Revision mode not showing deletions

[mrobbins]

Hello,

Pardon me if this has been asked. I wasn’t able to find a solution.

I am collaborating with an editor who is marking my text. I can see his additions in red in revision mode but not his deletions. How can I see them?

Version: 3.1.1.0 (1463331) 64-bit - 03 Nov 2021
Windows 10, Version 21H2, Build 19044.1466

Thank You,
Michael

[Vincent_Vincent]

I don’t think that revision mode allows that. You’ll have to use the comparison feature for snapshots ; comparing a snapshot of your text from before with one of what your collaborator sent you back.
It’ll show you in red (and strike-through) what was deleted, and in blue (+ underlined) what was added. Unmodified text in plain black.

You can even copy/paste the comparison’s result to a document if you wish, the colors and strike-through etc. will follow.

[JimRac]

Hi @mrobbins,

Revision mode doesn’t retain deletions. From the Scriv manual, section 18.6:

Limitations
Revision levels are not to be considered equivalent to “track changes”, as
seen in version controlled software, or Microsoft Word. They are very
simple, low bandwidth tools, that only mark modified or new text. Removed
text will not be marked in any way. If you wish to track all changes
between a document and its revised state, take a look at the snapshot feature
(section 15.8).

Next time, instead of actually deleting the text, have your editor use strikethrough to indicate deletion.

Best,
Jim

[AmberV]

To add to the above, when revision mode is enabled, overstrike on text will use the correct colour, and will be found when stepping through revision markings.

Struck-through text isn’t deleted, but there is a compile option to strip them out, and a command in Edit ▸ Text Tidying to delete struck-through text in the editor.

[mrobbins]

Thank you very much!

For those who are having difficulty following the thread. The solution I am using is:

1. Go to the text that you want to update
2. Display the Inspector Pane (Alt-Shift-I)
3. Pres the + sign near the word “Snapshots” in the pane.
4. Copy the new text over the old text
5. Press the + sign near the word “Snapshots” again.
6. Highlight the two snapshots (under the heading Date and Title).
7. Press the “Compare” button underneath the word “Snapshots” and above the heading “Title.”
8. Look at the bottom of the Inspector panel to see the changes.

[AmberV]

One point of optimisation to the list, if you are mainly looking at one revision cycle here, then you should only need to create one snapshot, to record the text in the state you left it in, paste in your editor’s work and that’s all you need. If you select that one snapshot by itself and click the Compare button it compares with the current text in the editor.

[mrobbins]

Thank you. I have files nested in files. (heading level 1, heading level 2, etc.). When I click on a different file, the snapshot does not appear there. That is why I wrote to create a new baseline snapshot for each file. Am I doing something wrong?

[Vincent_Vincent]

@AmberV

If you select that one snapshot by itself and click the Compare button it compares with the current text in the editor.

Hey, that’s great. Good to know

[drmajorbob]

@mrobbins

Am I doing something wrong?

No. Snapshots are not all they’re cracked up to be IMHO:

Snapshots after merging

Another reason I don’t sing the praises of the snapshot feature (or use it). When I want to make major edits to a chapter, I duplicate the chapter (one step for the folder, its children, and attached metadata). I can give the original a distinctive name, mark it not to compile, split the Editor and view it side-by-side (or up-down) with the new version, etc. Snapshots don’t preserve children or any metadata, two of Scrivener’s most important features.

Snapshots after merging

Thanks, Vincent_Vincent for investigating. I was not using any of the auto-snapshot features. Timestamps wouldn’t have been a factor – and I would think that Scrivener is capable of indexing distinct snaps even when they are presented to us in a list with the same name and timestamp. These were all manual snapshots I made ahead of a series of document merges. I had even tested before, to confirm that it would work as expected. Notes and Synopses, too. Those two seem ok. But I had not tested f…

[mrobbins]

Sorry, please disregard the previous message. I misunderstood. Thank you. That way I only have to make one snapshot that is better.

Thanks for the help!