This chapter provides overviews of Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne FDA Compare and its color scheme, and discusses how to use FDA Compare.
This chapter contains the following topics:
The FDA Compare tool in Oracle's JD Edwards EnterpriseOne Form Design Aid (FDA) enables you to compare one version of an application to another. You can compare them on the application level to determine whether forms have been added, deleted, or rearranged and whether the properties have changed. You also can compare the forms in the applications to each other to see whether controls have been added, deleted, or rearranged and whether the properties have changed.
Additionally, you can compare two different applications as well. This feature is useful when you have made a new application by copying an existing one and then modifying it. Then, when you upgrade, you can not only compare the base application to its new counterpart, but also you can compare a custom application.
While working with the target object, you can use all FDA functions except creating new forms. While comparing, you can change the target object to match the source object. If an object exists in the source but not in the target, you can copy it to the target. If an object exists in both but is different in some way, you can merge the specifications from the source to the target to make them identical.
As a software developer, you might use FDA Compare as the final step before checking in the changes to ensure that you made all of the changes you intended to make. In this way, you can also make sure that you did not move a control or make a property change unintentionally.
As an administrator, you might use FDA Compare to see the changes between a software update and the pristine or current implementation. If you have performed a number of customized modifications, you can more carefully implement the software changes without fear of ruining the customization.
FDA Compare uses colors and letters to highlight the differences between the source and target objects. This table lists the default colors and their meanings:
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Black | The object exists in both the source and target and is the same in both versions. |
| Red | The object exists in both the source and target but is not the same in both versions. |
| Green | The object exists only in the target. |
| Blue | The object exists only in the source. |
In the form workspace, the controls that differ between the versions are marked with a symbol in a color indicating the type of change. When you click a control, the browsers highlight the changes in specific property values with the same color coding. To change the color scheme, select View, User Options.
Note:
Nodes in the Application Tree View browser appear in a color if one or more of their children are different. Therefore, while the node itself may not be different, you will find that an object is different when you navigate deeper into the tree.This section discusses how to merge specifications using FDA Compare.
| Form Name | FormID | Navigation | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select Source Object | NA | Form Design Aid, File, Compare Mode | Enable or disable compare mode (toggle). When you enable compare mode, the system prompts you to identify the application that you want to use as the basis for the comparison. |
To merge specifications using FDA Compare:
In FDA, open the target application.
This is the application that you have been working on or that your company uses. It is the version of the application that you might want to change when you compare it to the source, which is a base version of the application.
Select a source application (the one to use as the basis for the comparison).
To change the view properties in the source or target property browser, select one of these options from the drop-down menu at the bottom of the pane:
All
Displays all the properties and values in alphabetic order for the object including the translation properties.
Standard
Displays only the standard properties in alphabetic order.
Translation
Displays only the translation properties in alphabetic order.
Compare the source application properties (on the left) to the local target properties (on the right).
To merge properties from the source object to the target object, right-click in the property source property browser and select Merge to Target from the menu.