Differences between two projects are registered by comparing particular properties with one another. In the Compare properties of projects dialog, you can specify which projects will be compared. The properties to be compared are determined in the Settings: Property comparison of projects dialog. If the value of the properties is identical for two projects, then no difference is registered between them.
The result of the comparison is written into a revision results list. This list is stored in the project database of the current project.
Preconditions:
- You have opened a project and a reference project (or any project to be compared with the current project) already exists in the project directory.
- You have specified the maximum number of messages that can be displayed in the Results of property comparison - <Project name> dialog (in the Settings: Revision (property comparison of projects) dialog under Maximum number of displayed results).
- Select the desired project in the page navigator and select the menu item Utilities > Revision control > Property comparison of projects > Compare projects.
- In the Compare properties of projects dialog, select the check box Show only associated reference projects.
Only the write-protected reference projects for the selected project will then be shown in the list. Otherwise, the list will show all of the projects in the project directory (except for the one marked). - In the Compare with list, select the reference project you would like to compare with the currently opened project.
- In the Settings for property comparison field, select the scheme which determines the settings for the comparison. (If you have not stored your own schemes, then only the standard scheme will be offered here. In this case you create a new scheme by specifying comparison settings.)
- In the Revision marker text field, enter the text to be used to mark the revision changes in the properties.
- Activate the check box Set revision marker for deleted objects in reference project if you would like to mark deleted objects in the reference project. However, in this case the reference project must not be write-protected.
- Activate the check box Alternative identification if objects are to be identified according to candidate keys (certain identifying properties) instead of based on their internal object ID. This is handy for automatically generated projects because internal object IDs are reallocated every time.
- Click [OK]. The comparison run is executed and the result of the comparison is written into the revision results list. The dialog Results of property comparison -<Project name> will appear and show you an overview of the results. The changes are shown in the project.
Note:
When you remove the write protection from an associated reference project, it is no longer displayed as an "associated reference project" but is shown in the list of all projects.
Note:
Such a comparison run can take a relatively long time for large projects; this also depends on the number of properties you have selected for comparison. It can therefore make sense to execute runs overnight or on a dedicated computer.
Example:In a project, multiple changes to terminal strips were made and then the corresponding reports were updated (terminal strip overview, terminal diagrams, etc.). You would like to find the changes in the reports by using a property comparison and then make them visible.
To do this, change the scheme for your comparison settings. From the Category drop-down list, select the entry Placeholder texts. Below the "Data" layer, select the property Text contents and move it to the Compare field using the arrow buttons. Select the Include deleted and new objects check box for "placeholder texts". Exclude all other object types completely from the project comparison and also deactivate the check box Include deleted and new objects for the object types in question.
After the property comparison, only the changed locations in the terminal diagrams, terminal connection diagrams, etc., will be marked with the appropriate revision markers.
See also