Creating Compares

When you create or open a compare, it is displayed on a named tab.

The compare wizard is used to define the parameters and criteria for the compare. The wizard content is organized across Source, Style, Filters, and Columns tabs to guide input. Although the wizard tabs are ordered to gather input in a sequence, you can navigate between any tabs.

To create a compare:

1. On the Home page, select Compare.
2. Click .
3. Optional: Create substitution parameters for the compare to pass in user-defined values to the query filter at run time. See
   1. Click .
   2. Click Add and add Key-Value pairs.

      Note:

      Key-Value pairs cannot use "<%" or "%>" sequentially or an equal sign.

   3. Click OK.
4. Click Source and select the version or version variable for each hierarchy to compare.

   You can select Normal, Baseline, or As-Of versions. The Version list defaults to the Normal versions. To select a Baseline or As-Of version, click Normal under the Version list.

5. For each version, click , and from the Select Node dialog box, select a hierarchy and a top node, and click OK.
6. Select the Style tab and choose the compare type:

   • Visual

   • Structure

   • Property

   • Rename

7. If you selected a visual compare or a property compare, continue to the next step. If you selected another compare type, do the following:

   • Under the compare type, select whether to display differences or similarities.

   • From Join, select a join property.

     By default, compares map nodes from each hierarchy that have the same name. You can also join nodes based on a different property. For example, if a property named SortCode has a unique key in the specified hierarchies, then this property is used to identify differences between nodes having the same SortCode in each hierarchy.

   • From Result Display, select a compare result to display.

     • List — Nodes that match the criteria are returned in a dynamic list.

     • Mark Nodes — Nodes that match the criteria are marked in the hierarchy.

     • Both — Nodes that match the criteria are returned in a dynamic list and marked in the hierarchy.

   • Optional: If you selected Mark Nodes or Both, select Expand to Marked Nodes to automatically open and expand hierarchies with marked nodes.

8. Select the Filter tab and do one of the following:

   • From Inclusion Filter, select a saved query.

   • Define a filter criteria for the compare by doing the following:

     1. Click Add to insert a criteria row.

     2. Select a property and operator, enter a value or substitution parameter for the criteria row, and press Enter to save the row.

        Note:

        Substitution parameter formatting is <%ParamKey%>, where <% and %> are the identifiers that note a runtime substitution variable and ParamKey is the name of the parameter to be used for substitution for example, <%AccountType%>. You can include parentheses to group criteria and to define whether to include inherited values for the property. For operator descriptions see Operator Descriptions.

        Tip:

        Click to modify a row. Click to delete a row. Click the arrows to move a row.

9. From Limb/Leaf Filter, select nodes to include.
10. Select the Columns tab and choose a Category.
11. Select the properties to display as columns in the compare results and move them from Available to Selected.

    Note:

    Column selections are runtime parameters and are not saved with the compare.

    Tip:

    Use the arrows to position the column in the Selected list. The first item in the list is the first column, the second item in the list is the second column, and so on.

12. Optional: Select Include Compare/Filter Properties to automatically include properties referenced in the filter criteria for Property compares.
13. Do any of the following:

    • Click to save the compare.

      You are prompted to define a name, description, and an object access group for the compare. Select a custom group or one of the following:

      • User––Personal objects that are only available to an individual user to view and run.

      • Standard––Public objects that are available to all users to view and run. Only Data Manager users can create and modify standard compares.

      • System––Restricted objects that are only available to Application Administrator role users to view and run.

    • Click to run the compare.