In the Schema Editor, you can compare schemas, tool map schemas, and data files. When you perform a full comparison, the Schema Editor compares every object, relationship, and property in the file that is already open in the Schema Editor with the objects, relationships, and properties in the second file you select.
When you do a full comparison of two files, you can choose whether you want to display the comparison results alone, the instructions, or both the comparison results and instructions.
Full Comparison Results
Comparison results appear in Notepad for viewing. The comparison results list the objects that appear in one file, but not the other, and the objects that are different in the two files.
For example, the following graphic shows what full comparison results might look like:
To perform a full comparison and review comparison results, do the following:
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Open the file to which you want to compare another file.
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Click File > Compare with File > File Type > Full Comparison > Display Results.
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Browse to the file that you want to compare to the file you opened previously.
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Select the folder where you want the software to store the comparison results file, and then click X to close the dialog box.
When the comparison is complete, the results appear in Notepad.
After you do a full comparison, you can review the instructions that would be generated
by the software if one file superseded the other. You can review these comparison
instructions using the appropriate Instructions command on the View menu. For example, to view schema instructions, click View > Schema Instructions > Tree/Table.
Viewing Comparison Instructions
You can also choose to view the instructions generated when you compare two files. These instructions are a set of instruction objects that define the changes necessary to go from the file you selected for comparison to the file you opened first in the Schema Editor. These modification instructions define what would happen in one of the authoring tools when one file is superseded by the other. When you choose to view instructions, the View File Type Instructions dialog box appears to allow you to select the view in which you want to display the instructions.
For every object that exists in the second file that is not in the first file, the software creates a Delete instruction object. The software creates an Insert instruction object for every object that exists in the first file that is not in the second file. An Update instruction object is created for every object that exists in both files but that has differences in interfaces and/or properties.
To perform a full comparison and review comparison instructions, do the following:
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Open the file to which you want to compare another file.
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Click File > Compare with File > File Type > Full Comparison > Display Instructions.
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Browse to the file that you want to compare to the file you opened previously.
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In the View File Type Instructions dialog box, click the view in which you want to display the instructions.
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Click OK.
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You can also view instructions after a full compare by clicking View > Schema Instructions, View > Data Instructions, or View > Tool Schema Instructions.
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You can save instructions by clicking File > Save > [FileType] Instructions, where [FileType] is the type of file for which you want to save instructions. For example, to save data instructions, click Data Instructions on the Save submenu.
Viewing Both Comparison Results and Instructions
You can also choose to view both comparison results and instructions. When you view both, the comparison results appear in Notepad and the View File Type Instructions dialog box appears to allow you to select the view for the instructions.
To perform a full comparison and review both comparison results and instructions, do the following:
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Open the file to which you want to compare another file.
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Click File > Compare with File > File Type > Full Comparison > Display Both.
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Browse to the file that you want to compare to the file you opened previously.
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Select the folder where you want the software to store the comparison results file, and then click X to close the dialog box.
When the comparison is complete, the results appear in Notepad.
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In the View File Type Instructions dialog box, click the view in which you want to display the comparison instructions.
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Click OK.
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You can also view comparison instructions after a full compare by clicking View > Schema Instructions, View > Data Instructions, or View > Tool Schema Instructions.
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You can save instructions by clicking File > Save > [FileType] Instructions, where [FileType] is the type of file for which you want to save instructions. For example, to save data instructions, click Data Instructions on the Save submenu.