The Show Differences command is available from the schematic, schematic library, PCB, and PCB library editors.
After launching the command, the Choose Documents To Compare dialog opens. The dialog is used to choose which documents to compare. Comparison is performed using CircuitMaker's Comparator with any detected differences presented to you
Choose Document To Compare Dialog
The dialog in basic (left) and advanced (right) modes.
The dialog is available in two modes: a basic mode that allows you to quickly select the target PCB document to compare against the project's source document hierarchy, and an advanced mode that gives control over the documents compared (document-to-document, project-to-project, or document-to-project).
For use in basic mode, ensure the project of interest is currently focused in the panel.
- Documents list - this region lists the documents that can, and selectively are, to be compared. The appearance depends on the mode as determined by the Advanced Mode option.
- Basic Mode - a single list will present the PCB documents for the focused design project. Choose the specific PCB document to compare against the design hierarchy of that project.
- Advanced Mode - two lists are presented, each displaying the currently open projects and their documents. Choose a document on the left to compare with a document on the right. You can choose to compare a document with another document, a project with another project, or a document with a project (as per basic mode).
- Advanced - use to toggle the dialog between its basic mode (disabled) and its advanced mode (enabled).
After choosing the documents then clicking
OK, the comparator will perform the comparison. The Comparator will adhere to the setup defined for it on the
Comparator tab of the
Project Options dialog and, if any differences are detected whose associated comparison types are not set to be ignored, those differences will appear in the
Differences between dialog.
- OK - click to open the Differences between dialog.
Differences Between Dialog
The Differences between dialog allows you to browse through differences that have been detected between documents chosen for comparison. For each difference, you can decide whether to update one of the documents or not, ultimately creating an Engineering Change Order in order to synchronize the documents as required.
The synchronizer is bi-directional. This means you can specify updates to both documents in the same ECO. In order to synchronize compared documents, the aim is to determine for each difference whether or not to take action and in which direction the change is made - specifying which document should be updated in order to remedy the difference.
The dialog is essentially divided into three main regions: Differences, Update and Change Order.
Differences
This region of the dialog lists all differences that the comparator has found between the chosen documents. Each difference is listed in the corresponding column for the document in which it resides. Differences are grouped by comparison type as listed and enabled on the Comparator tab of the Project Options dialog. The entry at this group level reflects the number of differences of that type.
Double-click on an entry to cross-probe to the object on the relevant source document.
Use the Expand All and Contract All commands on the right-click menu to quickly expand or contract all entries. You also can expand or contract individual comparison type groupings using the controls to the left of each entry.
When comparing the design hierarchy of a project to its PCB document, the column for the project side will be labeled with the name of the top-level schematic sheet.
Update
Use this region of the dialog to specify which document should be updated in order to remedy the difference. By default, all Decision entries initially have a decision of No Change applied to them.
Even if differences are detected, you are under no obligation to take action on them. The software will only synchronize the elements you specify.
The update decision for each difference can be individually determined by clicking on the associated entry in the Decision column then selecting the required update action in the subsequent ECO Decision dialog (described below). Choose the direction of the update (which of the compared documents to update) or No Updates at all.
Change Order
This region of the dialog lists the action to be taken for each difference that you decide to act upon, the object affected by the action, and the document upon which the action will be carried out. It is this information that is used to compile the subsequent ECO that will be used to create the updates. Common actions that will be listed in this area are:
- Remove - where the update is in the direction of the document that contains the object causing the difference; the object will be removed.
- Add - where the update is in the direction of the document that does not contain the object causing the difference; the object will be added.
- Update - where both documents contain the same object that differs in some way; the object changed depends on the direction chosen.
If the Update Decision is No Change, there will be no action taken and the Change Order entry will be No Action.
Right-click Menu
- Create Change Order - use to create an Engineering Change Order (ECO).
