Solving File Conflicts

Hex Editor Neo watches for changes in each file opened in shared mode. It is able to detect the following change types: deletion, modification and renaming.

By default, rename change detection is switched off, as it may interfere with a way several applications modify files. Imagine the following scenario:

You open a file A in Hex Editor Neo and some application B. You then make a change to a file in application B and save it. Application B follows this algorithm:

It creates a temporary file T and writes the full copy of A (with changes made) into it from its memory.
It renames the original file A into file C.
It renames the temporary file T into file A.
It deletes the file C.

If rename change detection is ON, Hex Editor Neo catches it on the step 2, renames the document and then catches the delete notification on step 4, thus effectively missing actual file modification made on step 3. That is why this option is turned OFF by default. You may turn in on in the General Settings page using the option “Ignore renames of shared opened files”.

Rename Change Notification

When a shared file is renamed and “Ignore renames of shared opened files” option is ON, Hex Editor Neo automatically renames all opened editor windows for the file. No notifications are presented to the user.

Delete Change Notification

When a shared file is deleted, Hex Editor Neo presents a window with two options:

Discard all changes and close the file.: Automatically discard all changes you made to a file (if there are any) and close a file. Use this option if you intentionally deleted a file and are not going to work with it anymore.
Continue working with a file.: Continue working with a file. Note that Hex Editor Neo stops watching for file modifications if you select this option. So, if another application creates a file with a same name in a same folder, Hex Editor Neo will not detect it.

Modify Change Notification

When a shared file is modified, Hex Editor Neo presents one of two windows, depending on whether you have made modifications in the editor or not. Your further actions are described in the following table:

Change type	There are no modifications in Hex Editor Neo	There are modifications in Hex Editor Neo
File's size is unchanged	Ignore changes Close the file Update the file	Retain all changes and do not update the file Discard all changes and close the file Discard all changes and update the file Retain all changes and update the file (changes are merged into the new version)
File's size is changed	Ignore changes Close the file Update the file	Retain all changes and do not update the file Discard all changes and close the file Discard all changes and update the file Retain all changes and update the file (requires “Highlight changes in the file” option also be set to ON; changes are retained in old version)

The following table briefly describes each option:

Ignore changes: Hex Editor Neo ignores any changes made by another application.
Retain all changes and do not update the file: Hex Editor Neo ignores any changes made by another application. All changes made in Hex Editor Neo are retained.
Close the file: Immediately close the file in Hex Editor Neo.
Discard all changes and close the file: Discard any changes and close the file in Hex Editor Neo.
Update the file: Update the file in Hex Editor Neo to reflect changes made by another application.
Discard all changes and update the file: Discard all changes made in Hex Editor Neo and load changes made by another application.
Retain all changes and update the file: Load changes made by another application but also retain local changes.

Note that if another application changes the shared file's size and you select the “Retain all changes and update the file” option, the “Highlight changes in the file” option must also be selected (it is done automatically).

Highlighting Changes in the File

If you select one of the “update” options, an option to highlight changes in a file becomes available. It automatically performs a file comparison between the old and new versions of the shared file. Both algorithms, Simple Compare Algorithm and Diff Compare Algorithm are provided.

When you check this option, Hex Editor Neo renames the current document and opens a new version of the file. It then instructs the File Compare module to compare them and highlight their differences. An option “Close older versions of the file” will instruct Hex Editor Neo to close older versions used in previous comparisons.

Note that older versions are not backed up by an actual file, but nevertheless are normal documents which can be edited, saved and so on.

Notes

Please note that Hex Editor Neo may be unable to detect a file change if too many files in the file's folder are modified at the same time.