Comparing objects and managing changes

You can use the workbench to compare data objects and data models or to analyze impact and dependencies.
There are two types of comparisons that you can perform. You can compare data objects with other data objects or you can compare data models with another version of the same data model.
Data object compare and merge
If you are comparing data objects that are contained in a data model (for example, two tables), or two objects that are displayed in the Data Source Explorer, you compare differences in the data object compare editor. This type of comparison is a two way comparison. You can navigate and merge structural differences between data objects, merge properties changes between data objects, generate DDL for changes that you made, and export the structural differences to an XML file on the file system. If you make changes to a data model object in the compare editor, the changes are automatically added to the model, then you must save the model after you exit the compare editor to save the changes. You can also choose to not save the changes, and generate delta DDL statements instead. If you make changes to a server data object, then you must generate delta DDL statements for the object and then deploy it to the server to save the changes.

You can also analyze the impact and dependencies of a data object to determine how the object affects and is affected by changes to other objects.

Data model compare and merge
If you are comparing data model files (for example, *.LDM or *.DBM files), you compare differences in the data model compare editor. This type of model comparison can be either a two way or a three way comparison. For example:
  • The data model compare editor performs a two way comparison if you compare two data models that are not under source code control.
  • The data model compare editor performs a three-way comparison if you compare three data models, or if you synchronize a data model that is under source code control.

The differences between data objects are listed in the compare editor, so that you can browse and accept changes made by the contributors.

You can merge changes directly in the compare editor and save the changes to the affected data models. It is not necessary to generate DDL when you are performing a data model comparison and merge.


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