheet (cntl-V). Then do the select the right comparison file (cntl-A), copy it to the clipboard (cntl-C), and paste it into column B of that spreadsheet (cntl-V).
Dear Lou,
Thanks for the design of Wcopyfind. I attempted to use it to analyze two Chinese texts with a large chunk of exactly same words but it failed at last. No matching was identified by this software although I have set the threshold as 2 words for Shortest Phrase to Match. I am wondering how to solve this. Really Look forward to your reply.
With sincerest thanks and best wishes,
Max