XML Merge
Merge two XML documents with intelligent conflict resolution. Combine configuration files, consolidate API responses, and merge data from multiple sources with customizable merge strategies and detailed conflict reporting.
Merge Strategy
Recommended Settings
Merge Strategies
- •Use 'Prefer right' when XML 2 contains overrides (production configs over base)
- •Use 'Prefer left' when XML 1 is authoritative (master data over updates)
- •Enable deep merge for nested configuration files with multiple levels
- •Append arrays for logs/events, replace for config overrides, merge for unique lists
Best Practices
- •Validate both XMLs are well-formed before merging
- •Review conflict report to understand what was changed
- •Test merged output in target system before deployment
- •Use consistent merge strategy across environment configs
Pro Tips
- •Conflict report shows exact paths where values differed and which was chosen
- •Deep merge recursively combines nested elements at all levels
- •Combine attributes merges attributes from both documents intelligently
- •Download merged result for version control or deployment pipelines
Most Popular
Most users prefer right with deep merge enabled for production config overrides
When to Use This Tool
Merge environment-specific configuration files with base configurations. Perfect for combining development, staging, and production configs where you have a base config and environment-specific overrides. Common use cases include Spring application.xml, web.config, app.config, Maven pom.xml, and Android AndroidManifest.xml files. Resolves conflicts automatically based on your chosen strategy.
Recommended: DevOps & Config Management
Combine multiple SOAP/XML API responses into a single consolidated document. Essential for integration scenarios where you need to aggregate data from multiple web services into one response. Useful in banking systems (account + transaction data), travel booking (flight + hotel), telecom billing (usage + charges), or any multi-source XML data aggregation scenario.
Recommended: API Integration
Merge XML data from multiple sources during ETL pipelines or data migration projects. Combine customer data from different systems, consolidate product catalogs from various vendors, or merge split XML modules back into a single comprehensive file. Handles array concatenation and attribute merging intelligently based on your merge strategy.
Recommended: Data Engineering
How It Works
Paste or type first XML document into 'XML 1 (Base)' field
Paste or type second XML document into 'XML 2 (Override)' field
Tool validates both XML inputs using real XML parser
Select conflict resolution strategy: prefer left, prefer right, or combine
Choose array handling: append (combine all), replace (use XML 2), or merge (unique)
Configure options: combine attributes, deep merge, preserve comments
Click 'Merge XML' to perform intelligent 2-way merge
Review merge statistics and conflict report showing all resolved conflicts
Examine merged output with proper XML formatting
Copy to clipboard or download as merged.xml file
100% Private
Files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.
Lightning Fast
Powered by Client-side JavaScript with xml-js library and intelligent merge algorithms for optimal performance on modern browsers.
Open Source
Built with verified, open-source libraries. Fully transparent.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'Conflict resolution' mean?
When both XML documents have the same element with different values, a conflict occurs. 'Prefer left' keeps values from XML 1, 'Prefer right' keeps values from XML 2 (default), and 'Combine' attempts to merge both values when possible. The conflict report shows all detected conflicts and how they were resolved. This is crucial when merging configs where you want production values to override base values.
How does array handling work?
When both XMLs contain arrays with the same name, array handling determines the merge behavior. 'Append' combines all items from both arrays, 'Replace' uses only items from XML 2, and 'Merge' combines arrays while removing duplicates. Choose based on your needs: append for logs/events, replace for config overrides, merge for unique item lists.
What is deep merge vs shallow merge?
Deep merge (enabled by default) recursively merges nested objects and elements at all levels of the XML structure. Shallow merge only combines top-level elements. Deep merge is recommended for complex configuration files where you want granular control over nested elements. Disable it only when you want to replace entire sections rather than merge their contents.
Should I combine attributes or override them?
When enabled, 'Combine attributes' merges attributes from both XML documents, with XML 2 attributes taking precedence if there are duplicates. When disabled, XML 2 attributes completely replace XML 1 attributes. Combine is useful when both documents add complementary attributes. Override is better when XML 2 represents a complete replacement of configuration.
Can I merge more than two XML documents?
Currently, the tool merges two XML documents at a time (2-way merge). To merge three or more documents, perform sequential merges: first merge XML 1 and XML 2, then merge the result with XML 3, and so on. You can download the merged result after each step and use it as input for the next merge operation. This approach gives you control over merge order and conflict resolution at each step.
Is my XML data safe and private?
Yes! All XML merging happens entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your XML documents are never sent to any server, uploaded anywhere, or stored remotely. The xml-js library and all processing run 100% locally, ensuring complete privacy and security for your sensitive configuration files, API responses, or proprietary business data.