The Rational® ClearCase® XML Diff Merge - Merging window display area includes multiple contributor panes and a merge output pane. Figure 1 shows an example.
The data display elements include those in the Viewing and Comparing windows, with the additions and changes shown in Table 1.
Display element | Description |
---|---|
Panes | Contributor panes are displayed as in the Comparing
window. In addition, a merge output pane displays the result of automatic
and manual merging. This is the work area where you manually complete the
merge operation and save the output. Until your merge is complete, the merge output pane does not necessarily contain the same number of nodes as the contributor panes. Because of the two kinds of data display, synchronization of panes in the Merging window is somewhat different from the Comparing window. |
Merge points | Unresolved differences are represented by ![]() |
Synchronization | When you navigate using the keyboard and the window
buttons, (for example, using the keyboard arrow keys) the contributor and
merge output panes are tightly synchronized. However, sometimes it is useful to control these areas separately. You can use the Merge window controls to do this. Thus, you can scroll the contributor panes independently from the merge output pane by using the mouse. Similarly, you can expand and collapse the merge tree and contributor trees independently, by clicking the plus (+) and minus (-) signs in the trees. |
ToolTips | The Merge point icon hover help identifies the type of difference or conflict that must be resolved. |
The merge output pane provides two pages:
If you have selected an editable item in the output pane, you can open either tab. You can also toggle between the tabs by clicking F6.
The Merge page is where you build the node tree for the merge result. It contains the node structure of the base version. However, initially the only nodes that contain data are those that have been automatically merged from a contributor, or those where no difference exists. All other nodes need to be resolved, by either applying the data from a contributor or editing the node on the Edit page.
Each unresolved difference in the output display is represented
by a merge point icon and
a merge needed label.
As you resolve each merge point, the merge point icon and label are replaced by a normal node and the data you inserted. When all differences are resolved, there are no more merge point icons.
Unresolved differences that involve moves have multiple locations, and are represented by multiple merge points. The hidden background color (by default, your system's button face color) in an output node indicates the presence of a node whose location cannot be represented in the merge output pane until you resolve a difference in some ancestor.
As Figure 1 shows, an unresolved move difference involves multiple locations and multiple merge points. However, it must be resolved to a single location. Thus, when you apply a contributor to the merge output, multiple merge points may disappear in the output pane.
Hover help provides information about each merge point and its current resolution status. For a resolved node, the tooltip indicates whether the node has been modified in the output pane, so that you know which merge points you have touched. If a node has been modified on the Edit page, the hover help includes the annotation, "resolved and edited".
The Edit page is a simple text editor that can be used to directly modify the value of a merge point. You can open the edit tab only when you navigate to a merge point, and only when the merge point node is an editable type (one with a text value).
Table 2 lists the nodes that can and cannot be edited.
Editable nodes | Noneditable nodes |
---|---|
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You cannot edit nodes that have no text contents.
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Text that you enter on the Edit page is converted to ISO-88959-1 for display in the tree view. UNICODE characters greater than 0xFF are displayed as character references. Except in document type and CDATA nodes, predefined entities and character references are translated when you return to the tree view.