- Generate Report - use to generate a report for the differences found by the Comparator. The update decisions you have decided to make and the actions will be included in the generated ECO. The report will be loaded into the Report Preview dialog. Use this dialog to browse the report, before ultimately exporting it to one of various supported formats or printing it directly.
- << Update All in - use to set the update direction for all differences to the left-hand document (where applicable).
- Update All in >> - use to set the update direction for all differences to the right-hand document (where applicable).
- Reverse Direction For All - use to quickly reverse the update direction for all differences (where applicable). If it is not valid to change the direction for a difference, the entry will be set to No Change.
- Set No Action For All - use to quickly set the update decision for all differences to No Change.
- << Update Same Kind in - use to set the update direction for all differences of the same comparison type as the currently focused difference to the left-hand document (where applicable).
- Update Same Kind in >> - use to set the update direction for all differences of the same comparison type as the currently focused difference to the right-hand document (where applicable).
- Reverse Direction For Same Kind - use to quickly reverse the update direction for all differences of the same comparison type as the currently focused difference, where applicable. If it is not valid to change the direction for a difference, the entry will be set to No Change.
- Set No Action For Same Kind - use to quickly set the update direction for all differences of the same comparison type as the currently focused difference to No Change.
- << Update Selected in - use to set the update direction for all selected differences to the left-hand document (where applicable).
- Update Selected in >> - use to set the update direction for all selected differences to the right-hand document (where applicable).
- Reverse Direction For Selected - use to quickly reverse the update direction for all selected differences (where applicable). If it is not valid to change the direction for a difference, the entry will be set to No Change.
- Set No Action For Selected - use to quickly set the update decision for all selected differences to No Change.
- Invert Selection - use to select all differences not currently selected in the list or deselect those that are.
Multiple differences can be selected in the list using standard multi-select techniques (Ctrl+click, Shift+click).
An update in a particular direction will only be set if it is valid to do so.
Additional Controls
The following buttons are available at the bottom of the dialog:
- Create Engineering Change Order - click to generate an ECO. The Engineering Change Order dialog (described above) will open in which you can validate and execute the updates in order to synchronize the documents.
- Report Differences - click to generate a report for the differences found by the Comparator. The update decisions you have decided to make and the actions will be included in the generated ECO. The report will be loaded into the Report Preview dialog. Use this dialog to browse the report before ultimately exporting it to one of various supported formats or printing it directly.
- Explore Differences - click to investigate further the differences found by the Comparator prior to generating an ECO. The Differences between dialog will close and you will be returned to the main design space with the Differences panel open. The panel will contain all of the differences listed by the Comparator and in the same categories. Use the panel to cross probe to an object responsible for a difference on its parent document.
Exploring differences in this way will cause any update decisions you have made in the Differences between dialog to be lost. You will need to open the dialog again and redefine updates as required. Alternatively, you can cross probe to an object directly from within the Differences between dialog. Double-click the object's entry in the Differences region of the dialog. Since the Differences between dialog remains open, it is a good idea to have the source and target documents open and the dialog placed so that your view is not obscured.
ECO Decision Dialog
After choosing and comparing two documents, the Comparator lists any differences found between them. The ECO Decision dialog allows you to decide the direction of update (which of the compared documents to update) on an individual difference basis. It also allows you to specify that no update is required, which translates to no action being taken in either document.
In order to synchronize compared documents, the aim is to determine whether or not to take action for each difference and in which direction the change is made, specifying which document should be updated in order to remedy the difference.
- Update Schematic - click to specify that the left-hand document is to be updated in order to resolve the difference.
- Update PCB - click to specify that the right-hand document is to be updated in order to resolve the difference.
The dialog shows schematic and PCB sides for the update directions since the design hierarchy of the project is typically compared against the PCB document.
The dialog provides an indication of whether or not an update in a particular direction is valid. If valid, the left arrow and right arrow buttons (for an update to left or right, respectively) will be enabled. If a change is not supported, the corresponding button for that update direction will be grayed out.
- No Updates - click to set the Update Decision to No Change (neither document is updated).
