Legacy File Merge Tool

The File Merge Tool, previously called the Serena Merge Tool, enables you to compare the differences between two or more files with a common ancestor or base file, accepting or rejecting the differences between them, and combine the changes into a new file or item revision. These files can be revisions of the same item or different items in Dimensions CM, or files in your work area.

In this topic:

Overview

The merging process enables you to compare the differences between two (or more) files with a common ancestor or base file, accepting or rejecting the differences between them, and combine the changes into a new file or item revision.

The comparing process allows you compare two files side-by-side to see the additions, deletions, and changes between them. You cannot print or save the comparison file.

The difference between comparing and merging files is:

• You do not select a target file when you a performing a compare.

• When you perform a compare from within the desktop or web clients you can only select two files, an ancestor and one derivative.

• When you merge files, you must resolve all the conflicts before you can complete the merge.

The merge process consists of:

• Selecting an ancestor file as the reference against which to compare the derivatives.

• Selecting one or more derivatives.

• Selecting the file or item revision to be the target.

• Selecting the differences which have no conflicts and inserting them into the target. If you have selected the Auto Merge option, all the differences except for conflicts are automatically included in the target.

• Resolving conflicts between the base and derivative files by choosing which version of each conflicting change to include in the target.

• Saving the changes made to the target file.

If you are performing a file merge in the web client or desktop client, the selection of the ancestor, derivatives, and target is made from within the client. When you enter the merge tool, the main window is displayed with those files preselected. You then specify which differences to carry forward to the target file.

If you are opening the merge tool from outside a source control application, you select the ancestor, derivatives, and target by either specifying them in a configuration file or completing the Files tab of the Configuration dialog box.

Rules for identifying conflicts:

The merge tool identifies a line as a conflict between the derivatives based on the following rules:

• If a line is an addition in more than one derivative, but is different between the derivatives.

• If a line is a deletion in at least one derivative and is marked as a modification in at least one other derivative.

• If a line is a modification in more than one derivative but is different between the derivatives.

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Merge terms and definitions

The following table provides a list of basic merge terms and definitions.

Term	Definition
Ancestor or base	The common base file from which other files are derived.
Derivative or branch	A version of a file created by making changes in the ancestor file.
Target or output	The final merged file.
Addition	A line of text added to a derivative file that is not in the ancestor file.
Deletion	A line of text deleted in a derivative file that is present in the ancestor file.
Change or Modification	A line of text that was modified in one of the derivative files. The content of this line of text differs between the derivative file and the ancestor file.
Difference	A line of text added, deleted, or modified in a derivative file compared with the ancestor file.
Conflict	A line of text that was changed differently in more than one derivative file. The difference in this line of text is not the same between derivative files and the ancestor file.

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Manually complete the merge

Manually complete the merge when:

• There are conflicting differences between the derivatives, and you need to select which versions to include in the target.

• You have not selected the Auto Merge option, and you need to manually select which differences are included from the derivatives or ancestor.

• You want to make other changes by editing the target file.

To select differences to include in the target:

• To select a difference for inclusion in the target, right-click the required line in the ancestor or derivative window. CTRL+right-click to select two adjacent differences. The line color changes to the selected color.

• To clear a difference from inclusion in the target, right-click a selected line. CTRL+right-click to clear two adjacent differences. The line color changes to the unselected color.

• To insert all the differences, including conflicts, for a given derivative into the target, select Edit > Select All, or press CTRL+A. All the lines in the selected derivative change to the corresponding selected colors.

To edit the target file:

• To copy text, select the text to be inserted into the target and click the Copy button, or press CTRL+C.

• To paste text into the target, point to where you want to insert the text and click Paste, or press CTRL+V.

• To edit text in the target, enter the text in the target window.

• To undo editing, select Edit > Undo, or press CTRL+Z.

• To save the target file, select File > Save Target or click Save.

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View files in File Merge Tool

Use the content windows to view the lines of text in the ancestor, derivatives, and target files. You can show or hide these windows and arrange them in the Merge Tool main window.

To show or hide content windows:

• To show or hide the Ancestor, select Windows > Display Ancestor.

• To show or hide the Ancestor in the Derivative Frame window, select Windows > Display Ancestor in Frame.

• To show or hide the Consolidated View window, select Windows > Display Consolidated View.

• To show or hide the Consolidated View in the Derivative Frame window, select Windows > Display Consolidated View in Frame.

• To show or hide the Target window, select Windows > Display Target.

• To display the Global Comparison window, double-click a changed line in the ancestor or a derivative. Note that you cannot do this on an unchanged or padded line.

• To display the Error Log window, select File > Error Log.

• To open the Color Tips window, select View > Color Tips, or press CTRL+T. This window displays the current settings of colors and patterns used to identify the differences.

To change the way the windows are displayed:

• To synchronize scrolling, select View > Sync Scrolling. When this option is selected, the lines in the other windows are scrolled in synchronization when you scroll one window.

• To show or hide the line numbers, select View > Show Line Numbers.

• To show only differences, select View > Show Only Differences. When this option is selected, only lines that differ between one or more derivatives are displayed.

• To set automatic resizing of windows on or off, select Windows > Auto Resize.

• To show or hide the status bar, select View > Status bar.

To navigate the content windows:

• To move between windows, click Next Window or press F8 to go to the next window. Click Prev Window or press F7 to go to the previous window.

• To move between conflicting lines, click Next Conflict or press F6 to go to the next conflict.

  Click Prev Conflict or press F5 to go to the previous conflict.

• To move between line differences, click Next Difference or press F4 to go to the next line with a difference.

  Click Prev Difference  or press F3 to go to the previous line with a difference.

• To navigate using the Consolidated View, double-click a changed line to go to that line.

• To navigate using the Ancestor Window, double click a changed line to go to that line. This only works when the target is displayed in its own window and not the Derivative Frame window.

• To go to a line number in the current derivative or ancestor, select Edit > Go To, or press CTRL+G. Enter the required line number.

• To search for a line containing a text string, select Edit > Find, or press CTRL+F.

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