Diff (Differences) Command

The Diff command lets you compare the version of a local file in the CMS Explorer and a previous generation or variant generation of the file in the CMS Library. The IDE provides a two-pane, color-coded viewer that enables you to compare revisions of version-controlled files side by side.

Command Dialog Options

To see differences in file versions

    1. In Explorer [Filesystems], select one or more mounted files that have been added to a CMS library, then right-click the selection and choose CMS from the context menu.
    2. From the CMS menu, select Diff (Differences).
      Note Diff'ing a file implicitly saves the file if you have it open for editing and you have modified it.
    3. Choose from the following options:

      CMS generation (optional)
      Leave this field blank if you want to compare the local working file with the most recently reserved or replaced main-line version. If you want to compare the local working file with another version of the file in the CMS library, specify its generation or variant generation.

      Prompt for Input on Each Successive File
      Select this option if you want to select different generations or variant generations to compare with each file.



      If there are no differences in the compared files, a message box appears:



      If differences exist in one or more files, the output is shown with one tab for each file - the current version on the right side:


      The CMS library file appears on the left (a variant generation in this case), and the local working file on the right

Click the scrollbar to scroll both panes simultaneously.

Click the Next button and the Previous button to navigate to each line difference.

Differences are color-coded as follows:

Changed lines are highlighted in blue
Added lines are highlighted in green
Removed lines are highlighted in red

Diff'ing Form Nodes

When you diff a Java form node, the first tab shows the differences in the .java file and the second tab shows the differences in the .form file (as in the above illustration).