Compare Modules

Description of GUI and options

Start Menu Path: Module Menu  / Configuration Mgt / Compare Modules

Function: The Compare Modules tool allows the user to insert a DXL layout column in the view of the current module that shows the comparison results of the current module with another module or baseline. Additionally, it lets you view the differences between the module attribute values of two modules. 

The options have the following meaning:

The Comparison Columns 

There are some good-to-know facts about the comparison columns:

Tips for Configuring the comparison

In each configuration activity, the user has the option to select how they want the comparison performed. This provides flexibility as to how the capabilities are applied and enables both usage in conjunction with the branching tools or with legacy databases. 

The comparison method must be chosen depending on the target module. There must be a way of matching the objects of the two modules in a unique way. Modules that do not share any common identifier cannot be compared. A compare by content feature is planned but not yet implemented. As a workaround, one can use the "Compare Wizard" of DOORS to let DOORS create a 1:1 links between similar objects. Using these links, the comparison results can be evaluated using the BranchManager compare. Note however that the "Compare Wizard" of DOORS will not yield usable results in all cases. 

To filter on the objects that have changes, DOORS allows to specify a filter on the created DXL layout columns. Hint: To filter on non empty column values use the regular expression '.' (without quotes) on the filter dialog, which means it contains at least one character. 

Note that the comparison can also be used while performing an Integration or a Quick Merge to gather more information about the changes. Whenever performing compares, a user can add multiple columns with each representing a different comparison configurations. This supports comparing multiple branches at the same time when reviewing possible changes to merge.

In a hierarchical requirement structure, with modules linked to each other, it might be necessary to show the differences of two modules in a module on a lower hierarchy level. In this case it is advisable to copy the differences to an attribute, edit them to remove unimportant differences (like commas changing, formatting changes, etc.) and then use the DOORS Analysis Wizard to show the differences in the lower hierarchy module.

Comparison Refresh

The comparison refresh will update all comparison columns. This is valuable since your module is still editable while viewing the comparison. So as you perform changes you can update the set of comparison statuses to revisit.


Copy Layout DXL to attribute

Copy Layout DXL To Attribute Dialog

This little helper tool can be started using the "Copy Layout DXL To Attribute" module menu. It allows copying the contents of any DXL layout colum (not only compare columns!) to an attribute. In the 'Attribute Name' field, the name of an attribute can be entered. The tool will try to create the attribute if it does not exist yet. To not disturb change bars and history, this attribute will be created by default without affecting history, change bars and modification dates. Be careful with global operations on attributes since it can lead to all change bars flipping to 'changed', make all links suspect, etc. Also note that the Copy Layout To Attribute tool will overwrite the contents of an existing attribute.