Revision Control: Principle

Project revision is intended to identify changes to a project as compared with a specific project status. You can mark the changes in the revision project using Change tracking or use the property comparison of projects to compare the current project with a reference project.

A change to a page or layout space is detected when the print of a page or layout space visibly differs from the last version. A change to the project is detected when (visible or invisible) data, such as device properties or part numbers, are changed. The corresponding report pages are then visibly different. The data changes to be recognized as a new revision status for a reference project can be configured in revision control.

Revision projects, completed projects and reference projects are displayed in the page navigator in exactly the same way as other projects. In addition, the project status is indicated by an icon in the tree view:

Icon	Meaning
	Completed project / reference project. A completed project or reference project is normally write-protected and cannot be changed or deleted.
	Edited revision project.

Generate revision projects

A revision project is an editable project with change tracking. It is generated using Utilities > Revision control > Change tracking > Generate revision. The original *.elk project is saved with the file name extension *.ell.

Generate reference projects

A reference project is a write-protected copy of a project at a particular time. It is saved with the file name extension *.elr and is therefore a completed project. The original *.elk project is retained when a reference project is generated. A copy of the project is also created as a completed *.elr project. The creator and the creation date of the reference project are automatically saved as project properties.

There are two ways of generating a reference project:

Manually via the menu items Utilities > Revision control > Property comparison of projects > Generate reference project. You continue to work in the original project, and at some point in time you run a comparison with the reference project.
Automatically when generating a revision of a completed project. To do so the Generate reference project when new revision of completed project is created option must be selected in the project settings under the menu items Options > Settings > Projects > "Project name" > Management > Revision (change tracking).

Edit revision projects

As soon as you make changes to a page in a revision project, it is marked as a "draft". This is shown visually with a watermark on the page, and the page is assigned the Page in draft mode property. This mark is retained until you complete the page.

The position of the watermark can be freely defined. To do so use the menu items Insert > Special text > Watermark (revision control) to place a special text that automatically lies on the appropriate layer in the plot frame editor, and then format it. If EPLAN then activates this watermark on a page, then the special text is searched for first and it's properties are adopted. If no formatting is specified, then the watermark is placed in the middle of the page. (You define the text to be used for the watermark in the settings under the menu item Options > Settings > Projects > "Project name" > Management > Revision (change tracking).)

If you move the cursor over a changed object in a revision project, then a tooltip is displayed containing information about the revision. To make modified objects easier to find, they are shown on the page using graphical markers.

Inserting of pages or page macros with revision data

The revision data belong to the information that is entered automatically or manually when pages, projects or defined working sections are completed, , for example reason for change, revision name, revision index, revision created by, revision date, etc. The revision data are displayed in the page properties and in the dialog Edit revision data and are output in the revision overviews.

When you copy and paste pages from revision projects or insert page macros that contain revision data, their revision data and revision markers can optionally be retained or deleted. The desired behavior is specified by using the user setting Retain revision data and revision markers during inserting (menu path: Options > Settings > User > Display > General).