The workbench includes a powerful tool that graphically displays all the differences between two projects. This tools is highly useful when managing various versions of a project and quickly highlights changes for better diagnostic and maintenance.
The project comparison tool is launched from the Windows Start menu, in the Workbench group, by the "Compare projects" command. You must specify the full qualified pathname of each project, and optionnally select the following options:
- "Ignore case": When this option is checked, the comparison
ignores differences due to the case of texts.
- "Ignore comments": When this option is checked, all comment texts
are removed before comparison.
- "Ignore white spaces": When this option is checked, the
comparison ignores all additional white spaces and end of line
characters in text files.
- "Ignore diagram presentation": When this option is checked, the
tool compare only the logic of charts and diagrams. Presentation
changes (such as moving a part of a diagram) are ignored.
- "Sort variables": When this option is checked, the comparison
does not take care of the order used for variable declaration.
In addition to those options, you can select the format you wish for viewing declaration of variables:
- IEC syntax
- XML text
- CSV text
Press the "OK" button to start the comparison. When processing is complete, a special viewer enables you two explore the projects and highlights difference. The following items are compared:
- programs
- variable declarations
- definitions (#define statements)
- project options
Texts written in blak means that items are identical. Differences are written in red on grey background.
A line written in red on white background means that this item contains differences. Double click on the item to show details. Then you can click on the "<<" button to go back to the upper level.
At any moment you can see in the title bar of the window the pathnames of left and right projects. The identification of the item currently displayed is written close to the "<<" button.