Comparing Specifications and Objects

From the specification's Structure View page, you can use the Structure Compare feature to compare objects from the same specification or from another specification. You can select both objects for comparison from the current listing, or just select one and use Structure Compare to select the other.

You choose the baseline object and the attributes you want to compare. The resulting comparison report will shows the content of the compared items with all differences marked in red. You can use the comparison report to perform a line-by-line sync of objects.


Before you begin:

View a specification in Structure View. See Using Structure View for a Specification.

  1. Check one object. Use Structure Compare to select the other object for comparison.

    Or

    Check two objects. Use Structure Compare to compare the selected objects.

    The first object checked is the baseline object for the comparison.

  2. From the page Actions menu, select Structure Compare.



    In this example, the baseline selection is Object 1.

  3. Complete the remaining Structure Compare Criteria options.

    Object 2. Verify the current selection, or click to select an item for comparison.

    Matched Based On. These fields identify which column must be used as the criteria for matching data at each level. Choose up to three columns. The criteria selected here will cause the same criteria in the Compare By area to be grayed out. If a level is set to None, then any lower levels will also be set to None. Options: None, Revision, Type, Classification, Title, Description, Priority, Content Text.

    Compare By. These fields identify column data that you want to find a match for in both objects. These are the compare columns in the table. You can select one or more columns to compare.

    Expand Level. Select the number of levels in the specification you want to see expanded in the report.

    Compare Mode. Specifies the kind of report that needs to be generated. Options: Complete Summary, Difference Only Report, Unique to Left Report, Unique to Right Report, Common Components Report.

  4. Click Done.



    Note: Sub and derived requirements may be included or excluded from the comparsion based on the preferences set in Choose Specification Structure.

    The compared criteria are highlighted in red. Refer to the table for additional highlights. The baseline selection is on the left and the other selection is on the right.

    Color

    Description

    Red

    Highlights columns which are being compared in the report.

    Yellow

    Indicates the row is unique and not present in the other selection.

    Blue

    Indicates a particular field value is different from a field value in the other selection

  5. Use these steps to synchronize objects in the listing:

    1. Check the object you want to synchronize.
    2. From the page toolbar, click Sync To Left .

      Or

      From the page toolbar, click Sync To Right.

    3. From the page toolbar, click Apply to make the changes permanent.

      Or

      From the page toolbar, click Reset to cancel the changes.

  6. Click Close.