There are only a few things that can be done mathematically with total differentials. They are:
Algebra: You can perform algebra on differentials, but you may not divide by a differential.
Interpret: If you have an equation for a differential, expressed in terms of differentials of variables that are independent of each other, you can interpret the factors in front of the differentials as partial derivatives.
Integrate: A differential can be integrated to find a finite change in that variable, this requires selecting a path as one would when taking a line integral.