Rational Programming Patterns

Comparison results

The results of the comparison are displayed in the compare editor. The differences are highlighted so that you can browse through them and copy them.

The comparison is based on the reference resource and detects the changes that are carried out in the compared resource. The reference resource, which is displayed on the right in the compare editor, is automatically set according to the following rules:
  • In a comparison in the history, the display is chronological. The version of the server or of the local history constitutes the reference version. The most recent version constitutes the compared version. The reference version is in a read-only mode.
  • In a comparison between instances, the chronology is not taken into account. The reference instance is the second instance in the alphabetical order. If you modified this instance, the comparison is then reversed. For example, if you added a keyword in this instance, the compare editor considers this addition as a deletion since this keyword does not exist in the first instance in the alphabetical order. If this display does not suit your needs, you can redirect the comparison by swapping the two instances. To do so, click Swap left / right in the compare editor toolbar.
The display and selection in the two resources are synchronized. When you select a change in the Structural changes view, the location of this change in the compared resource and in the reference resource is automatically selected in the detail view. Likewise, a selection in the detail view is automatically reflected in the Structural changes view.
Note: For a design comparison, you must display the attributes (Show attributes in the compare editor toolbar) when you select a change that was detected in the attributes. Likewise, the composition must be displayed (Show composition) when you select a change that was detected in the composition.

If an attribute was changed, it is highlighted in the detail view. A link connects this attribute in the two resources.

If an element was added or deleted in the instance composition, the corresponding line is highlighted in the detail view. A link connects the locations where the element was added or deleted in the two resources.

Some changes can be displayed as conflicting in the Structural changes view. You can then display a three-way comparison. See the explanations that are given in the link on the three-way comparisons.

The compare editor behaves differently according to the field that was changed in the instance composition. For some fields, it considers that the corresponding line was changed. For other fields, it considers that the line was deleted in the reference instance and created again in the compared instance. For more explanations, see the link on the columns and fields that are responsible for the deletion and creation of lines in the compare editor.


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