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Overview
Compare Data Sources Screen
The Compare Data Sources is used to see differences between two specified data sources and all their objects like Business Areas, Folders, Fields, Joins and Joins conditions and all their properties.
It also allows users to copy/merge differences from one data source to another and/or delete unnecessary objects to match the other data source.
The screenshots below show a comparison of two data sources: “CMiC Default Data Source v1” and “CMiC Default Data Source v2”. The differences are highlighted in red font.
Controls
Compare Data Sources Screen’s Controls
Left Data Source, Right Data Source
Select data sources to compare.
Match By
Specify how to match objects for comparison. Available options are “Object” and “Name”.
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Object: Data Source items will be matched using corresponding database objects.
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Name: Data Source items will be matched using their names only. This mode allows users to check if there are folders or fields with the same name that point to different database objects.
[Compare] – Button
Press this button to compare data sources. A message displaying comparison results will be displayed next to the button.
View Mode
Controls what information to display in the right screen section. Options available are “Folders” or “Joins”.
Diffs Only – Checkbox
When checked, only items that contain differences will be shown.
Editing
Available options are “Enabled” and “Disabled”. When editing is enabled, users will be able to apply changes from one data source to another.
[Save], [Revert] – Buttons
When data sources are modified, press either [Save] to apply the changes or [Revert] to remove all unsaved changes.
Compare Folder Joins
Comparing Folder Joins in the Compare Data Sources Screen
To compare joins, select “Joins” in the View Mode field’s drop-down menu.
Joins are sorted alphabetically by default. However, in order to make it easier to see joins that are “not equal”, they will always appear first in the list. Users can change how the joins are sorted by clicking on the sorting arrows in the column headers.
Editing
Users can merge differences from one data source to another.
By default, Editing mode is disabled to prevent unexpected modifications. To allow data sources modifications, switch the Editing field from “Disabled” to “Enabled” in the drop-down menu.
Editing is only allowed when the Match By field is set to “Object” using the drop-down menu.
When Editing mode is enabled, the Right panel will have Arrow buttons (
and
) that are used to copy or merge Properties, Fields, Folders, Business Areas, or Joins from one data source to another.
Copy Properties
This section contains examples of copying properties for fields.
Copy Field Properties
Copying Fields in Compare Data Sources Screen
The screenshot above shows an example of copying field properties.
Copy Calculated Field Properties
Copying Calculated Fields in Compare Data Sources Screen
The screenshot above shows an example of copying calculated field properties. Calculated fields are always matched by name to allow calculation updates.
Copy Missing Objects or Delete Obsolete Objects
Copying Missing Objects or Deleting Obsolete Objects in the Compare Data Sources Screen
The screenshot above shows an example of copying missing objects or deleting obsolete objects for fields.
Merge Folders/Business Areas or Entire Data Source
Users can merge differences from one object to another including all its children.
NOTE: The merging process will never delete obsolete objects. Obsolete objects can only be deleted one by one.
For example:
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Merging a Folder: All folder’s fields and joins will also be merged.
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Merging a Business Area: All business area’s folders will also be merged.
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Merging an Entire Data Source: All business areas and their folders will be merged.
To merge objects, use the buttons shown in the screenshot below, which shows an example of merging folders.
Merging Folders in Compare Data Sources Screen
Copy Joins
Copying Joins in Compare Data Sources Screen
The screenshot above shows an example of copying joins in the Compare Data Sources screen.
Delete Obsolete Joins
Deleting Obsolete Joins in Compare Data Sources Screen
The screenshot above shows an example of deleting obsolete joins in the Compare Data Sources screen.
System Privileges
Depending on their system privileges, some users won’t be able to modify joins, calculated fields, etc. In this case, the Merge functionality will still merge all possible objects but will skip objects that current user is not allowed to update.
Compare Context Variables
Comparing Context Variables in the Compare Data Sources Screen
The Compare Data Sources screen also allows you to compare context variables, as shown in the screenshot above.