Customizing Compare/Merge and Advanced view types

This topic describes how to create new Compare/Merge view types (VCM) and how to enable advanced view types in the server configuration.

Customize VCM tab

The Customize VCM tab allows an administrator to create new customized View Compare/Merge types based on the default merge types of Rebase, Promote, Replicate, and Compare. The administrator can specify at the server, view, or project level which merge types will be available to the user of that particular context. The administrator can also specify what the default merge action will be for each difference type found in the session.

Using the Customize VCM tab, administrators can simplify the View Compare/Merge process by presetting the View Compare/Merge operation settings in the View Compare/Merge Wizard, eliminating the need for users to view and set all of the View Compare/Merge Wizard options to start a VCM session. Along with setting the default merge actions, the administrator can also specify which Included Item Types and VCM Options to display to the user.

Note: Before you can create a custom VCM merge type, you must create a StarFlow Extensions project the server. First create a StarFlow Extensions project, then create the Projects folder under the root folder in the view. Otherwise the save operation will fail in the Customize VCM tab

Merge types

The administrator can control which custom merge types are available at the context level, such as the server, project, or view level. The Customize VCM tab provides a hierarchical context tree from the server down through the projects and views on each server. Custom merge types are specifically added to each desired level of the context tree. In the Available Merge Types tree:

  • The nodes with icons are the context nodes which represent the server, project, and view levels.
  • The nodes in bold text define what merge types will be available to the user when they are in that context.

By default, if StarTeam cannot find settings for a feature at the current view, it looks up the tree at the parent view. If there are no settings at the parent view, StarTeam will continue moving up the tree until it gets to the server level. When you add a custom merge type to a particular context view node, it becomes available for all the child nodes under it.

Note: Once you add specific merge types to a level in the Available Merge Types tree, only explicitly added merge types will be available in the View Compare/Merge Wizard for VCM sessions at that level. You must specifically add any default merge types back to the level if you want to still make them available. Use the Parent Merge Types button to quickly reset a level to use only its parent merge types.

The order you add merge types to a context level is the order they display in the View Compare/Merge Wizard. You can change the order using the Up and Down arrows to the right of the Available Merge Types tree.

Default Difference Type actions

In the compare phase of a View Compare/Merge session, VCM uses the default merge actions for the type of merge selected to resolve any differences. The server administrator can control what default actions View Compare/Merge will take for each Difference Type. The Merge Actions section allows the administrator to change which default action to take by selecting a different one from the drop-down lists in the Default Action column.

Note: A merge action that has been changed from the default parent action is displayed with red text.

Include Types section

A user can limit the item types to include in a View Compare/Merge session using the Include Selected Items page of the View Compare/Merge Wizard. By checking specific item types in the Include Types section of the Customize VCM tab, the administrator can customize what item types appear in the View Compare/Merge Wizard for user selection.

Options

The Options section lets the administrator specify which compare/merge options to display as the defaults on the Set Options page of the View Compare/Merge Wizard. The options selected on this page of the wizard are performed when the View Compare/Merge session begins the compare phase.

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Creating a custom View Compare/Merge merge type

As a server administrator, you can create new, custom merge types for View Compare/Merge based on the standard merge types of Promote, Rebase, Replicate, or Compare.

Note: Before you can create a custom View Compare/Merge merge type, the server must have a StarFlow Extensions project. First create a StarFlow Extensions project, then create the Projects folder under the root folder in the view. Otherwise the save operation fails in the Customize VCM tool.

  1. Open the Server Administration tool and click the Customize VCM icon in the Administration section.
  2. In the Customize VCM pane, select one of the standard merge types in the All Merge Types section.
  3. Click the New Custom Merge Type icon (the red asterisk in the left margin of the All Merge Types section.)

    Tip: You can create a new merge type by copying an existing custom merge type. Select the custom merge type in the list and click Copy Custom Merge Type.

    Clicking New Custom Merge Type or Copy Custom Merge Type displays the customization options in the lower area of the Customize VCM pane.
  4. Give the new merge type a Name and Parent Type. All custom merge types must have a Name and a Parent Type because they are all derived from either Promote, Rebase, Replicate, or Compare.
  5. In the Available Merge Types section, select the context level in the tree to which you want this merge type to be added, and then click Add.

    Note: The Available Merge Types tree is hierarchical. When you add a merge type to a node, it becomes available at all the child node levels under it. To make the new merge type available at all levels, add it to the Server node at the top of the tree.

    Tip: You can change the order in which these merge types will display in the View Compare/Merge wizard. Select a merge type in the tree and click the Up or Down arrow on the right to move it.

  6. Enter the description you want to display in the View Compare/Merge Wizard.
  7. Choose the default Merge Action you want for each Difference Type.

    The default merge actions are used in the compare phase, are not visible to the user in the View Compare/Merge Wizard, and the user cannot change them.

    Note: A merge action that has been changed from the default parent action is displayed with red text.

  8. In the Include Item Types section, optionally check which item types to pre-select for this merge type. The user can view and change these types on the Include Selected Items page of the View Compare/Merge wizard.
  9. In the Options section, optionally check which options you want to pre-select for this merge type.

    The options selected are performed by default when the View Compare/Merge session begins the compare phase. The user can view and change these options on the Set Options page of the View Compare/Merge wizard.

  10. Click Save when you are finished. The new merge type now appears in the Available Merge Types list of the Customize VCM tool.

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Advanced view types

By default, advanced view types are not available for server configurations. However, you can allow users to create views of advanced types by editing the starteam-server-configs.xml file.

  1. Open the starteam-server-configs.xml file in an editor. By default this is located in the root installation folder for StarTeam Server. For example, on a Microsoft Windows system, you would find this file in the C:\Program Files\Micro Focus\StarTeam Server <version> folder.
  2. For each server configuration that you want to allow advanced view types for, enter the following: 
    <option name="DisableAdvancedViews" value="0"/>

    If you specify the value as “” , the Show advanced types check box appears in the New View Wizard, and the Branch All, Float, Branch None, and Non-Derived advanced view types are available in the wizard. If you specify the value as “1” then the Show advanced types check box does not appear.

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